FURNESS golfers have been presented with a trophy to celebrate their decades of travelling to Wales.

Every year, a group of golfers makes the trip for the Open Week at Maesdu Golf Club, a tradition which began in the 1960s.

Paul Madden, who has made the trip every year but 1997, when his son was born, said: "You meet people from all over.

"I'm in contact with many people I've met in my years going down. You meet all these people who you see once a year and have a good crack with.

"The reasons the players keep going back above all is the extremely friendly nature of the Llandudno people."

At its most popular, groups of 30 to 40 golfers are said to have made the trip from Barrow, Ulverston and Dunnerholme, who would grace the fairways of Maesdu Golf in an effort to win one of the many prestigious competitions.

This includes the likes of Barrow sporting legend Willie Horne, who is more famed for his rugby status but was also a competitive golfer.

Nowadays, a more modest group of 10-15 make the trip, which consists of a week of golfing with participants from around the country.

And this year, to celebrate the centenary of the Maesdu Open Week, there was a prize in store for them.

A trophy was presented by the captain of Maesdu Golf Club to John Woodhouse, captain of Furness Golf, to thank them for their years of travelling.

Mr Madden remembers many of his years fondly.

He said: "We think Peter Sykes has been going every year for the past 48 years, which would mean he's been at nearly half of the events since it began!"

"There was a guy who was already there when we started going down, Peter Jones.

"He became club president, and said that he'd known us for so long he was going to treat us.

"He took us for a really nice meal at a fancy restaurant and it's just part of the hospitality we get going down there.

"It was a really special moment that I'll remember for a long time."

However, it wasn't all sunshine.

He said: "I remember two members of the group started going in 1993.

"It's burned in my memory because that was the year my car got stolen with all my clubs in it!

"It was eventually found in Liverpool and had to be written off."

Most of the players who went down this year have already signed up to make the trip again in 2022.