Hi everyone,

I am so disappointed that the Matt Hawker Anniversary bowl had to be cancelled this weekend. The heavens opened and the greens were yucky, so there was little choice but to cancel the competition. It will be played at a later date, probably after Christmas, and I will be rooting for Matt to win it because he's lovely (and the rest of you are also lovely, but I am supporting my buddy!)

This week saw some real wintry weather, but the Ladies still battled on, and in the yellow ball competition on the 18th, our brilliant captain's wife Shamim, alongside Liz Hale and Julie Knox, took top spot. What a great result! Karen Smith, Ali Vyas and Janno English came second, pushing Eva Tucker, Julia Bailey and Gerry Badger into third. Well played ladies!

The Captain's Dinner

There was also a very special evening on Saturday. The Captain's Dinner is always a wonderful affair, a night to dress up in posh frocks and black tie, and Azim's night was equally enjoyable for the guests in attendance. Bob Bennett made a wonderful master of ceremonies, all the speeches were fabulous and the music from Tessitoura enjoyed by all. Thank you Azim for hosting such a brilliant evening, and I wish I could have been there to share it with you. The following photos are courtesy of the wonderful Bob Bennett.

Lady Captain's Lunch

I have very kindly been invited to the Ladies Christmas lunch on December 9th by our new Ladies' Captain Rose. I am very much looking forward to this as it is always a whole heap of fun! We have had some great lunches and I know this will be, as Rose described, "riotous"!! Rose I am very grateful for the invite and I will see you all on 9th December.

This week we have been into Kingsweston special school for the first of a five week series of inclusive golf sessions at their playing field. The group of 17 pupils were of mixed ability and we separated them into two teams to share coaching. One group was more able than the other, and we were a little concerned when told one young girl had such severe needs that there were two carers with her at all times. However my team are so kind and so patient, and such good coaches, that by the end of the session this young girl was hitting balls and enjoying herself. I am really grateful to my guys for giving their time so freely to help others. It is rare to find people who are so generous, and I am lucky.

We have also just signed up to a run of 6 weekly sessions at Belgrave specialist dyslexia school at Easter 2015, funded by the Golf Foundation. This will give us a regular commitment with the school, and the more we work with the same pupils, the more improvements can be made. This is a great way for the children to have their daily occupational therapy in a safe and fun way, rather than the usual OT structure.

We finished our four session inclusive special needs golf winter series at B&C this weekend, and all of the five attendees from this group have signed up for our next four session Spring series here in April. They all did so well and we gave each of them a Christmas treat bag because they are great kids. I am looking forward to seeing them all again when it warms up. We have also recruited some pupils from Kingsweston School who are joining us here at this group, so it keeps growing and I love that we can do this. Thanks to all of you for being so patient and kind and supporting us.

And to top off our Academy news, we have now agreed our level two school games event Tri Golf Festival date for 2015. We have booked and confirmed 24th June 2015, and we will once again be hosting the second qualifying round. There should be over 100 pupils descending on B&C to compete to go on to the final round at Bath University. Last year Paul and the staff coached 110 children through eight tri golf games, and this year we want to increase our numbers to 140. Challenge us, we won't back down! I am also in talks to run a second festival here in July. Woooooo hoooooo! Sometimes I think we must be potty but we like to fly by the seat of our pants in this academy.

Now on to a little thank you from Luke:

"Its official, I can celebrate the completion of my Golf Foundation Degree and PGA training. I would like to thank Paul, Caren and all the members of Bristol and Clifton Golf Club for all their support over the last three years in helping me achieve this qualification and my membership of the PGA.

It is my intention to develop my coaching skills further at the Paul Mitchell Golf Academy and I look forward to your continued support. Watch out for my winter coaching program and website that I will be launching very soon.

Kind regards,

Luke Fraser"

Thanks for that Luke, now we move on to a write up of the PGA residential from Andy:

"Moving with the times!

Last week I attended my third year residential week at the PGA headquarters at The Belfry. The week involves brushing up on the latest information to keep all of us aspiring professionals at the top of our game. I always look forward to this week as we are privileged to be taught by those at the top of their professions, plus the food in the hotel is awesome!

I was lucky enough to be taught by one of the best strength and conditioning specialists in the country, which I particularly enjoyed! The field of strength and conditioning is forever changing and it was great to learn from one of the best in the business about new developments and challenge my thinking.

During the week I also had to show off my re-shafting skills in the workshop as well as gain knowledge of new club fitting ideas and how technology is changing how all levels of golfer choose clubs to suit their game.

I always learn so much on these residential weeks and I believe they are invaluable in helping me to offer you guys the best and most up to date service possible. If you stand still in this industry then you can miss out on so much!

Have a great week.

Andy"

Next week I will be proud to present a tip from the newest member of the team Kris. I hope you all enjoy our tips and learn from them. If you have any suggestions for anything you would like a tip on, please let me know and I will see what we can do!

Click here to get in touch if you have any questions/suggestions.

Christmas is getting nearer and (unfortunately)I will have to mention it (booooo)

We have absolutely loads of gift ideas here. This week I received my delivery of Ladies' gift boxed Glenmuir cotton and cashmere sweaters, and fleece snood and hat packs. These make such lovely presents for the Lady golfer in your life. Boys trust me she'll love it, especially if you buy her diamonds as well! Ladies these are great prezzies for your girlfriends. They are also easier to wrap in the box! I have just bought a pink sweater and it really feels lovely and good quality.

For the boys, we also have lambswool crested Glenmuir boxed sweaters. These wash well and look so smart. Girls get him a jumper to keep his cockles warm . Alternatively get him one of our new Vancouver waterproof jackets by Sunderland of Scotland. These are super cute, lightweight but guaranteed waterproof at just £89.99. A new delivery of jackets has just come in so take a look.

Don't forget the Professional's Christmas draw tickets, Daisy Garland Christmas cards, Frosty Fox snoods (the plain black ones are perfect for guys as well), bobble hats, FJ base layers, The Golfers Manual by Paige Warr also makes a nice little stocking filler and definitely worth a read. There is so much available I couldn't possible cover it all in this newsletter so pop in and look around!

Next weekend, on 6th December, we start our FREE mince pie and mulled wine, and this year even the mince pies will be warm (they're in Luke's armpits ha ha ha ha. Actually that's gross, please be assured they will be in my microwave). Please pop in and have a drink and nibble on us…!

Lastly thank you to Tom Counsell. Tom and I had a long chat about cooking a few weeks ago and he brought me a delicious recipe to try. It is always nice to have different suggestions, as a veggie for the past twenty seven years sometimes I get bored with it! However I am now looking for a Christmas pudding recipe for next year's pudding. I usually make a Christmas cake, but this year Cam is making one at school, so I promised I would make a Christmas pudding next year. I have never made a pudding and it scares me. If anyone has an easy and fail safe Christmas pudding recipe, I would be really grateful for it.

Bye for now you wonderful folks

Caren, Paul, Andy, Luke & Kris