AT the grand old age of 99 Eddie Hughes still enjoys a round - of golf at his local club.

He's Whitley Golf Club's oldest member and has been asked to tee off at its annual open competition on Saturday.

Because the 8am start is a tad too early for him, the club has agreed Eddie will hit a ball from the first tee at 12.30pm instead.

The club’s golf manager Boyd Jackson said: “Eddie is absolutely amazing. He still enjoys his golf every week.”

Former chauffeur Mr Hughes will be driven to the course and will celebrate his 100th birthday on September 11. He still plays a round of golf every week on the club’s nine-hole course.

Mr Hughes, of Little Notton, said: "I first started playing golf at Gleneagles just after the Second World War.

"I have really enjoyed it and have been very lucky to meet so many interesting people.

"I will play as long as I am able to walk and if people will continue to play with me I will be pleased."

Bob Nicholas created Whitley Golf Club from farmland in the 1990s and says: "Eddie is unbelievable. He still hits a good ball."

Mr Hughes has been a member of the club since 1993 and taught Mr Nicholas’s two sons, Tom and Jack, how to play golf when they were younger.

He usually plays with two old friends, Rod Bracey, 78, from Bath, and Dave Orledge, 81, from Corsham.

Mr Bracey added: "Eddie is very competitive and still gets annoyed when he hits a bad shot."

Eddie once had a golf handicap in single figures and always played amateur golf, although his son Ronald is an ex-professional.

He gave up playing competition golf three years ago and says his wife, Georgina, 95, has "never minded" him being on the course for hours at a time.

"I have played at the top golf courses and used to play Turnberry two or three times a year," said Mr Hughes.

"I have met a lot of the top professionals, including Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and many of the other golfing greats.

"I have enjoyed every minute of it," said Mr Hughes, a former Royal Air Force armourer who served in India and Burma.

He and his wife also have a daughter, Susan, and two grandchildren.

Whitley Golf Club has around 280 members and up to 56 will be taking part in Saturday's annual open competition.