Everyone at the LET is extremely saddened to hear that friend of the Tour, Richard Talbot, passed away on 29th August 2021. It goes without saying that all our thoughts and prayers are with Richard’s friends and family.
We first met Richard when he was working as a journalist in Pattaya reporting on the Ladies European Thailand Championship in 2017 and he helped to bring international recognition to Atthaya Thitikul, who won the tournament when she was aged just 14 years, four months and 19 days old, becoming the youngest ever winner on the LET and the youngest golfer ever to win a professional golf tournament.
Richard became an enthusiastic supporter of the Tour and he supported many of the Thai golfers as they began their LET journey, helping them to get to grips with life as a touring professional as they travelled to Europe, often for the first time and he also caddied on several occasions.
One of the Thai players he supported was Kanyalak Preedasuuttijit, who won the Ladies European Thailand Championship in 2018 and who reported Richard’s passing on her Instagram account, with many photos of the pair at various tournaments together. Some people in life simply radiate joy and happiness and Richard would always bring a smile to anyone’s face with his quick wit and terrific sense of humour.
Originally from Somerset, Richard had recently returned to England to look after his elderly mother during lockdown. He was a retired school teacher and a former county cricketer who played with Ian Botham as a youngster and he had the utmost respect of his former students.
One of Richard’s friends, Derek Thorogood, wrote on Richard’s Facebook page that Richard had been out for a leisurely stroll when he collapsed and sadly was unable to be resuscitated.
He wrote: “Those of you who knew Richard will be as devastated as we are by this news and of behalf of everyone I will send our condolences to his family. RIP Richard you were an absolute gentleman and extremely well respected amongst your peers, myself, Billy and all of your friends here in Thailand as well as those overseas, who are going to miss you dearly.”
