TAUNTON & Pickeridge golfer Tom Sloman played out of his skin when he represented Great Britain against USA in the Walker Cup, the amateur equivalent of the Ryder Cup, which took place at Hoylake over the weekend.

Despite the USA triumphing 15½ -10½ overall, the 23-year-old, who started playing T&P at the age of 10 and grew up through their junior section, before going on to represent Somerset and England, gave a very good account of himself.

On the first day, despite playing well in both the pairs and the singles, Sloman ended on the losing side in both the morning and the afternoon rounds.

However, on the second day in the morning Sloman teamed up once again with Yeovil-based Tom Plumb and, together, they won their pairs match.

In the afternoon, the Taunton-based player then faced Steven Fisk in the last singles game of the match.

Sloman went into an early lead and, despite a slight hiccup later on, the Taunton & Pickeridge player held his nerve, won the last hole and triumphed two up.

More than 20 T&P golfers made the trip to Royal Liverpool Golf Club at Hoylake to cheer their local hero on, including his parents, Steve and Michelle Sloman, and brothers Josh and Sam who, although disappointed to see GB suffer a defeat on home territory, were nonetheless thrilled and proud to see Tom playing so well.

Shortly after arriving home in Taunton on Monday evening, dad Steve Sloman said: “He played very well over the whole weekend and was the best player of the tournament scoring wise.

"He is on top of the world!"