Ten years ago Gloucestershire had 31 active clubs and less than 13,000 members, it now has 43 active clubs and 19,600 members.

This is a huge explosion in the number of facilities to play golf and the number of members in the county. The spread of clubs throughout Gloucestershire stretches from Broadway and Ross-on-Wye in the north to Bristol and Clifton and Long Ashton in the south.

Then it goes from Forest Hills and the Forest of Dean in the west to The Kendleshire and The Players Club in the east.

The only disappointment is that in the last three years membership has been almost static at just under 20,000.

Worse, the average age of golfers in the county is 54, last year it was 53 and next year will be almost 55.

There are vacancies for all categories of golfer in most clubs and the County Union are pushing hard for all their member clubs to take in more juniors.

There has been a great response and junior membership for both boys and girls is the fastest growing category this year.

The governing body for Gloucestershire is the Gloucestershire Golf Union (GGU). They are responsible for the application of a standard scratch and the handicaps of all its' members.

They assist in setting local rules, give decisions on the interpretation of the rules, run county championships for all the different categories of membership and also run informative meetings on many subjects.

The county also runs a first and second team, junior under 18, under 16 and under 14 teams as well as a senior (over 55) team.

All play other counties in the South West, Midlands and South Wales. They also play regional tournaments to try and secure places in national finals.

Gloucestershire men's and junior teams have been extremely successful over the past five years, qualifying for national finals on many occasions.

The coaching programme for promising young Gloucestershire golfers is the envy of the rest of the country and around 60 or more players receive expert training on the game, fitness and diet and psychology. There are many opportunities for young people to excel at this great sport and most clubs will welcome new membership enquiries.

Ed Butler of Lansdown Golf Club is one of the young players to benefit, he is the current holder of the Duchess Salver (Gloucestershire's order of merit) and he has made a very successful start to the new season.

He won the West of England Strokeplay Championship at Saunton and finished 7th in the prestigious Lytham Trophy at Lytham St. Annes. He now lies 5th in the English order of merit.

Other players to look out for include Mike Unwin (Brickhampton Court), Andy Rudge (Bristol & Clifton) Mathew Stanford (Bristol & Clifton) and young 16 year old Shane Winstone (Knowle).

All members of a GGU club can obtain a special inter-county card for £8 that will allow them to play over 120 clubs throughout Dorset, Gloucestershire Somerset and Wiltshire for around half of the usual green fee.

This year the card has been extended to include ladies of Gloucestershire Ladies County Golf Association and this is making the card even more successful in 2003.

For the first time Gloucestershire has had one of its own members elected to become President of The English Golf Union. Paul Fisher has been a member of The GGU as a player and official since 1965.

He is a member of Minchinhampton Golf Club and is known throughout the world as a rules and handicapping expert. Paul will become EGU President in 2004.

It will be a proud year for Gloucestershire Golf Union which will celebrate its centenary in 2006 having been formed by eight clubs at a meeting in the Wellington Hotel Gloucester.

H.W. Grimes of Gloucester Golf Club was elected secretary and General C. A. Cunningham of Cheltenham Golf Club (now Lilley Brook) was elected the first president of the Union.

Their vision has made Gloucestershire a top class name in the world of English golf. It would be nice to think that the GGU will be 40,0000 strong 100 years from now.