Ask me what it's like to be captain of your Golf club and I would probably answer you in the usual manner. Words such as "Pride", "Honour" and "Privilege" readily spring to mind.

I can assure you that it is all of those things. To be selected by your peers to be their figurehead is possibly the highest achievement anyone can attain.

But there is something else, another feeling which overwhelms me when I think of the position I have been chosen to fulfil. The best way I can describe it is "exciting".

Ask me why and I would definitely answer that it's because I am the Captain of Hazel Grove, one of the most forward thinking, modern-minded golf clubs in not only Cheshire, but the north west of England.

It is indeed exciting times at "The Grove". Whilst others bemoan the economic climate, blaming it for a lack of progress and decline in membership, we have grasped the nettle and embarked on a series of improvements which are transforming the course. Our membership is on the increase and we have a pro-active Council which is facing up to and overcoming the challenges laid down by the Credit Crunch.

As a result have a course that is second to none, greens that rank amongst the best in the country (don't ask us, ask the tour professionals who have played them) and an excellent club house with catering to match. Above all, we have a membership which is buoyant and enjoying its golf in the finest of surroundings and looking forward to the future.

Don't believe me? Come along and experience it for yourself. We have lots of great offers at the moment for societies, visitors and new members alike.

In a little over three years time we will celebrate our Centenary and you could be there celebrating it with us as a member.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Malcolm Shannon, Captain 2009-2010

For those of you in the know, Dr. Alister MacKenzie needs no introduction. For those who aren't, he is the renowned golf course architect, responsible for such masterpieces as America's Augusta National - home of the US Masters, Cypress Point and Crystal Downs, and Australia's Royal Melbourne.

His courses are revered by golfers the world over and Hazel Grove is very proud to have been one of his designs when the course was reconstructed in the 1920's, approximately 10 years before Augusta. We like to think that he gained his inspiration from the "Grove" but we are sure that all the other clubs who benefitted from his genius will say the same!

To find out more about the great man himself, his courses and the Society, visit the Alister MacKenzie Society of Great Britain and Ireland website.