Ely Golf Club s new captain Bob Harker is looking to hold a Ryder Cup-style match with a club of the same name in Minnesota, USA. He said: I ve looked around and could only find one other club in the world called Ely City Golf Club. Unfortunately, they

Ely Golf Club's new captain Bob Harker is looking to hold a Ryder Cup-style match with a club of the same name in Minnesota, USA.

He said: "I've looked around and could only find one other club in the world called Ely City Golf Club. Unfortunately, they are three feet deep in snow at the moment so we're going to have to figure things out.

"It will be a simplified format of the Ryder Cup, with each club selecting a team and then playing on our own respective courses on a single afternoon and comparing results. It will be a bit of fun, but I hope we stuff them like the Europeans did."

A large number of members braved the elements and attended the traditional drive-in of the newly-elected captains of Ely City Golf Club on Saturday.

All four captains had to drive a ball off the first tee in front of members and Luke Ryan carried on the tradition of the junior captain by out-driving the other captains, hitting an impressive 215 yards into a strong headwind and heavy rain.

Marjorie Miller enters her third year as the ladies' captain, and long-standing club member Jim Pugh has taken over as seniors' captain.

Harker said: "Captains have often been judged on how good the weather turns out to be during their time so it was a pretty dreadful start."

He added: "We had a very successful year in 2006 in terms of tournaments and trophies won so I'm very proud to be taking over and will do my best to ensure that this success continues.

"Our charity for the year will be East Anglia's Children's Hospices and we shall be holding lots of fund-raising events for the Milton hospice."

From left, Luke Ryan, Marjorie Miller, Bob Harker and Jim Pugh.

Photo: SUPPLIED.