The inclement weather ensured a quiet weekend at the club. But it did create the chance of getting a nice picture of our Captain Richard, with some of the white stuff in the background. 

Let's hope for slightly warmer conditions although we have to remember it is the middle of January.

Work still goes on, and the next time you play the East you will see some changes to the left of the first green. Due to the green being in the shade, a couple of the more substantial trees were being removed by forester Terry Gladwell who was hard at work when I passed on Wednesday morning.

 

Last Wednesday I attended a FootJoy event at Urban Golf in Soho. I was chosen last year as one of a handful of FootJoy ambassadors throughout the country.

They invited us all down to look at some of the new product for winter 2017 and to try some of the shoes on offer this season (as well as picking our brains about the retail world).

One of the really exciting innovations is a bit of equipment that measures how your feet work and then it calculates the force you create culminating in a suggestion of the type of shoe you should be wearing. All clever stuff and I hope to get it to the club sometime in the Spring/Summer. Stay tuned for details.

At the FootJoy event we were shown the new Pro SL (image above) which I'm excited to be receiving in a few weeks time. I also had a sneaky win in the nearest the pin and fourth in the longest drive - not bad for an old boy.

 

It's a big week on the European Tour as the 2017 Desert Swing gets under way at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

Last year Rickie Fowler won his second European Tour title in a dramatic closing day at Abu Dhabi Golf Club where he finished one clear of Thomas Pieters and two clear of Henrik Stenson and Rory McIlroy.

Fowler double-bogeyed the par-3 seventh hole before holing a stunning bunker shot for eagle on the 8th which came ninth in the European Tour's shot of the year vote. He then chipped in on the 17th for birdie before paring the last for victory. 

The headline news for 2017 is that world number two Rory McIlroy will not play after pulling out with a rib injury. McIlroy complained of back pain at last week's South African Open before test results showed that he had suffered a stress fracture on his rib. 

However, the field is still extremely strong with three of 2016's major champions - Danny Willett, Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson - all playing. Also playing are world number 10 Alex Noren, last year's runner up Thomas Pieters and three-time champion Martin Kaymer.

Player watch: 

Dustin Johnson - The 2016 US Open champion is making his first start in Abu Dhabi and is also the highest ranked player in the field at world number three.

Henrik Stenson - The Swede and world number four makes his first start since the Hero World Challenge in December where he finished in second.

Martin Kaymer - The German won here in 2007, 2010 and 2011 and is looking to join Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods as four-time winner.

Click here to keep an eye on this week's leaderboard.