Yorkshire’s Les Walker has a keen eye for golfing talent and he’s just been honoured for his years of volunteer service as an England and GB&I selector.
Walker, from Selby Golf Club, received England Golf’s Award for Excellence in Coaching at the annual coaching conference at Woodhall Spa.
He is renowned for his vast experience and encyclopaedic knowledge of boys’ and men’s golf. He’s got a great eye for spotting talent and has proved it over and over again by helping to pick successful teams, with players such as Justin Rose, Lee Westwood, Paul Casey and Luke Donald among his selections.
Walker’s second term with the R&A has just come to an end after eight years as a boys’ selector and he bowed out after a convincing win for GB&I over Continental Europe in the boys’ Jacques Leglise Trophy, which involved five England players.
Prior to this he trawled the fairways as a Walker Cup selector and was involved with the winning teams of 1999, 2001 and 2003. “We changed the pattern, we turned it around to win three on the trot and we only lost the next two by very small margins,” he said.
He first became an England selector over 30 years ago and has been involved in many national successes.
Walker is continuing as an England boys’ selector and most recently has played his part in picking the teams which have won the Boys’ Home Internationals for the last three years.
“We have a very, very strong squad and they are young so we have them for more years than we used to,” he commented as he looked forward to more successes.
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