A LOCAL golf club rolled out the red carpet for a group of cruise ship tourists from Canada who had a tee-rrific time playing the course.

Port Glasgow Golf Club welcomed the Lucas family from Ontario for a round yesterday. 

The group of 12 golf fans stopped off at the club after disembarking from the Regal Princess when she arrived in Greenock on a cruise of the British Isles. 

The group comprised five siblings and their parents, and the five siblings' spouses.

Lori Lucas said her family had named their day at Port Glasgow Golf Club the Lucas Open and they were delighted with the local course. 

Lori said: "We golf a lot at home and really wanted to do that here. It's an absolutely beautiful course.

"We're all very excited to play, it's going to be so much fun." 

Lori and her sisters Audrey, Kerry and Christine and her brother Anthony arrived with their parents Betty and George, and their partners Phil, Jeremy, Doug, Justin, and Brenda. 

Greenock Telegraph:
The family had visited Paris, Belgium, and Amsterdam, before they hopped on the cruise.

Lori said everyone was excited to see more of Inverclyde before getting back on board the Regal Princess last night. 

She said: "We're having a great time. 

"After we're done here we're going to go and find a pub somewhere!"

Brenda Lucas, who is married to Lori's brother Anthony, said she was 'really excited' to be here as her maternal grandmother was Scottish. 

She said: "I'm going to research my family history and try to investigate where I should visit."

The team at Port Glasgow Golf Club were contacted by Lori several months ago about setting up a visit. 

Club secretary Tommy Mailey said: "Lori got in touch through our website. 

"The family knew what types of clubs they needed, they're clearly serious golfers. 

"It was brilliant to welcome them to the course."

Tommy said greenskeeper Jim McCurdy had the course looking fantastic for the family's visit. 

Greenock Telegraph:
Tommy says the club hope to host other big groups from cruse ships in the future. 

He added: "We found a company in Edinburgh that we could hire clubs from, and our visitors were happy to pay for the hire.

"We had been thinking about doing these types of activities for the last couple of years, and now we know how to go about it.

"The family have been great and we were really happy to welcome them today. 

"It's worked out really well and we would love to do it again."