Hole in One Golf Podcast - Llewellyn Matthews, legendary Welsh Amateur Golfer #GolfingTales #1 - a podcast by Jack Bull

Joining me is an old friend and former Glamorgan team mate Llewellyn Matthews from Southerndown Golf Club (Wales, UK). Llew is regarded as one of Wales’ greatest ever Amateur Golfers, having won the Welsh Amateur title back to back in 2006 and again in 2007, the first player to achieve this since the legendary JR Jones (Langland Bay) in the mid 1980s. He tells me how he quickly rose through the ranks at Southerndown Golf Club where there was a large & highly competitive junior section. He learnt from the senior mentors around him and leveraged rivalries with fellow juniors, playing up to 54 holes a day.  Llewellyn really got into his Tournament Golf career at the famous “Duncan Putter” Tournament, held annually at his home club Southerndown GC, aged 16, being fortunate to watch many great GB & I Walker Cup players such as Simon Dyson and Gary Wolstenholme MBE.  Southerndown is a superb links Golf Course in South Wales (UK), laid out in 1905 and then redesigned in 1918 by the famous course designer Harry Shapland Colt. His job was to make it play easier! https://www.southerndowngolfclub.com/…/course-history-colts… Late in 2005, Llewellyn won his first professional tournament as an amateur, at a local event at St. Pierre golf club, winning by a remarkable 7 shots. Llewellyn would then rise to prominence on the World Stage by winning the qualifying at the 2006 British Amateur at Royal St George's and reaching the final 16 after beating Richie Ramsay in the first round (Richie went on to win the US Amateur that year). Later that summer, he narrowly edged his good friend Rhys Davies on the 36th green around Pyle and Kenfig to take his first Welsh Amateur title. Llewellyn won the 2007 St. Andrews Links Trophy, sealing his biggest tournament win, smashing the tournament record with a total of 273, -15 under over 4 rounds and setting his sights on British Open qualification. On arrival at Monifieth, he discovered 200 players going for 3 spots but he seized his chance to grab 1 of the spots at the 136th Open Championship where Padraig Harrington would go on to win his first major, after beating Sergio Garcia in a playoff. Llewellyn enjoyed a practice round with US Open Champion Angel Cabrera. He was then drawn with future World Number One Luke Donald and Charles Howell III. After winning his second Welsh Amateur title in 2007, he earnt a highly coveted spot on the 41st Walker Cup Team, held at Royal County Down in Northern Ireland. The 2007 Walker Cup Team on both sides would go down  in retrospect as perhaps the strongest sides of all time, featuring players such as Rory Mc Ilroy, Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson, Ricky Fowler and Danny Willet.

Notes:

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/other-sport/golf/golf-amateur-shocks-top-pros-2382076

https://www.amateurgolf.com/golf-tournament-news/2035/St--Andrews-Links-Trophy--Mathews-sets-record

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/golf/6292282.stm

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/other-sport/llew-beats-best-mate-amateur-2320095

https://walkercup.co.uk/2007-royal-county-down/

https://www.bunkered.co.uk/golf-news/is-this-the-greatest-walker-cup-team-of-all-time

Photo Credit: Lloyd Williams

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