A 93-YEAR-OLD woman has `putt' in an amazing 80 years at Huddersfield Golf Club.

Other golfers in Kirklees have a fair way to go before they are on a par with Margaret Brierley. She has been a member of the Fixby club since she was 12.

And Meg, as she is known to her friends, only stopped playing about six years ago.

To mark her 80th anniversary the club threw a party for her, with cakes, scones and sandwiches. Friends, officials and her children, Ramsay Brierley and Jill Howarth, were there.

Mrs Brierley, who originally comes from Fixby but now lives on Daisy Lea Lane, Edgerton, said it was her dad who got her interested in golf.

She said: "He made me a member as soon as I was able to be one, which was at 12 years old.

"They took a pound off every year you were a member."

Mrs Brierley said she stopped paying a few years ago, when she was made an honorary member.

Despite her vast experience and years of practise she admits she is no world-beater.

She said: "I used to attend some competitions, but I was never a good golfer!

"But I enjoyed it. My golf was an enjoyment. I love trying to do things for the club.

"I have got many happy memories."

Mrs Brierley says she encountered very little prejudice over the years in a largely male-dominated sport. She added that the club had always had a good number of women players.

There used to be a group of about 12 women, who were all part of the so-called Meg's Circus.

Mrs Brierley used to arrange for them to go round nine holes of the course twice a week.

As for the day itself, she gave a short speech thanking club members.

She added: "It's been a very nice day. I've been overwhelmed."

Mrs Brierley was presented with a framed picture of the golf club

When Mrs Brierley was picking up her clubs up for the first time in 1926 these were some of the other events taking place:

* It was the year of the General Strike and Stanley Baldwin was Prime Minister.

* Queen Elizabeth II was born on April 21 and the liquid fuel rocket was invented.

* Eighty years ago the Examiner cost one old penny and a two-bedroom house in Birkby was advertised at £600.

* The Picturedrome was showing The Goose Woman and Fartown beat Oldham 8-3

* Huddersfield Golf Club was formed following a meeting held in the George Hotel on December 21, 1891.

* The course was laid out on the parkland turf of Fixby Park with the help of the owners, the Clarke Thornhill family.

* The first captain was Harry Huth and the first president was the Earl of Dartmouth.

* Prominent early visitors included the legendary Ben Sayers and brothers Tom and Harry Vardon.

* Other famous golfing visitors include Henry Cotton in 1936. In 1949 Roberto de Vicenzo became the first and only player to drive within 100 yards of the green on the 485yd 18th.

* South African star Gary Player is reported to have said that he wished he could carry the Fixby fairways with him around the world.

* Players who have brought honours to the club include Alex Herd, who, as club professional, won the Open Championship in 1902. John Fallon, a past Ryder Cup captain, was runner-up to Peter Thomson in the 1955 Open at St Andrews.

* In 1991 the club entered its centenary year and the centenary captain was Mr D F Roberts

* In 1992 club professional Paul Carman won the Leeds Cup, the oldest existing professional trophy, which bears the names of both Harry Vardon and John Fallon. Carman also distinguished himself on the European and African tours.