MORE than 100 club members, family, friends and guests cheered on Barbara Salisbury as she teed off in style at Reading GC's annual ladies' captain's drive-in on Sunday.

On a bright but extremely cold day, first hole looked quite a spectacle as Salisbury arrived on the first Tee under the guidance of Head Professional Joe Templer.

She was greeted by many of the past ladies' captains of the club, and her drive was played from a snowball which was used to create a tee made by Templer.

Salisbury struck the golf ball straight up the first fairway and received a rapturous applause from the crowd and a well-earned glass of champagne.

All of the proceeds raised throughout her year as captain will be donated to her chosen charity, Daisy’s Dream.

The previous week saw David Brown start his year in office with the same traditional drive-in.

On a warmer but wetter and windier morning, more than 200 spectators came out to show their support to Brown.

Supported on the first tee by vice-captain, John Rusby, Brown used his 1993 Ryder Cup commemorative Persimmon Driver to strike his tee shot straight down the first fairway.

Shortly afterwards, he was greeted by the past captains of Reading GC, dressed in their captain's blazers, and was presented with his own.

In the morning shotgun competition with more than 90 entries, and played under the best two scores from four format, the winning team with a fantastic 94 points came from Clive Court, Jamie Sawyer, Rob Burfitt and Terry Benham.

All of the proceeds raised from the day and throughout the year will be donated to the Brown’s chosen charity, Prostate Cancer U.K.

l THEALE Golf Club held a members' meeting welcoming John Kennedy, CEO of Berks, Bucks and Oxon Golf, who made a presentation to members on the new changes to the rules of golf.

His presentation had videos produced by the R&A, which showed the changes much better than words could.

The last changes to the rules were in 1984 and these were the biggest ever known – do not expect to remember them all straight away he warned.

Kennedy covered all the major changes and explained why they have been brought about.

One reason was to speed up the game, but the changes also removed penalties for infringements which were accidental.

Many of the terms used in golf have also been changed, for instance, hazards are now called penalty areas.

He also gave a preview of the changes to the handicapping system planned for 2020.

It would follow what the rest of the world does already and would result in handicaps changing daily.

They will also be influenced by the difficulty of courses played.

l Kjersti Cannon and Kathy North are the new holders of the Weller Winter Pairs at Caversham Heath.

The duo beat Daphne Baker and Lynne Rumbold in the final.

The January club medal at Deanwood was won by Dave Lyons, with the ladies' event taken by Jane Connor and the seniors' going to Allen Thomas.

The monthly stableford contests went to Derek Major, Angels Dean and James Gould.

Club Captain Mike York held a quiz evening which raised £240 for his chosen Charity, the Samaritans, taking the total raised so far this year to £2700.