Keen golfer Tom Staines celebrated his 90th birthday last Thursday the way he spends much of his time these days - on the golf course.
The Hillingdon man ushered in his ninth decade with 12 holes at Uxbridge Golf Course with regular partner Ron Harris, who have played together for 10 years now.
Gazette Sport caught up with him later that afternoon when he was passing the time somewhat more sedately, doing crosswords, sudoku and reading the paper.
"I really enjoyed it," said Staines, who likes to play 18 holes two or three times a week. "It was the usual good shots coupled with the ones that are not so good, but that's golf!
"It's one of the hardest courses (physically) because it's all up hill and down dale."
Staines took up the sport 29 years ago when, completely out of the blue, his son suggested a game while on holiday on the Isle of Man.
He caught the bug and has played ever since.
"The intriguing part that keeps everybody going is you never know how you're going to get on," he added. "You can go out for the first nine holes and play beautifully and all of a sudden you can collapse and that's how it is for everybody.
"It's the really good shots that keep you going."
