Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Anders Mankert has been awarded a British Empire Medal by King Charles for services to golf.
The Swedish-born coach, who now lives in England, has received the Honorary BEM as part of the King’s Birthday Honours List for his work with blind or partially-sighted people.
For the past 30 years, Mankert has coached at the golf centre he owns and runs on the site of Leicester Racecourse, with visually-impaired players among the families or solo golfers who either wish to take up the game or hone their skills.
Mankert's golf centre possess a 16-bay Toptracer range, a nine-hole golf course which is open to all, and an 18-hole space-themed adventure golf course.
Mankert was the first golf professional to coach totally blind or partially-sighted people when he began in the 1990s, and many of his pupils have gone on to enjoy competing in tournaments all around the world since.
The Honorary BEM will be presented to him by the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, at a ceremony to be confirmed, followed by a trip to Buckingham Palace next year.
Reacting to the news, Mankert said: “I am greatly honoured by the award of a BEM from the King and am looking forward to receiving it once the medal has been made in the next few months. My kids can even have their weddings in St Pauls cathedral one day now I’m told!”
The BEM marks the latest honor in a growing list for Mankert in 2025. Recently, the Top 50 Coach was made a patron of the England and Wales Blind Golf Association - becoming the first ever pro to hold the title.
Prior to that, Mankert became one of only 65 people in the 100-plus-year history of the Professional Golfers' Association to be acclaimed Master of the PGA - an award he was presented with at Birmingham University during the summer.
