A GOLF tournament in honour of gifted young sportsman Jamie Walker, who died in a New Year’s Eve car accident with two of his friends, has raised thousands of pounds for Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

Jamie, a 17-year-old Leeds United fanatic who played for Chippenham Town Under-18s and Chippenham’s Futsal team, and his friends Frankie Bowyer, 16, and George Forester, 17, were killed after the car in which they were travelling home from a party hit a tree.

Jamie’s parents Ian and Lisa, younger brother Billy and neighbour George Thomas, all from Hatherell Road, Chippenham, launched the first of what is hoped will become a yearly contest on Wednesday last week.

The competition, held at Chippenham Golf Club, was a sell-out success.

Mr Thomas said: “It was just a brilliant day. It was really, really successful.

“There were about 130 people playing but a lot more turned up, and we had an auction and a raffle too.

“The winning team were a group from a Bath business which sells adult toys called Lovehoney, and they even donated a few prizes as well. They did very well and they were a lot of fun.”

Mr Walker, who competed on the day despite not playing golf often, said: “We started talking about holding something like this immediately after [the accident] happened but didn’t want to put anything into action because no one was ready.

“It’s something everyone can get involved with, something for all the family.

“Jamie loved football but we thought this was more inclusive and he did play golf too. He was a hell of a shot. He could really hit a ball.

“Some people are just naturally good at sport and he was one of them.”

Billy, 13, overcame nerves to present the engraved cup at the end of the contest, and Mr Thomas said the competition may signal the beginning of a wider set of challenges.

“We will continue to do this competition every year to raise funds for the air ambulance,” said Mr Thomas.

“However, we’re going to start the Jamie Walker Sporting Challenges, which will include a number of different challenges a year, like football and cricket tournaments.

“We’ll be building a website and really hoping to launch the event soon.”

The amount raised from the tournament is thought to be more than £5,000, although a final figure has yet to be calculated.

Wiltshire Air Ambulance fundraiser Caroline Corrigan said more than £30,000 had been raised by friends and family since the accident, and thanked all those who had taken part.