Morag Roberts played at Forest Hills Golf Club on the day it opened on July 2nd 1992 and she has never looked back.

Now in her third stint as captain of the club’s ladies’ section, the 62-year-old enjoys the sport as much now as she ever did.

Like a number of golfers, she was late into the sport and had only just started swinging a club when Forest Hills opened.

“I used to go horseriding with my daughters,” she said. “But I came off a couple of times and thought, ‘I’m getting too old for this, I don’t want any broken bones’.”

So, she started hitting golf balls in a field close to where she then lived in Mitcheldean while waiting for Forest Hills to open.

“I’d also play at the 9-hole course at Rodway Hill which was a pay and play,” she said.

But everything was geared up for the grand opening at Forest Hills and Morag still has fond memories of her first time round the course.

“I played reasonably well,” she said. “I didn’t let myself down, I think I played quite well.”

These days Morag, who first captained the ladies’ section in 1998 before again taking on the role in the mid-noughties, plays off 12 and can be seen at the picturesque course at least twice every week.

“I still work so I can’t play all the time but I love it,” she said. “The weather never bothers me, I’ll play in any weather.

“We’ve got a great course, you won’t find another one like it round here. The fairways are superb. All the trees were deliberately planted, it’s not just a field.

“The bunkers are very well maintained and the course has grown up over the past 25 years.

“A lot of people talk about how good Ross is but I think our course is the best.”

The ladies’ section at Forest Hills has 40 members although there is a “hard core of 15 or so players”, said Morag, who lives in Cinderford.

So why has she been captain so many times?

“I wouldn’t say I like being captain,” said Morag. “It’s just one of those things. If nobody else will take it on I just say, ‘Okay, I’ll do it’.

“I have a very supportive committee who also work very hard raising funds for the section.”

So, what type of captain is she?

“I try to lead by example,” she said. “I always like to encourage people. I want people to enjoy their golf because that’s the reason we all play it.”

A couple of the club’s ladies are still playing in their 80s and Morag, who was born in Gloucester, said she wants to carry on enjoying the sport for as long as possible.

So, what’s her strength as a golfer?

“I’d say tee to green... but it falls apart on the putts,” she laughed.