Although many of you might know me by sight I thought it would be appropriate to let you know me about me as hopefully I’ll be there at all the county events for the next two years and will get to meet and even have a game of golf with some of you!

I was born in Nuneaton but lived in Staffordshire from the age of 4, went to secondary school in North Wales, trained as a nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and spent 2 years in Australia after I qualified.

I started my golf when I was 19 at Brocton Hall in Stafford but the time spent in Sydney with the opportunity to play all year round meant I returned to England off a handicap of 9. I played in the Staffordshire 2nd and then 1st team and the pinnacle of my golfing career would have to be winning the Staffordshire championship in 1992!

I moved to Birmingham in 1987 as a Theatre Sister at Selly Oak Hospital where I am to this day and joined Edgbaston Golf Club in 1989, joining Warwickshire in 1995 which I consider one of the best decisions I have ever made!

To my great surprise I was asked me to join the Warwickshire squad and I have felt very much at home here ever since. Some of my best moments were being paired with Claire Dowling in the Foursomes and going out ‘top’ with her in a team is something to be cherished forever! So despite being away from Warwickshire for many years I now qualify on all accounts as a ‘Bear’ but when I am in the company of for instance, Pam Large, Sue Westall and Marsha Button realise I have a long way to go and that really I’m still just a ‘cub’!

As I said at the AGM I really am honoured to be your Captain and am privileged to be following in the footsteps of some wonderful golfers and personalities. So much has been achieved over the years in making Warwickshire a golfing county to be reckoned with and I feel my role over the next two years will be at various levels. As Captain of the 1st team I obviously would like the team to progress as far as possible, the ultimate prize being to win the national championship and I do believe we have a team who on the day could beat anyone. The entire team has talent and added to that, the experience and support of Tracy Atkin and Claire Dowling and the talent, energy and youth of Fliss Johnson and Hannah Coles But we also have the enthusiasm, commitment and dedication of Lisa Barton, Marsha Button, Claire Howells, Jane Mander and Anne Parry who despite all working full time will spend hours practising and travelling around the country to play in events to maintain their best possible standard. I feel this is what makes our team at the moment and that is why I feel we can take on and beat anyone. As for me, I feel I may try to be a combination of Miss Jean Brodie and Martin Johnson!

I am particularly looking forward to getting to meet and watch ‘Sylvia’s girls’. Our Juniors are coming on under Sylvia Evans’ guidance by leaps and bounds and Bev Belcher and I fully expect some girls to be playing in the 2nd team this year. Do make this the year when you come to watch the girls play - as I said at the AGM you will be delighted and enthralled by their ability and enthusiasm!

As equally important as being 1st team captain is my role as Captain of Warwickshire. We are so very fortunate to have Sue Westall as our President and none so more than me to offer advice and guidance but together with Sue, your Warwickshire committee works incredibly hard to create as many golfing and non-golfing opportunities as possible for the entire Warwickshire membership. You may not be aware, but some counties do not give their members a County Booklet - take a look at ours and you

will find all sorts of information and advice in there as well as the entry forms to all our competitions. Have a look at who has generously sponsored us -most of the sponsorship money goes to the 1st team for their training but this is vital for us to give our best golfers every opportunity to reach their highest level. Where would the England Rugby team have been without sponsors for coaching, kit, and accommodation expenses? Sponsors also support some of our events - these are for all of us and don’t think for one minute that that doesn’t mean you! We can promise that you will play with someone of a very similar handicap and if you play to your handicap there is a very good chance that you will be going home with a prize! Iris Howell, Ileen Fisher and Beth Towers have spent many hours putting the booklet together - Beth liasing with sponsors, Ileen writing and checking the competition pages but in particular Iris in detailing all the information and getting it to print. All this just days before Christmas!

The 1st Team have been asked by Andy Dunbar our Team coach to set ‘goals’ for themselves and I end by suggesting we all do the same. These are not unrealistic resolutions like giving up chocolate but small efforts we can make that are achievable and may surprise us with the thrill they will give us! So I challenge you all to set yourselves three goals for 2004 - they might be to go and watch a Juniors Event at a course near you, to enter a Warwickshire event for the first time, to telephone Jane Dennick and offer to help with the Grassroots Girls at one of her events, to find us a future sponsor so we can do more for all our members or if any of this has inspired you and you would like to get involved then speak to anyone of us on the committee and we should be delighted to give you more information.

Lastly on a personal note if you see me anywhere in 2004, please come and say hello and introduce yourselves! One of my goals is to get to know more of you!

I wish you again a very happy 2004 with many exciting and fulfilling golfing moments!