A YOUNG champion golfer suffered a setback at the start of her season when her £2,500 custom-made golf clubs were stolen.

Lauren Diggle, 20, of Priory Close, Caerleon, formerly Welsh schools champion and county champion, had her clubs stolen from The Celtic Manor Resort Golf Club, New-port, where she is club champion.

The England squad member left the 14 clubs in a bag with other members' clubs outside a function room while she attended a club presentation on Sunday afternoon.

Dad Dr John Diggle, a GP and a keen golfer, was with her. He said: "When the presentation was over we came out at 7pm and the clubs were gone.

"They were her individual clubs and she is very upset to lose them. "Some of it cannot be replaced. It's the worst time of year for a player to have to change all their clubs. It's normally done in October, so they can get used to the new set before the season begins."

Lauren, a student of sports science at the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff, used unfamiliar clubs in a national universities championship in Strathclyde this week. Dr Diggle said it may have cost her team the game.