Hi all,

Ooh I can feel it warming up a bit! Maybe Spring is getting ready to spring! I love a good daffodil so I am excited.

This week saw our new, red and shiny Junior Noticeboard installed in the Club House. I urge all our youngsters to seek it out and find out details of coaching dates, club competitions and special events coming soon. With this new board, you also don't need to stand out in the freezing cold whilst you're organising your golf diary!! I would also welcome any new junior golfing photos for the gallery.

I have also added some information about local Junior Opens, so if you would like to play, please see the new junior noticeboard or pop in for an entry form.

We held our Pro Shop Stableford last weekend. The winner was Stuart Palmer with 42 points (OCB), and in second place came Alan Roe with 42 points.

Well done to you both guys, many congratulations!

This week I had a report from Rose, Ladies' Captain. I was thrilled to hear the following news!

"I'm pleased to advise that B&C won the first round of the Mail on Sunday competition beating Shirehampton at home. Well done to the team, Karen Price, Paula Keaney, Lynne Vowles, Paula Crabtree and Katie McConochie and good luck going forward!"

Thanks for this Rose and well played Ladies!

Speaking of our lovely Ladies' Section, in the 3 Ball Bowmaker the winners were Jane Watts, Marion Jackson and Eva Tucker. In second place were Laureen Clew, Sandra Gibbs and Lynne Vowles, and coming third Adelaide Ferguson, Jo Harrison and Christine Taylor. Well played to you all Ladies!

The very lovely Gordon Sanderson won the Seniors Stableford last week with an impressive 44 points. Congrats Gordon! In second place came Andrew Cheetham and in third place Doug Peters with 39 points. Well done to you all.

Some really great golf is being played, and you all deserve big warm hugs for playing such great games in such cold weather.

So now I can finally tell you what I have been keeping secret! Quite a few months ago, my wonderful county development officer Debbie Casling sent me an email. In the email was an application form for GOLFMARK CLUB OF THE YEAR. At the time, I said to Debbie that I didn't think we had any chance but she told me that what we do here is impressive and we definitely did have a chance. One dark night, when Cam was tucked up in bed (are you sitting comfortably…?!) I decided that I would at least try to apply. We are after all a good club and I feel we deserve some recognition for the work we do. I spent a few hours filling out the three page form and telling people how good our club is, how much work our academy does with juniors and disabled people and how our policies and procedures are expertly prepared. I emailed the form back to Debbie and sat back to wait.

I didn't hear anything for a long while, and then out of the blue I received an email from England Golf. Out of the whole of the UK, Bristol & Clifton had been shortlisted (only 3 clubs shortlisted) for Club of the Year. Oh, my, gosh!!! I contacted Debbie who screamed! She said a Gloucestershire club has never got this far in the application and she was so thrilled.

We had our interview in January, with less than a week's notice, and Paul & I spent many hours preparing a presentation of slides for the panel to watch. On the big screen it is very humbling to see the disabled children in the range, and very uplifting to watch all our juniors having fun at the passport sessions.

We unfortunately are unlikely to win, as we had been warned there was stiff competition, but I am excited that we have been chosen as one of three in the whole country considered to be club of the year. We will be featured on the County Golf Partnership website, as well as the Ladies' Association website. This is really great for B&C as it makes us more visible and shows how fabulous we are!

Now I feel all unburdened! I will of course be reapplying next year, when we have done even more coaching, Get Into Golf Days, School work, disability sessions etc etc etc. I don't give in easily ha ha (more stubborn than a mule).

Over to Paul for his report this week!

The new Callaway Fitting Cart has finally arrived and will allow us to comprehensively fit woods and irons to benefit your game. I have carried out a few Callaway fittings in the past week and have been impressed with the performance of their products and I am thrilled to be an authorised fitter and stockist. The Big Bertha Alpha 815 driver and woods are quite simply, awesome! An hour fitting is just £30 with the FlightScope launch monitor so why not see if we can gain those advantageous extra yards?

Chris Wood has started to hit the odd driver here and there and even though he is contracted to Mizuno, he plays with a Callaway driver (Ssssshhhhhhh). His wrist is getting better and sensibly has taken the rehabilitation very carefully. We are flying to Dubai on Monday to get some pre-tournament practice at Jumeriah Estates and Chris will fly on to South Africa from there to play his first event of the 2015 season. He has lost a little bit of club head speed, approximately 4 miles an hour, which is roughly 16 yards of distance but as he gains confidence and momentum, the distance will return. He has also started a new golf specific gym regime which is going to have a positive effect, not only on his fitness levels but his efficiency of his golf swing. The main goal now is to get into the Ryder Cup team in 2016 and qualification starts in September.

Thanks Paul, exciting times ahead!

On another note, my thank yous this week are for Peter Southerby for my new office chair. My old one had springs poking out the bottom (no fat jokes please! Unless they're funny!) and Peter came to the rescue with a replacement. Thanks Peter.

I also want to thank John Savva for our grapes and blueberries. They were eaten so quickly that John bought us even more the next day! Awwww he's so sweet, we love him.

I also wanted to show you my next slow cooker effort - one veggie Balti cooked for three and a half hours on high. Wooooo hooooo, you've gotta love a curry! I am learning all the time and grateful for the help of Mary.

Have a great week everyone!

Caren, Paul, Kris, Andy & Luke