Alan Jones – Sport Pembrokeshire employee and the county’s top golfer

 

I count myself lucky to be able to consider Alan Jones as a good friend, as I did with his late father Johnnie, and for almost 20 years Alan and I worked closely together in the Sport Pembrokeshire Awards, where Alan was very much the man behind the scenes in terms of organisation and I had the privilege to be an MC who announced the results of the judging panels, which he organised.
 
He also collated the nominations for the many different awards, no mean feat in itself, and on the presentation evening he stayed behind the curtain to the side of the stage, checking that all went smoothly whilst staying out of the limelight – and he will be there again for the 20^th such awards evening, later in the year, and I watch from the auditorium as all will go as smoothly as ever.
 
His other role in work is to support clubs with grant applications for coach education courses, setting up new teams, getting more people involved in sport and equipment.

 

Very much in the golfing limelight

 

And that is why Gordon Thomas and I have asked Alan to receive one our ‘Sporting Star’ badges - and we were delighted because he happily agreed to come into the limelight, if only for a moment.
 
But it also has to be said that he might even have received a sports award himself because although he elected for a backstage role, he is definitely one of the most respected golfers in our county and across Wales, with so many successes that would be hard to match anywhere else.
 
For example, he has always stayed loyal to the South Pembrokeshire Golf Club, where he has so dominated their club championship, which he first won 40 years ago in 1986, when he was still a teenager, and another  29 times since, his last in 2024 – which means that his successes have crossed five decades, since he has also fended off some strong challenges in his 20a, 30, 40, and now 50s! THIRTY TIMES CLUB CHAMPION!
 
In 1995, Alan represented the Welsh Universities at the Home International Strokeplay Championship at the Forest of Arden Golf Club and finished 5^th in the individual event.





 

Huge success at county and Welsh levels

 

On the county front, Alan first represented Dyfed County at 19 and has also been Dyfed Champion five times, in 2007, 2008, 2025, 2024, and 2025 and is still going strong as he has played against Glamorgan, Brecon & Radnor, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and Leinster – the most recent being in the Wessex Salver in August this year to mark 40 years of playing at that level.
 
But there is no doubt about his biggest victory, which came in 2023 in the Welsh Seniors Open Championship at Ashburnham Golf Club, Burry Port, which was played over three rounds on consecutive days by 144 contestants, with only 20 Welsh players and the rest travelling from England and Scotland – and Alan won it by two shots!
 
Only just behind in terms of importance came this season’s South Wales Senior Open Championships, at the Rolls of Monmouth Golf Club, played over two consecutive days, where he again produced golf of an exceptional quality over both rounds to again win by two shots.
 
 Last year saw him become runner-up at the Wales Senior Closed Championships at Aberdovey Golf Club, featuring 100+ top Welsh golfers, again over three rounds on consecutive days – and his huge golfing skills saw him chosen to play for Wales in the  Senior Home Internationals (55 and over) in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, respectively at West Kilbride Golf Club (Scotland), Castlerock Golf Club (Northern Ireland), Ferndown Golf Club (England) and this year at Royal St David’s Golf Club, Harlech, on home territory – and did really well on every occasion against some high-quality opposition.


 

And finally . . .

 

Not content with that amazing golfing talent, achieved through natural talent and total commitment, Alan was a very talented outside half or full back with Pembroke and Pembroke Dock Quins for a short while, as well as being a more than useful teenage footballer with Pembroke United under the expert eye of Frankie Donovan, who had played in the Olympics for Great Britain.


This former cricketer here  could vouch for the fact that he was a very promising young cricketer for Pembroke Cricket Club – and when he’s 60 in March could even decide to enjoy a season at Treleet, where in his mid-teens he once broke the biggest window in the clubhouse, practising a few golf shots. Tut! Tut! Mr Jones!