Mary Browne still remembers joining the Rotorua Golf Club in April 1973.

Now, 50 years later, she and fellow golfer Sammy Lean are celebrating being members for half a century.

Browne, who turns 81 today, said she celebrated on Thursday with a gathering of past and present members with lunch and a “glass of bubbly”.

“We toasted everyone’s good health and shared stories.”

Browne, who is a patron of the golf club, said every now and again she looked for an excuse “to have a bit of a celebration”.

On Thursday, they were also celebrating the women’s club captains from 1989 to the present day, with 16 out of 19 people coming together for it.

Browne said she started playing golf because of her mother. Her husband was also a golfer.

“She [her mother] came to Rotorua during the 1960s ... and she encouraged me to play.

“My mum was a member when I joined and mum wouldn’t play with me until I got my handicap,” she said with a laugh.

“It was a big deal to get your handicap and sometimes it took quite some time. We had to hit 107 around the course as it was then, and that was, for a beginner, a difficult target.

Mary Browne and Sammy Lean met through the Rotorua Golf Club. Photo / Zoe Adams

“Now the girls can begin playing and ... there isn’t that restriction that we had.”

Browne, originally from Auckland, said she moved to Rotorua with her husband in 1963 and had lived there since.

She was working part-time when she started playing golf and met Lean through the club.

Asked what her favourite golf memory was, Browne said there were “a lot of them,” including the day she got her handicap and getting a couple of holes-in-one.

“My husband and I were involved in building the little bridge on the fourteenth [hole] and the day that was opened ... was memorable.

She said her best golf score was when she broke 80.

“And whenever I got anywhere near 80, I’d blow up and have a hole that would stop me breaking the 80 again.”

Asked if more women were playing golf now when compared to 50 years ago, Browne said “no, sadly”.

“The situation’s changed in that so many of the women are working now. When I joined, a lot of them, married women, were looking for something to do so they took up golf.

“We haven’t the young women members that we would like.”

Browne said she now played golf twice per week.

“I fell in love with the course and the golf club and it’s been a great part of my life ever since.”