Present: Richard Westergreen-Thorne (RWT), Tony Lloyd (TL),
Algy Grimes (AG), Jonathan Lean (JL), Barry Donovan (BD), Nigel Underwood (NU),
Dave Wood (DW)
1 Minutes of the previous meeting
Approved
2 Matters arising from the last meeting
TL to ask Peter Imray and Bill Walker to come up with a
joint proposal on the Stableford Roll-Up for next year
3 Captain’s Report (RWT)
A lot seems to have happened since I last wrote a report for
the meeting.
In particular, we have played one or two matches almost
every week with other clubs to complete the match season. I have enjoyed the
opportunity to play in some close games on great courses along the way. Whilst
Algy will be able to outline the overall facts and figures we did have an
upturn in fortunes in the latter stages of the year and I was also lucky enough
to have some good partners to play with, so my own results also improved.
Unfortunately, we were not able to turn all the better performances into wins
and actually drew the last four matches of the season which must be some kind
of record.
Many thanks to all the Match Organisers and, in particular,
to Algy Grimes for all the hard work to get 30 teams at the right place at the
right time during the year. I know that Tony will also enjoy the matches next
year and the opportunity to meet so many different clubs and players.
The staggered start trial matches went very well and this is
covered in a separate agenda item.
Thanks to Richard Coventry for an excellent Away Day and the
day before we have our meeting we will have had the opportunity to play at
Peterborough Milton in our Swap Day. They are good examples of our wide ranging
programme of events this year to provide opportunities to get involved.
We are now in our Autumn swing of competitions and I hope
that the weather improves from that experienced last week in the Gordon
Percival. I had hoped that the rain at the start of the year would mean we
would have dry weather later in the year but sadly not.
I have attended several meetings on behalf of the seniors
and fed back to the committee much of what was discussed. I have a couple of
points to pass on from the recent Golf Committee Meeting and will do so at the
meeting. I have already circulated a note from Nigel Tarn regarding some
proposals for 2025 and we can discuss at the meeting along with a couple of
other points raised in the committee session.
The most recent Captains Committee Meeting was postponed due
to ill health, and I had sent my report for the meeting to you in advance. I do
not yet have the rearranged date. I can update you on the discussions at the
previous meeting of this committee when we meet.
I recently hosted the past senior captains lunch which was
attended by 12 past senior section captains plus myself and the Club Captain,
Justin Thomas. I agreed at the lunch,
which was a very pleasant event, that in future the organisation of the lunch
each year should be led by the Immediate Past Captain as Alan Fowler would like
to hand over the responsibility.
Tony and I hosted the Senior Captain and Vice-Captain from
Newmarket recently in advance of our having a Swap Day with them in 2025. They
have invited us back to play there in the spring so we will have a chance to
make some strong links with them prior to swapping for the day.
I attended the funeral of Simon Kimber last week on behalf
of the section and I was very sad to hear of the passing of Fergus Moynihan.
RWT went on to outline points discussed at the Golf
Committee Meeting which included the new make-up of the handicap committee, possible changes to be made to some club competitions, new score cards for next season
with stroke index changes, clarification of rules around practising on the
course and a new look at the club dress code.
The club’s “one charity” policy for next year was discussed in
terms of its impact on the Senior Section and our £1 charity donation taken
from competition entry fees.
Action point: TL to liaise with the Ladies Section on
their approach to the “one charity” policy.
4 Vice Captain’s report (TL)
TL reported that he had sent a note of condolence to Liz
Moynihan following the sad death of her husband, Fergus.
5 Immediate Past Captain’s report (JL)
None
6 Treasurer’s report (BD)
1) Current Financial situation as of 3/10/24. As of
today, we have funds of £5877.41 Outstanding invoices from the Main club are
£500 and I expect costs of around £2000 from the main club for food etc.
2)
Some improvement in the Match admin and charging
process. Request for access to IG still with Gordon.
3)
Members survey for 2025 Captains Tour completed
– pretty good response. Separate item on the agenda .
4)
Christmas Fayre. Via Algy’s good offices we have
already purchased the drinks for the Fayre. An initial approach to Piggots has
been made for Meat – no response yet.
5)
Captains’ Charity donation figures to be
calculated shortly now that the end of the playing season is approaching.
6)
Similarly preparation for Year end and next year’s
budget will commence soon. Important that we understand the likely costs for
2025 for food and fees for entrance to competitions.
7 Hon Sec Report (TL)
The holiday season gave me a quiet month as far as my Hon
Sec duties are concerned. But the show must go on and I am extremely grateful
to Richard for keeping the newsletter going and to Algy for editing the blog in
my absence.
We have signed up two new members for the newsletter this
month:
One is a member at South Beds but has moved to live in
Potton and is going to join JOG when his membership lapses at South Beds in
April. I met him at the South Beds away match and he is very keen to get
involved.
Another club member has also joined after turning 60. He has
signed up for the 4BBB and the scramble with the ladies and wants to get
involved in the roll-ups. It’s a shame he didn’t know he could have been
playing with us all year and that is something I need to convey to the
membership so people are not kept waiting needlessly.
I have not heard back from Luffenham Heath about their
desire to “keep the door open” for a
swap day in 2026 so I will turn my attention now to seeking an
alternative venue.
My focus for the next few weeks will be on preparing for the
agm in February and getting information out to the members on nominations for
office.
I have experienced further problems with the newsletter
failing to be delivered through gmail and will speak to Gordon to explore the
possibility of using IG.
Action point: TL to add stableford roll up dates to
the 2025 calendar and distribute to members.
8 Competition Secretary’s Report (JL)
Since the last meeting there have been two competitions.
The Gordon Percival Team Trophy was played on 1st
October. This event significantly
benefitted the early starters as the heavens opened mid-morning and several of
the later starters had to abandon their rounds.
The event was eventually won by the team of Graham Gadsden,
Bill Conway and John Hazelwood with a total of 101 points. The Martin Ives individual trophy was won by
Warren Churms with 39 points just edging out Chris Saunders and Jeevie Jeeves
who both had 38 points.
The 3 Clubs and a Putter competition will take place just
before the meeting.
The rest of October is busy with the rearranged 4BBB taking
place on 15th and the Autumn Singles Stableford on 22nd. The Scramble with the Ladies is on 24th
and the annual match against the juniors is on 30th October.
Individual Stableford roll-ups also take place on 10th
October and 5th November.
9 Match Secretary’s
Report (AG)
Since the Committee last
met we have played 3 home and 4 away matches, having lost 2 and drawn 5 of
those matches including the last 4 matches of the season.
Similar issues continued
with the opponent’s shots allowance in most cases being more than JOG’s.
Some withdrawals caused a
bit of an issue, and after a late appeal we had more than enough players for
the match at South Beds.
Further details of the
overall season will be held over to the next committee meeting but it is safe
to say that virtually everyone had a fair share of games.
10 Presentation dinner (DW)
Dave Wood gave an update on responses to his invitation
which were “slow”.
Action point: TL to put a reminder in the newsletter
asking people to confirm attendance and make their meal choices.
11 Recent events
The Away Day and Swap Days had been very successful. RWT
thanked Richard Coventry and Algy Grimes for the hard work they had put into
the events. A discussion was held on the possibility of returning to
Peterborough Milton in 2026.
Action point: RWT to speak to his contact there
Honours Board Unveiling: Around 50 people had attended the
unveiling and there were lots of good memories shared.
Bring and Win competition: A discussion was held on the
rules for this year.
Action point: TL to include a resume of the rules in
the newsletter
Christmas Fayre Competition: BD gave an update on progress
in sourcing prizes
12 AGM and committee for 2025
TL presented a draft notice of agm and agenda
After a discussion it was agreed to ask the agm to approve
that the Trophies and Presentation Evening officer becomes a permanent
committee member and that Jonathan Lean, stepping down as Competitions
Secretary be co-opted onto the committee next year.
Action points: TL to produce a further draft of the
notice to members and agenda for the next meeting and to trail the agm in the
newsletter. TL to put a copy of the constitution on the blog.
13 Staggered start (RWT proposal to Executive Board)
October 2024
Summary
Following the trial of three Senior Section home
matches using a staggered start the Senior Section wish to propose the
following for 2025:
All
weekday home inter-club matches which have an early morning start, be allowed
to have the option of starting concurrently on the 1st and 17th
tees of either the JOG or CAR course. 3
groups would start on the 17th tee and 5 groups on the 1st
tee.
To
avoid the perception of the introduction of another acceptable starting tee,
the following strict conditions should be applied.
·
It
only applies to inter-club matches for all sections of the club.
·
Morning
start before 9.30am first tee time.
·
No
more than 8 tee slots in total.
·
Only
3 starting slots from the alternative tee.
·
This
format must have pre-approval from the course manager in each instance.
·
Match
to be followed by a meal in the clubhouse.
Outcome
of the Trial
The
aim of the three-match trial was to see if the staggered start would:
·
address
the serious concern that if we do not adopt a staggered start we will lose
further clubs in the next few months and that these will be the more
prestigious ones on our fixture list – this is a significant long-term threat
to the club with financial implications
·
significantly
improve the golfing experience of both members and visitors, encourage
participation and deliver a positive impact from a tweak that is already in
place at almost all other clubs
·
provide
considerable benefits to the experience of those taking part with no negative
impact upon any other JOG members
Three
home matches were selected for the trial, two played on JOG and one on
Carthagena. All three matches had a member of the Senior Section Committee in
attendance, two had members of the Executive Board in attendance and the third
had a member of the Board as a participant.
The
observations at each match from the Executive Board Members, Senior Section
Committee Members and Senior Section Captain have already been passed to the
Executive Board.
In
summary:
-
the
arrangements worked well and the 5 -3 split between the two tees was the
preferred option
-
group
8 (the last group to tee off under the usual arrangements) were able to do so
at least 30 minutes earlier with a staggered start
-
the
time the first group to finish had to wait for the last group to be ready to
dine was reduced by 30 - 45 minutes
-
the
time savings at the start and end meant that the match experience, including
the after-match meal, was completed at least 50 - 60 minutes earlier
Benefits:
-
the
condensed time for the matches meant that there was significantly less ‘hanging
around’ at the start by players
-
those
finishing in the first groups had far less time to wait at the end
-
the
match experience was improved for participants, less waiting to play and dine
and an earlier journey home of particular benefit for visiting players
-
the
visiting teams all strongly welcomed the change and the benefits to them as
visitors to JOG and addressed their concerns about the long term future of the
fixture
From the Senior
Captain’s perspective, it was reported after each of the trial games that:
-
there was a more relaxed and purposeful feel
to the day
-
it
was much easier when the first group came into the clubhouse to be accurate with
the catering staff as to the timing of the meal - which was appreciated by the
staff
-
with
players arriving in closer order there was an enhanced buzz of conversations
and engagement in the clubhouse
-
the
visiting Captains were all very positive about the changes
-
JOG
players were all very positive about the changes
The General Manager
and Course Manager were kept fully informed of the arrangements for each day
and no issues or problems were reported.
There was no
negative impact on any other JOG member and there was no issue of other JOG
members seeking to ‘push in’.
Conclusion
The three trial
matches were a success:
The change to tee
arrangements significantly enhanced the golfing experience of members and
visitors alike.
The staggered start
addressed the growing concern of losing prestigious clubs from our fixture
list.
There was no
negative impact upon other JOG members
The Senior Section
wish to propose that a Staggered Start be available for 2025 in line with the
proposal outlined in the opening summary.
Many thanks for
allowing us to undertake the trial and put forward this proposal to the
Executive Board.
Senior Section
October 2024
14 Seniors Tour
BD analysed the response to the survey which he described as
encouraging. The favourite itinerary seemed to be one night away with two
rounds of golf.
Action point: BD to go ahead on the basis that this
would happen in in 2025. He and TL to liaise on publishing the survey feedback
in the newsletter
15 AOB
A discussion was held on having age-related prizes in senior
competitions. It was decided that this was not desirable.
A discussion was held on the possibility of pairing up older
players in matches. It was felt that this would be too arduous for already
stretched organisers.
Purchase of Dymo Printer: The purchase of a printer (£58.85)
for producing competition score cards was approved.
Pace of play: Following a complaint from a member on pace of
play in the Gordon Percival Team Trophy is was decided to remind players in the
newsletter of the importance of keeping up with the group ahead or letting the
group behind through
Match emails: some were finding it difficult to locate match
emails showing selections.
Action point: AG to ask organisers to put the word
MATCH in the header fields to aid email searches.
Dates of future Meetings
5th November /14th January
