Wolstanton Golf Club is mourning the loss of Les Hancock, who served the club as Junior Organiser for more than 50 years.
During his half-century in the role, Hancock introduced more than 3,000 young people to the game of golf.
Several of those juniors even went to represent their county and even their country.
Robert Maxfield, Paul Sweetsur and David Walley were amongst those to play for England, whilst Sam Burks represented Wales.
Many former juniors, who Hancock oversaw, also went on to become Club Officials. None more so than his own son, Neil Hancock, who is Wolstanton’s current President.
“Dad has been an inspiration to so many juniors at our Club,” Neil said.
“Every Sunday he would take out the very young Juniors who were new to golf, giving his time freely to encourage youngsters into our game.
“My family and I are so proud of everything Dad did for our Club and the game.”
Hancock’s contribution to Junior Golf was recognised with a British Empire Medal (BEM), awarded to him by the late Queen Elizabeth II for services to the sport.
Staffordshire Golf appointed him a Vice President of the county, and in 2015 he received the Golf Foundation’s highest honour, the Henry Cotton Award.
Robert Maxfield, ex PGA Chief Executive, also spoke highly of Hancock. “Our game is so blessed to have people like Les that give up their time to encourage youngsters to take up our game” he said.
“To carry out the role for 50 years is incredible and Wolstanton Golf Club owes Les a huge debt of gratitude.”
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