Golf ball lost years ago found embedded in tree trunk

Jim Cook has preserved the club's unique find - a golf ball embedded inside the trunk of a tree.The tree had apparently grown around the ball which had probably been lodged in its branches many years ago. It was discovered when Richard Mitchell, greenkeeper at the Eaton club in Norwich, felled the conifer and cut it into pieces, only to find the ball perfectly encased in the wood. Club manager Peter Johns said: "It's an incredible find. "It was pure luck that it was discovered. If Richard had cut the trunk an inch or two either way we'd never have known the ball was there. "We think the ball came off the first tee, went into the trees and was lost. "It must have lodged in a fork or embedded itself in the trunk and the tree just grew round it." Club officials now plan to use the cross-section as unique honour board to record all holes-in-one at the short ninth hole. The trees were felled during the winter maintenance programme after they were found to be dying and were draining much-needed moisture from the ninth green. Their removal is the first phase of a programme to reshape the area behind the green by extending a bunker, new tree planting and the creation of some mounds. It has been sent to craftsman and former golf captain Jim Cook who will preserve the wood.