FORMER WALKER CUP CAPTAIN TO TAKE OVER AS WALES GOLF PRESIDENT
Former Walker Cup captain Andrew Ingram is to take over as the next President of Wales Golf, capping more than 30 years of involvement in the game in Wales and internationally.
He takes over from Dr Val Franklin, bringing a track record of great success with Wales teams and also Junior Ryder Cup and Walker Cup level, including captaining the Wales Men to their Home Internationals victory in 2002.
“It was 1991 that I first got involved with Wales Golf and so to get this now is a huge honour for me, and my wife Sandra, we are really looking forward to the next two years ahead,” he said.
“We will put everything we have into it, it will be interesting to go to all the different events.
“I have always been involved in the boys and men’s games so it will be particularly interesting to go to the women’s and girls events to get the full overview of Welsh golf.
“Wales does pretty well considering our size, but it is important to keep pushing forward and keeping ourselves in the limelight.
“We have got some big international events coming up in Wales, the St Andrews Trophy at Royal Porthcawl next year, then there is also the AIG Women’s Open in 2025 which will be a very high profile event for Wales Golf.
“That is a professional tournament of course, but there is also so much going on in the amateur world so there are lots of things to look forward to.”
Ingram joined what was then called the Welsh Golfing Union as a council member in 1991, captained the Wales Boys team from 1996-99, then captained the Wales Youth team to bronze medal position in the 2000 European Team Championships.
He captained the Junior Ryder Cup team to victory in 2004 and then in retaining the trophy two years later, before becoming a Great Britain and Ireland, and Walker Cup, selector.
He was elected chairman of the Walker Cup selection committee in 2015 and captained the 45th Walker Cup Team in Los Angeles in 2017. He captained Wales in the Home Internationals in 2021 and remained a selector for Wales Men.
“We are delighted to have someone of Andy’s calibre to take over as President from Val Franklin, who has done such a great job,” said Wales Golf chief executive Hannah McAllister.
“Andy is well known and respected throughout amateur golf, having performed key roles for Wales but also at international level.
“Captaining the Walker Cup team may be considered by many to be the pinnacle, but in Wales we will look at the success he had as captain of our national teams.
“We look forward to working with him over the next two years at all levels of Welsh golf.”