A LLANDUDNO golf club is in celebratory mood after scooping a coveted national award.

The picturesque North Wales Golf Club came away with the Wales Club of the Year Award from the recent National Golf Awards ceremony, which was held in the 2010 Clubhouse at Ryder Cup venue Celtic Manor.

The club have increased membership by 237 over the last two years, with the average age of playing members dropping from 62 to 47 years-old.

It has also become a Golf Foundation HSBC Golf Roots Centre and has a number of different community interest that has boosted overall participation within the sport.

Their coaching team provides either free or low-cost lessons to approximately 250 children a week, including those with disabilities with almost half being girls.

The venue is also a Wales Golf Girls Hub club.

Phil Beard, general manager at North Wales Golf Club, said: “I think it is just fantastic recognition for North Wales golf across the board.

“Most of the clubs in North Wales have seen that we have been developing as a club over the last three years.

“A lot of our members will be shocked because a lot of the good work goes on behind the scenes. It is a tremendous opportunity for the club to actually shout about something and get the members behind what we are doing.

“We have had a tremendous growth over a short period but the challenge now is to continue that growth and to raise the profile, not just for our club but for North Wales golf as a whole.

“We are already working with two or three other clubs to try and help develop them, assistant pro Robin Hughes has been putting coaching programmes into other clubs trying to bring the kids along.

“We do not just see North Wales golf club as just our club, it is about developing the game of golf across the region.

“The focus for us has been developing as a community club which is open to anyone. The key to me is making sure we are accessible to anyone who wants to participate in the game of golf.

“Our schools programme is out there, including young people with disabilities, we know a lot will never join but the experience of playing this game is something we should be offering to everyone.

“Our big drive for women’s golf this year will be focused on the social opportunities, rather than playing. We are targeting getting 150 women socially active at the club and from there we will get a few who move into our New2Golf programmes.”