BEN Amor reckons he’ll need ‘two phenomenal years’ to realise his dream of competing in the 2015 Walker Cup but the Marlborough youngster is fully prepared to take a swing at it.

The 18-year-old, who won the England U18s title last year as well as helping Great Britain and Ireland beat Contiental Europe in the Jacques Leglise Trophy, would love to emulate Bowood’s Jordan Smith by winning a spot in the British team for the amateur equivalent of the Ryder Cup.

In the short term, Amor, son of Marlborough club professional Simon, is now focussed on producing positive performances at the country’s top competitions this season.

“You’ve got to dream big if you want to achieve big and the Walker Cup in 2015 is a dream for me – I know Jordan quite well and it’d be great to do what he did,” said Amor.

“To get there, I’m going to have to have two phenomenal years but I’m going to give it my best go.

“It’s been a lot different for me going into this season because I’ve all around the world playing and practicing during the winter – I’ve been to Morocco, Miami, Canada and Spain but it’s really taken its toll and I’ve had a few back problems in the last few weeks.

“The Darwin Salver (South of England Youth Championship) is the first competition of the season next week (March 25 and 26), so we’ll see how I get on.”

Amor was one of 14 Wiltshire athletes to receive a Funding Future Olympians and Paralympians grant of £1000 after an inaugural Business and Sporting Gala Dinner hosted by Wiltshire Council last week.

Other recipients included sprinter Elaine O’Neill, cyclist Lauren Booth, and Badminton ace Daniel Bethell, all from Chippenham, as well as eventer Danielle Dunn, from Purton Stoke.

London 2012 Paralympic swimmers Stephanie Millward and Aaron Moore also received grants, as well as Bradford on Avon sprint canoeist Hannah Brown, Winsley fencer Philip Marsh, Codford sprinter Jack Wiskin and Cricklade rhythmic gymnast Laura Halford.

FOR MORE SPORTS NEWS, REPORTS & PICTURES SEE THURSDAY'S GAZETTE & HERALD AND FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @gazsport