A NEW terrace has been opened in memory of a much-loved golfer.

Building work on the terrace at Kirkbymoorside Golf Club, built in memory of president Mike Shields, who died last year, has just finished.

Keith Gavins, golf club committee member, said: “He was much- loved and very popular, both among the people of Kirkbymoorside Golf Club and among the golfing community in Yorkshire. The money to construct the terrace was raised through different events and contributions.”

Mike was president at the golf club for 10 years and Mr Gavins explained that in that time he oversaw many changes, including a new approach to the ecology of the club.

In 1999, the club commissioned a report by an environmental inspector who told them that there were more than 130 species of plants at the club and that many were rare.

There are also some small orchids growing on the golf course, which are particularly rare because they only grow on a particular kind of soil, which is present at the golf club.

One of the dew ponds on the course houses both the smooth newt and the palmate newt, which is very rare, and the golf club are careful to preserve the right habitat for these delicate creatures.

The club has also made a major cutback in the amount of fertiliser it uses, and more than 100 trees have been planted.

During Mike’s time as president, the club also began to focus on changing the perception of the sport of golf.

Mr Gavins said: “Most people think of golf as something that is stuffy, exclusive, and full of older men. Under Mike’s presidency we started to change that, and the changes have continued under the leadership of the new president, Dave Turnbull.”

The club has tried to do as much as possible to encourage younger players, from toddlers to 18-year-olds, to get involved in golf through their junior sessions.

Brian Carroll, an ex-captain at the club, said that Mike had made a huge difference to the club, and that he would be much missed.

He said: “Mike was known as ‘Mr Kirkbymoorside’ around here, and throughout golf societies in the area.

“His heart and soul was in Kirkbymoorside, and for us it was a small show of respect to raise the funds and get this terrace area built.”