A Watford golf centre has come up with an unusual way to celebrate next month’s Ryder Cup – by adopting a mule.

The TopGolf centre, in Bushey Mill Lane, will adopt the animal for a year if, over the course of the three-day event, customers manage to hit 50 balls into the top of the centre’s very own mule – a small cart used to collect spent balls.

The vehicle will be decorated in European and USA colours and will provide a colourful moving target.

If players meet the challenge the company will pay for one year’s upkeep at the Redwings Horse Sanctuary, in Hapton, Norfolk.

The Ryder Cup, a team golf event, will be contested between a European and USA team in Wales between October 1 and 3.