One Direction's Niall Horan is made lifetime member of hometown Mullingar golf club 

One Direction's Niall Horan is made lifetime member of hometown Mullingar golf club

The singer won\'t ever have to play for a round of golf again as he said pal Rory McIlroy would be jealous of the honour

A lifetime of free golf! Niall Horan with Mullingar Golf Club captains Una Stephens and Michael Duffy. Hundreds turned up to see the keen young golfer get the award at Mullingar Golf Club on Saturday night

One Direction star Niall Horan will never have to pay for a round of golf in his native Mullingar again after he was made an honourary lifetime member of his hometown club.

As he picked up the award in front of a packed Mullingar Golf Club on Saturday night, Niall joked that pal Rory McIlroy would be jealous of the honour, as he is a big fan of the parkland course.

Niall said he and McIlroy were playing a round of golf in Australia a few weeks ago when they found themselves reminiscing about the Mullingar parkland course, remembering particular holes and obstacles on them.

"We were joking as to who could hit a shot over the big trees on the tenth hole," Niall told members of the club as he picked up his lifetime free pass. "He was picking out trees on the tenth that he likes to play over and I was thinking to myself \'Holy God, this is a good golf club\'".

Horan said he and McIlroy were in agreement that Mullingar was one of the finest courses they have played, but McIlroy will have to pay next time he\'s in Westmeath, something that Horan laughed about on Saturday.

"I said to him the other day that you don\'t have this and you\'re the best golfer in the world!"

When Niall joined the club aged 12 he paid a Junior Sub, and the 21 year old singing star has been happy to pay green fees every time he has played in recent years. Indeed, earlier this year, between Croke Park shows, big-hearted Niall hosted a pro-am classic which raised thousands for local charities.

Mullingar is home to the Scratch Cup, the top Irish tournament for amateurs which McIlroy won in 2006 having been beaten in a play off the year before.

Other golfers to have won the Scratch Cup included Darren Clarke, Des Smyth, Philip Walton, Paul McGinley, Shane Lowry and Padraig Harrington, who is also an honourary member along with local GUI official Albert Lee, one of the men man who discovered McIlroy all those years ago.

Bestowing the honour upon Niall Horan was Club Captain Michael Duffy and Lady Captain Una Stephens. Noting how Horan started off in Mullingar as a junior golfer in 2006 on a handicap of 80 they said he would currently be ranked as one of the best players in the country, having gotten himself down to a handicap of 11.

Niall has been out an about in Mullingar throughout the Christmas and was spotted in Finns Bar and Joe Dolan\'s nightclub \'Mojos\'.

The singer\'s mother Maura Gallagher and father Bobby Horan were with him as he received the honour at the golf club.

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