WHEN David Wilkinson talks about his golfing handicap, he’s not just referring to the numbers on his scorecard at the end of a match.

For the former pub landlord from Abingdon needed a prosthetic limb fitted after his left leg was amputated above the knee two years ago.

But Mr Wilkinson loved the sport so much that he was determined his disability would not keep him off the golf course.

After practising hard to perfect his technique following the operation, he has now been picked to represent the Disabled Golf Society’s England team in an international match against Scotland.

The 70-year-old, who lives with wife Claudia, 59, off Drayton Road, said he was delighted to be selected to play for his country at the tournament in Northumberland next month.

He said: “I needed the prosthetic limb after suffering an aneurysm which cut off the circulation in my left leg. I was driving through Blewbury two years ago when the attack happened and had to go straight to hospital and the operation took place on October 12, 2009.

“After a few days in hospital I was determined to get back on the golf course and started playing golf again five months later.”

Mr Wilkinson, a father-of-four, uses a golf buggy to get around the course and his wife usually caddies for him.

But he will be assigned a competition caddie in the three-day contest at Slaley Hall near Hexham, Northumberland, which begins on Friday, October 7.

He said: “There are 16 of us in this England team. I’m right-handed so I’ve had to adjust my technique because I used to use my left leg to pivot.

“Now I have to rely much more on my right leg instead because if you put too much weight on a prosthetic leg it can collapse.

“But the ball still goes where I want it to go and I can hit it about 170 yards from the tee.

“Before the operation, I played off a handicap of 23 but I now play off 30, which is a handicap adjusted by the society for the disabled.

“As a former soldier I think it would be great if soldiers who have lost limbs in Afghanistan contacted the society so that we could help them to play.”

Between 1959 and 1964, Mr Wilkinson served with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, based in Malaya, now Malaysia.

He started playing golf at Hadden Hill golf club near Didcot during his four-year spell as landlord of the Coach and Horses pub in Wallingford.

England captain Graeme Robertson, 48, said: “This Pan-Disability International will showcase the true heart of the sport of disabled golf to the world.

“Players have different disabilities and include amputees, one-arm golfers, those with learning difficulties and a range of mobility issues such as multiple sclerosis, stroke, and arthritis.”

For more information visit disabledgolfsociety.com