Former weatherman Ron Lobeck has spoken of his link to Chestfield Golf Club and Abe Mitchell - the man represented on top of the Ryder Cup.

Lobeck, now 88, was given Mitchell’s clubs when he first got involved in the sport while in the navy in the 1960s.

Having moved to Canterbury’s Tyler Hill to start working as a weatherman for Television South (TVS), he joined Chestfield, based in Whitstable, in the 1980s.

Now having started to use more modern clubs, Lobeck realised while at Chestfield one day that the clubs he had been handed were those Mitchell had used when he officially opened the same Chestfield GC.

The timing of the story is particularly apt as the club mark their centenary year. Lobeck used those clubs at a Chestfield event as part of their celebrations in early May.

Lobeck said: “I joined the Navy in 1962, although I’m a chemist by profession.

“I eventually transferred to a permanent commission and I got interested in golf. But I couldn’t afford to buy clubs or anything at that stage.

“I realised, if I was going to get the full benefits of being a naval officer, I needed golf clubs.

“I was given an ancient pre-war bag with these clubs in them.

"It was quite small - it fitted quite nicely in my cabin - because I was in a warship and about to do a big tour around two-thirds of the world. That bag contained clubs by Abe Mitchell.

“Abe Mitchell is the man who did the official opening of Chestfield Golf Club in 1924.

“These clubs were given to me in 1966 when I was in a warship serving in Portsmouth. I used them on golf courses around Portsmouth.

“Every time I played golf, I used these clubs.

"When I came back, I continued to use them until I left the Navy in 1982 when I moved from Portsmouth to Canterbury in order to become the weatherman for TVS.

“I happened to mention that I was a golfer and I was invited down to Chestfield Golf Club to have a round of golf and a meal with my wife.

“Almost immediately, I became a member. I joined in 1983.

“I had been using these clubs for the best part of six or eight months after that and I decided they’re a bit naff.

"I ought to buy a new set, which I did and I put them in the garage.

“Subsequently, I noticed there was this photo in the [Chestfield GC] clubhouse of Abe Mitchell doing the opening of the club.

"I thought ‘That rings a bell’ - and suddenly, I realised I had been using Abe Mitchell clubs at the golf club where he had performed the opening ceremony!”