THE Welsh Dragon was a fiery presence when Brian Day drove in as Braintree Golf Club's new captain in front of a cheering crowd at Stisted.

Suitably dressed in red, Cardiff-born Day struck his drive 176 yards from the 16th tee after outgoing captain Kevin Smith closed his year by putting out on the 15th green.

“I’m proud and honoured to be representing the club as captain and I’m looking forward to a successful year,” said Day.

“I enjoyed being vice-captain to Kevin, who enjoyed a fabulous year during which he raised close to £17,000 for his charity.

"If my year is half as good I’ll be delighted.

“I chose a Welsh theme for family reasons.

"It was the right thing to do, while I was pleased with the turnout as the forecast was for heavy rain which, fortunately, didn’t arrive.”

Day’s charity for the year will be Home Start, whose volunteers help families with young children deal with the many challenges they face and support parents to learn to cope, improve their confidence and build better lives for their children.

Some £700 has already been raised, some from the contest to guess the length of Day’s opening drive, which was won by Mike Parmenter.

Day started his year with a 17½-7½ victory for his team in the traditional match against his vice-captain John O’Connor’s squad.