The new top amateur golfer in Wales, Stuart Manley, shunned the national media and gave an exclusive interview and photo-shoot to his local weekly paper.
Less than 12 hours after he hit the crucial shot to win the Walker Cup for Great Britain and Ireland, he was giving the exclusive to the Cynon Valley Leader.
The Leader has followed the local golfing hero’s career from the very beginning and he repaid its loyalty despite being plunged into the media spotlight after the victory at Ganton in Yorkshire.
The morning after the Walker Cup win, editor Gary Marsh rang Manley’s dad David at his home in the former mining town of Mountain Ash. It was arranged that the paper would meet Manley and his proud parents at the local golf club.
Marsh said: “We managed to get our exclusive interview and also some fantastic photographs, which we splashed across our newspaper that week. Never underestimate the power of a community newspaper.”
The Cynon Valley Leader, which celebrated its centenary last year, forms part of the Celtic Newspapers series within the Cardiff-based Western Mail and Echo
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