KINGTON Golf Club’s new professional has plenty to celebrate, even before taking up her new position at Bradnor Hill.

Sarah Walton, who takes over on May 11, has just been named PGA Assistant of the Year for 2012, completing a treble which saw her take second place in PGA Rookie Trainee of the Year award in 2010 before being named PGA Trainee Assistant of the Year in 2011.

“The latest award recognises what has been achieved over the three years of the course,” said Walton, who has been following the PGA Foundation Degree Course at Birmingham University.

The course covered all aspects of professional golf and included attachments at several golf clubs.

“It is primarily a distance-learning course but with five days each year at the Belfry.

“I’m delighted to have won the award which is the most prestigious award you can win as a trainee and it means that, over the three years, I have been the best out of 300.”

The award was presented by the BBC newsreader Naga Munchetty, a keen golfer, while she received the 2011 award from Sir Trevor Brooking.

Walton began her enthusiasm for golf as a teenager.

“I played a lot of sport when I was at school and played badminton to a good standard,” she said.

“I had a friend who was a very keen golfer and when we should have been working towards our A-levels we were off at the driving range.

“I joined my first club, Green Howarth Golf Club, when I was 19.”

After that, her golf progressed rapidly. “I enjoyed golf and I found that I was reasonably good at it and picked things up quickly,” she said.

She won the British Ladies Open Mid-Amateur Championship, was picked for the Lancashire Ladies ‘B’ team in 2001 and went on to represent the ‘A’ team from 2002 to 2009.

“In my first and last years we won the national counties title,” she said. “There were some excellent players in the team.”

Her amateur career ended when she decided to follow the PGA route and, during her university course, she has acted as assistant coach to former European Tour winner Paul Eales, for the Lancashire Ladies and was invited to coach at the Ladies British Open Championship at The Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake in 2012.

For the past year she has been the teaching professional at Lytham Green Drive Golf Club.

But now she is looking forward to taking up her duties in her first head professional job.

“It’s a great opportunity to get on the ladder as a head professional,” she said. “That first step is difficult.

“Kington seems a very friendly club where I can pursue and develop my career. The ambition at the club was very clear during the interview process.

“I shall be providing a service to members through the professional’s shop where we will retail equipment and providing a club-repair service.”

She will also use the OptiShot custom package to analyse every detail of the golf swing and to implement subtle changes to maximise improvement.

The package also allows members and beginners to pit their skills against some of the world’s finest courses in the Simulator Cage whatever the weather is doing outside.

“My coaching is my strong point and I shall look forward to doing what I can to move the club forward,” she said.