Alan Taylor has broken his age at golf many times … 47 to be exact, which is not to be sneezed at.

But what happened at Maroochy River Golf Club recently was something even more special for the 78-year-old known around the club as ‘Big Al’.

In shooting a 4-under par 68 in competition at the par-72 course on 19 August, Taylor broke his age by a whopping 10 shots.

It sent staff at the club into a search of the record books to see if had ever happened before.

Turns out that while records are sketchy, the pro record is 10 shots by the New Zealander Bob Charles, who shot a 68 when he was 78 years old. There is an instance on the senior tours of a player in California – John Powell – breaking his age by 22 shots in shooting 64, aged 85.

The Guinness World Records credits a Canadian, Mike Barber, with having broken his age 1140 times.

It’s not immediately clear if anyone has lowered their age by 10 shots or more in Australia, but Alan Taylor has not given up on this yet.

He still plays off a 4.6 handicap, four times a week at Maroochy, albeit that he has deigned to use a cart in recent years. He has won the veterans championship at the club three times (and won the club comp on this day with 45 points).

“Golf is that sort of sport,” he said. “It’s the beauty of golf. You can continue to play as long as your body is okay.

“I’ve lost a club in the last five years in distance. You have to accept that; nothing you can do about it. Just don’t hit it as far.”

In his round of 68 he went on a tear, making birdie at six of the last seven holes. “It was one of those days when I just looked at the hole, and it was as though the hole had a magnet in it.”

The secret to his longevity, he says, is in his swing. “It’s developing a swing that is consistent and doesn’t exert too much pressure on my body. That’s the secret, developing a swing that doesn’t hurt you. Balance is important and you’ve got to be a good putter and chipper.”

He keeps a list of the times that he has broken his age or equalled it, and he has no plans of stopping. “I think if I stopped playing golf my wife would go mad!” he said. “I’ll play as long as I can. If I get to double figures (handicap), I might consider giving up!”