Welcome to the latest edition of my newsletter. It has been a pretty decent week here at East Devon Golf Club, a tad on the cool side, but generally dry and bright. The course has been busy and the 3 main sections of the Club have been in competitive action.

The January Stableford went ahead as planned last weekend despite the early morning frost, a real credit to the greenstaff. It was very much a day for winter mitts, gloves, extra layers and bobble hats, but the 100 strong field battled it out determinably.

The star performer on the day, lifting the best overall score prize and victory in Division 2 was Chris Gore with an excellent 42 points.

Close on his heels and taking the honours in Division 3 was young Danny Lewis with 41 points and Glenn Page continued his run of early season form to claim top spot in Division 1 with 40 points.

The Senior's were out in force on Monday for a Greensome Stableford. 38 pairs ventured and scoring on the day was as impressive as usual. Romping to victory with an incredible 45 points was the pairing of Geoff Whiteley and Michael O'Reilly.

A Greensomes Stableford was also on the agenda for the Ladies on Tuesday. Scoring and playing conditions on the day were far from easy, bitter cold and some rain showers thrown in for good measure. Needless to say a number of the field failed to return! The leading ladies on the day, battling on through the elements and recording a tremendous 39 points was the pairing of Jenny Dobel and Jackie Lewis.

Congratulations to all the winners this week.

Martin Kaymer may have blown a 10-shot lead over the weekend but for the first three and a bit rounds he put on an exhibition in Abu Dhabi. Putting his final-day meltdown to one side, there was one shot during the third round that really stood out for us and that's when he holed a long greenside bunker shot for par when it looked for all the world he would walk off with a double bogey.

For many amateur golfers, bunker shots are feared to such a degree that they'd rather be anywhere but in the sand - but it needn't be that way if you work on your technique. Work on setting the ball forward in your stance; this will create a shallow angle of attack and encourage a sand-before-ball strike.

A simple drill to help you groove that perfect contact is draw a line in the bunker behind the ball, as shown. Concentrate on striking the line and after just a few goes you'll be amazed at how quickly the 'feel' develops. You may even come to relish a greenside bunker shot!

Click here to let us know how you get on or ask about a lesson if you want some help.