THIS IS A DRAFT ONLY
John O’Gaunt Club Senior Section
Constitution
Including
Eligibility
for and Rules and
Responsibilities
of Membership
And
Eligibility and Rules for and Responsibilities of Entering
Senior Section Competitions and Interclub Matches
Published June 2017
A copy of this document
is available on the Senior Section blog (jogseniors.blogspot.co.uk) and on the Senior Section noticeboard
in the changing room foyer.
For those unable to see
the document online, a limited number of printed copies can be made available
on written application to the Honorary Secretary.
Contents
A.
Constitution
1.
Objectives
The purpose of the John O’Gaunt
Golf Club (‘the Club’) Seniors’ Section (‘the Section’), is to arrange and
encourage the play of social and competitive golf among those eligible for
membership of the Section (see Section 2 below).
Section members are not a
separate category of membership of the Club but the Club kindly supports the
Section by:
o
allowing the Section to manage competitions and
matches through the Club’s golf management system;
o
allowing the Section to reserve tee times for
matches and competitions;
o
allowing free golf for visitors for Interclub Matches
and the Senior Member & Guest Day;
o
including Section events in the Club calendar
and diary.
Section members retain the same
rights and responsibilities as any other member of the Club as defined by their
Club membership category. Correspondingly members of the Section have a
responsibility to ensure that their actions or words do not embarrass or cause
difficulties for the Club or the Section.
The Section defines its own
governance and rules provided that those do not conflict with the Club’s current
governance and rules or the current Rules of Golf, both applicable at the time
and including any changes to those which may be made from time to time.
The membership and financial year
of the Section shall run from 1st January to 31st
December each year.
2.
Membership
Playing Membership of the Section is available to any playing
male member of the Club who will be aged 60 or more in the current calendar
year, on payment of an annual subscription as set by the Committee from
time-to-time. Playing members (‘members’):
·
may enter any Section Competition (and see D below)
·
may enter the Section Interclub Match Squad (and
see E below)
·
may offer to organise any Section Competitions
and Matches
·
may be elected to any Office on the Senior Section
Committee (see 3 below)
·
shall be a voting member at any General Meeting of
members of the Senior Section.
The annual subscription will
become due on 1st January every year. A new member joining during a
year will be required to pay the full annual subscription for that year with no
reduction.
Annual subscriptions must be paid
before any member may vote at a General Meeting of members, enter any Section
competition or be selected for any Interclub match in that year.
Courtesy
Membership
of the Section may be awarded by the Committee to any male playing member of
the Club who would otherwise qualify for Playing Membership of the Section. No
annual fee is payable by Courtesy Members of the Section but they must pay any entry
fees defined in the competition rules or other event. Courtesy Members of the
Section may:
·
may enter any Section Competition (and see D below)
·
may enter the Section Interclub Match Squad (and see E below)
·
may offer to organise any Section Competitions and Matches
Social Membership of the Section is available to any male
social member of the Club who has also previously been a playing member of the
Section. No annual fee is payable by Social members of the Section.
Any member may attend the Senior Section Annual Dinner on
payment of the fee set by the Section Committee.
A Social Member who changes
his Club membership category back to a playing category, must pay the required annual
subscription before having the rights and responsibilities of a Playing Member
of the Section.
3.
Governance
An Annual General Meeting (AGM)
of members shall be held in February each year. Only members who have joined
(or rejoined) the Section in the current year shall be eligible to stand for
office and/or vote at the AGM.
On behalf of the Committee, the
Hon Sec shall give notice of the AGM and issue an Agenda at least 5 weeks prior
to the AGM.
At the AGM:
·
the Captain and Honorary Secretary shall present
their reports, and the Treasurer shall present his report and the accounts, for
the previous year to 31st December.
·
Members shall be asked to vote to adopt the
accounts for the previous year and to appoint an auditor for the current year’s
accounts.
·
The members of the Section shall then elect the
following Officers:
o
Senior Section Captain “Seniors Captain”
o
Senior Section Vice-Captain “Vice-Captain”
o
Senior Section Honorary Treasurer “Treasurer”
o
Senior Section Honorary Secretary “Hon Sec”
The above officers, together with
the Immediate Past Senior Section Captain, shall comprise the Senior Section
Committee (‘the Committee’).
Should a vacancy arise on the
Committee during the year, the Committee has the power to co-opt addition
members as necessary. Such co-opted members of the Committee shall retire at
the next AGM but be eligible for proposal for election at the next AGM.
The Committee shall meet as they
decide is necessary and be responsible for:
·
the overall management of the Section;
·
responding to any matters that arise from
Section members relating to Section activities;
·
dealing with any breach of the Rules of Golf,
the Rules of the Club and/or the Rules of the Section which may occur during or
relating to Section events.
o
This responsibility does not exclude or replace
the responsibility of the Club Committee for dealing with disciplinary or other
matters relating to any events at the Club, including Section events. (See
Paragraph F
below).
·
agreeing a list of competitions, interclub
matches and other events for the Section Calendar to be submitted to the Club
for consideration for the Club diary;
·
after approval by the Club for those events held
at the Club, agreeing the annual Section Calendar;
·
agreeing the conditions of entry, fees and
prizes for Section competitions, matches and other events;
·
agreeing a budget from which the Captain may
obtain keepsake prizes for winners and other gifts for those assisting in any
Section event;
·
agreeing the style of any Senior Section
clothing (e.g. ties, t-shirts, jumpers, slipovers).
o
Any change to the Senior Section clothing which
includes the Club logo must be approved by the Club.
·
appointing and determining the roles of any
Organiser to assist in any Section competition, match or event.
The Seniors Captain shall be
responsible for:
·
choosing one of more charities to support during
his year of Captaincy and, if more than one, determining the apportionment of
total money raised to go to each charity;
·
captaining, or appointing a Match Captain for,
each Interclub Match;
·
selecting the team for each Interclub match;
·
using the budget determined by the Committee to provide
keepsake prizes for each competition winner and other gifts to those assisting
in the running of Section events as he may decide;
·
presenting prize-winners and other placed
competitors with their trophy and/or prizes ;
·
chairing the Committee meetings or appointing a
deputy to do so;
·
chairing the Annual (or any Extraordinary)
General Meeting until the point where a new Captain is appointed, or appointing
a deputy to do so.
The Vice-Captain shall be
responsible for:
·
deputising for the Captain in his absence;
·
being a primary contact for members expressing
grievances concerning the running of the Section.
o
This does not preclude any member from
expressing a grievance to any other member of the Committee;
·
having a particular care for members who are
temporarily unable to participate in Section events due to any adversity.
The Treasurer shall be
responsible for:
·
keeping the accounts of the Section and ensuring
that they are ready for audit before and presentation at the Annual General
Meeting or at any other time requested by the Committee with reasonable notice;
·
reporting the current status of the accounts at
each Committee meeting;
·
managing the purchase and sale of Section
clothing (optionally through a Section Clothing Administrator).
The Hon Sec shall be responsible
for:
·
the day-to-day running of the Section on behalf
of the Committee;
·
receiving communications from members on behalf
of the Committee with the exception that any member wishing to communicate with
the Committee concerning the Honorary Secretary shall be able to communicate
with any member of the Committee;
·
maintaining a mailing list of members of the
Section;
·
communicating any decisions of the Committee to
the Section members;
·
liaising with the Club regarding diary bookings
for tees and/or social facilities in order to enable the Committee to agree the
annual Section Calendar;
·
liaising with his equivalent at other club’s to
agree the dates and times of Interclub matches;
·
with the Club’s agreement, having ‘Competition
Management’ access to the Club’s golf administration system to set up and
manage Section golf events, including arranging the draw and tee bookings;
·
ensuring that all competitions, matches and
events are run in accordance with the Committee’s decisions. This may be
through an Organiser where one has been appointed;
·
ensuring that all competitions are run according
to the Rules of Golf and any local, Club or Section rules and that the appropriate
penalties are applied for breach of those rules;
·
ensuring that a register is maintained whereby
members can join or leave the Senior Section Interclub Match Squad and can
maintain their availability to be selected for a match team;
·
recording the decisions made at any Committee,
Annual or Extraordinary Meetings and producing minutes of that meeting;
·
corresponding with members of the Section to
ensure all members are kept informed of events including opening and closing
dates and results of competitions, matches and other events. Optionally this
may include maintaining a Section Blog and this may be maintained through a
Section Blog Administrator;
·
managing the Senior Section notice board in the
changing room lobby.
An Extraordinary General Meeting
(EGM) of members may be called the Committee or by 5 or more voting members
with at least 5 weeks’ notice.
B.
Social Golf
To meet its first objective, the
Section will ensure the provision of casual golf for all Senior members of the
Club with 18-hole and 9-hole roll-ups. Each roll-up will make its own rules
regarding format, entry fees and prizes but must be open to any playing member
of the Club whether or not they are members of the Section.
C.
Handicaps
Each member wishing to play in a
Section Competition or Interclub Match must have a Competition Handicap. The
member is responsible for ensuring that his own handicap is maintained
correctly by the Club and that he meets the requirements to maintain a
competition handicap.
A member without a Competition
Handicap who registers to play in a Section Competition will initially be added
to a Reserve List. Should spaces remain after entry for the competition has
closed, the member will be added to the competition but will not be eligible to
win any prizes.
If the competition is a
qualifying competition for handicap purposes, all cards will be submitted for
possible handicap adjustment.
Where requested, provision will
be made available for 9-hole qualifying competitions for members who do not
play 18 hole competitions.
D.
Competitions
The Section will run a number of
competitions of various formats over the year and, unless specified in the
particular competition rules, entry to these will be limited to members of the
Section. The list of competitions will be determined by the Committee, agreed
with the Club and published annually.
Members or their families wishing
to donate a new trophy should submit their proposal to the Section Committee.
The Section is limited in the number of competitions it can run by course
availability and must abide by Club decisions. The Committee will look at any
requests and consider them in the context of existing competitions. Any changes
to the list of competitions will be published before the next AGM for
consideration by members at the AGM.
The rules, including rules of
entry, for each competition will be set by the Committee and published annually
and again prior to entry for the competition opening.
Members may enter competitions
between the opening and closing dates for the particular competition and may,
if required, withdraw from a competition before the closing date without
notice. Members who have signed up to a competition and need to withdraw after
the closing date, must advise the Organiser or Hon Sec in writing, giving a
reason for their withdrawal.
Members who require to be drawn within a limited tee-time
period must notify the Hon Sec in writing on entry to the competition, but no
later than the closing date for entries to that competition, and must give a
reason for their request. The Hon Sec will make reasonable efforts meet the
member’s requirements. Members who abuse this facility by regularly requiring
particular times and/or without reasonable excuse may be denied their request.
Members who fail to attend a competition for which
they have signed up, or habitually withdraw from a competition with short
notice, may be subject to discipline (see H below).
Members who fail to submit a card at the conclusion
of their competition round have breached a Rule of Golf and may be subject to
discipline (see H below).
In a competition, where the stipulated round starts
at other than the first hole, the holes must be played consecutively from the
allotted start hole until completion of the eighteen holes. Players must ensure their card is correctly
marked (Rule 6-6d). Failure to play the
holes and/or record them in the correct order will result in
disqualification. For the purposes of
count back in such competitions the front nine will always be the front nine of
the course and the back nine will always be the back nine of the course.
An Organiser may be appointed to
assist with the running of any competition. The Organiser’s duties will be
communicated by the Hon Sec to the person appointed for each competition.
Optionally a raffle may be held
at each competition. The net proceeds from the raffle will be added to the sum
raised for the Captain’s chosen charity/charities.
Members over the age of 70 who no
longer play in 18-hole competitions may, by prior arrangement with the Hon Sec
and agreement of the Club Golf Administrator, play a separate 9-hole competition.
Where such competitions are qualifying, the members’ cards will be submitted
for possible handicap adjustment.
E.
Interclub Matches
The Section will run a number of
Interclub matches over the year and entry to the teams for these will be
limited to members of the Section. The list of matches will be determined by the
Committee and published annually. Matches will comprise a home and away leg.
The dates and times for home legs will be agreed by the Committee with the Club
to ensure the appropriate tee reservations can be made. The dates and times of
away legs will be agreed by the Committee with the opposing club.
Members wishing to be selected
for a match team should ensure they are registered as available for both legs
of that match.
Selection for a match team will
be limited to those indicating they are available for both legs of a match.
Selection will be made in time to enable members to confirm their availability
for both legs. Other than the Senior Section Captain, all members who are
selected for a team but are unable to confirm their availability for both legs
will be withdrawn from the match team and replaced by a reserve for both legs
of that match. Members who, having played the first leg of a match,
subsequently withdraw from the second leg without, in the Committee’s opinion,
good reason may be withdrawn or removed from subsequent matches. The Committee
may, in exceptional circumstances, remove a member from the Interclub Squad.
The Captain’s team selection
decision is final.
Members who fail to attend a match for which they
have been selected or habitually withdraw with short notice may be subject to
discipline (see H below).
Members selected for a team are
expected to wear the Seniors’ match kit whilst playing matches. Unless advised
otherwise by a member of the Committee, team members are expected to dress in
jacket and Senior Section tie at the match lunches.
The Captain has discretion to
impose a fine on any member playing a match who breaches the match dress code
or any etiquette. Any fines imposed will be added to the Captain’s Charity
fund.
An Organiser may be appointed to
assist with the running of any match. The Organiser’s duties will be communicated
by the Hon Sec to the person appointed for each match.
F.
Invitations.
The
Senior Section receives invitations from other clubs to send representatives to
special events. These will be published and are open to all Section members to
offer to play.
Where
entry is unlimited, members are free to enter such competitions but are asked
to report the result to the Hon Sec or Blog Administrator.
Where
entry is limited, the Captain will select those who are to represent the Club and
Section and selection will be made on an equitable basis.
G. Holes
in One
The
Committee will reimburse the reasonable bar bill of a Section member who
achieves a Hole in One at any Section Competition or Interclub Match. The
member must pay the bar bill and submit his claim to the Treasurer with his bar
receipt and the signed card.
H. Disputes
Any member who wishes to dispute any
decision made by the Committee or anyone acting on behalf of the Committee
should follow the procedure below:
·
Discuss the matter with the Hon Sec or, if the
dispute concerns the Hon Sec, any other member of the Committee, to try to come
to a resolution informally;
·
If the matter cannot be resolved informally, the
complainant(s) should send the complaint in writing to the Committee. If necessary,
the Committee will then invite the complainant(s) to attend a Committee meeting
to discuss the grounds for their complaint.
The Committee will confirm any decision
verbally and in writing and their decision is final.
Any member who makes a complaint to the Club
regarding any matter that affects the Section is required to send a copy of
that complaint to the Section Committee via the Honorary Secretary so that they
can be properly prepared to respond to the Club on the matter.
I.
Discipline
The Committee are responsible for
ensuring adherence to the Rules of Golf and any local, Club or Section rules in
any Section events.
Failure to attend a Section
competition or Interclub match without notifying the Hon Sec or Organiser in
advance and/or without reasonable excuse, is considered a breach of Section
rules.
In the event that any rule is
breached, in addition to applying any penalties defined in the Rules of Golf,
the Committee may, after hearing submissions from the member or members
concerned, apply any of the following sanctions according to the seriousness of
the breach of rules:
o
disqualification from a competition. If this
occurs after the competition and the member has been awarded a trophy and/or a
prize. The trophy and/or prizes may then be awarded to the next player(s) on
the results list and/or retained by the Committee until the following year at
the Committee’s discretion;
o
banning from a number of subsequent competitions
in the current and/or following year;
o
withdrawal from one or match teams in the
current and/or following year;
o
removal from the Interclub match Squad;
o
removal from membership of the Senior section.
In the event that any of the
above sanctions are applied, the Committee has the right to retain any fees
paid.
In the first instance the
Committee delegates to the Honorary Secretary the responsibility for applying
the appropriate penalties to be applied with regard to a breach of any Rules of
Golf. Any member so sanctioned by the Honorary Secretary may appeal to the
Committee.
In the event that a banning or removal
sanction is applied, the member may apply for reinstatement the following year
and the Committee has the right to approve or reject that application.
Any disciplinary action taken by
the Committee does not preclude the member(s) involved also being subject to
the Club’s disciplinary procedures where appropriate.
J.
Changes to this Constitution
This Constitution can only be
changed at a General Meeting of voting members of the Section.
A proposal to change to this
Constitution can be submitted by the Committee or by a minimum of five members
of the Section, provided that such a request is made in writing. Prior to
making such a request in writing, the members may discuss the reason for the
request with any member of the Committee.
K.
Document Change Log
Version
|
Date
|
Details of the Change
|
201706
|
13/6/2017
|
First version of a new Constitution approved at an EGM on 13/6/2017.
This replaces the former ‘GENERAL CONDITIONS
of COMPETITION ENTRY and CONDUCT’ published 31/7/2013 entirely.
|
L.
Approval of this Document
This document was approved by
members at an EGM held on Tuesday 13th June 2017.
Signatures:
Fred Williams
Senior Section Captain
|
David Crosby
Senior Section Honorary Secretary
|
No comments:
Post a Comment