AT the ripe age of 81, a golfer carded his first ace.

Having played at Bellingham for just 25 years, Alan Glass, who lives at Heddon-on-the-Wall, hit his first hole in one on the 17th at the Boggle Hole course.

Alan only started playing after his long cricket career came to an end, and he has made a big impact at the North Tyne golf club. During the 1990s, he served as captain.

His recent hole in one was one of his proudest highlights in the game.

He said: “The weather has been horrible and it was real windy. The 17th hole is a par three and not very long, but it’s like a wind tunnel in those circumstances.

“I hit it with my three wood and it was a really good strike, and my friend and I watched it bounce off the pin. I thought it bounced away from the hole but my friend said it bounced in, and it was a brilliant moment.”

The achievement was well celebrated at Bellingham as Alan has long been a popular member at the club.

Club chairman Graham Wilson described the moment he and half a dozen club members were informed of Alan’s ace.

He said: “There was only a handful of us in the clubhouse when he came in and he had a grin the width of the North Tyne.

“I think we were all genuinely really chuffed for him.

“But his timing wasn’t very good because we have a prize in the summer months called a ‘dream shot’, and if he had hit this shot in a few months we would have won £500.

“He will just have to do it again.”