GLOUCESTERSHIRE has become the focus of the national golf world following a prestigious appointment that has completed a remarkable and unprecedented double success.

The county recently became the first ever to hold the presidency of the English Golf Union and the chairmanship of the English Ladies' Golf Association at the same time, a unique achievement.

The appointment of Jenny Clink, who plays for Cheltenham club Lilley Brook, as ELGA chairman at the association's annual meeting in Leeds recently meant that Gloucestershire now has two representatives heading national organisations.

The popular Paul Fisher, from Minchinhampton, has been the EGU president since the spring, and recently made an appearance at Chipping Sodbury Golf Club to present an EGU centenary plate to the club at a special ceremony.

Fisher has now been joined in the golfing elite by Clink, who is one of the county's best-known faces on the fairway.

She became one of the South West's representatives on the executive panel four years ago and has also managed England's girls' international team for three years, taking them to the European Young Masters in Austria.

Clink captained Gloucestershire for two years and took the team to the county finals, and was also ladies captain at Lilley Brook in 1991.

On top of this, she is at the head of one of the county's premier golf families, with husband Mike, who plays off ten, the current Lilley Brook captain and son Tim, a one-handicapper, about to take over as the new Gloucestershire county captain.

Tim, 38, is a former playing partner of Nailsworth star Stuart Little, the European Tour left-hander, and has been a regular in the county team for five years.

With top golfers such as Little currently heading the county's conveyor belt of talent, it would appear that there has hardly been a better time to be a golfer in Gloucestershire than right now, with so many exciting things happening across the board.