A GOLFER who kept playing at Selby Golf Club right up to her 90th birthday has died.

To the town's golf fans, much-loved Bess Maude was a familiar face on the fairway.

She even put her putting skills to good use, raising hundreds of pounds for Selby good causes.

Mrs Maude died on Tuesday, in Selby's Denison House Nursing Home, aged 93.

Still golfing at the age of 90, Mrs Maude had a handicap of 40 - although at one time it was an impressive 21.

Today, Selby Golf Club secretary Neil Proctor paid tribute to Mrs Maude. He said: "She was certainly our oldest playing member, and was very active, right up to her 90th birthday.

"Ever since she joined on January 1, 1960, she has been a regular. She would be up at the course every week, and everyone knew her face.

"It's sad that she's passed away, but she had a very active life, and she was very well-liked at the club."

Mrs Maude was originally from Shropshire, but she moved to Yorkshire during her teens. She also spent a number of years living in California during the 1950s.

Formerly of Fir Tree Lane, Thorpe Willoughby, she took up golf when she married her husband, Jack, because "he was a keen golfer and I did not want to die of boredom".

Jack passed away in 1976, but Mrs Maude kept on playing.

For her 90th birthday she had three parties - one at her church, one at the golf club and one at home with close friends.

Instead of presents, she asked people to make donations to the Selby War Memorial Hospital, where Jack had spent some time before his death, and raised £300.

The funeral service and committal will take place at 11am on Wednesday, January 10, at the United Reformed Church in Selby. In lieu of flowers, well-wishers are invited to send donations to the United Reformed Church and the Friends of Selby Hospital.