John O Gaunt Senior Section
Committee Meeting
3rd November 2020
Attendance: Bill Walker (BW), Algy Grimes (AG), David Gauge (DG), Les Bolland (LB), Jonathan Lean (JL), Richard Westergreen – Thorne (RWT), Peter Horlock (for item 1)
Notes of the meeting
The pace of Section management activity since our last meeting (4th August 2020) has remained brisk and looks like continuing for the rest of the year and beyond. The following topics highlight my main activities but exclude other detailed background endeavours:
BW answered questions regarding his report and updated the committee on his engagement with the club at several recent meetings. This includes a meeting at which LB will also attend tomorrow.
BW will provide information about the Macmillan Cancer Support ‘Whats your score’ initiative. Post Meeting Note – initiative postponed until after lockdown.
The Captain’s Day went well and I enjoyed my round with Paul Fletcher, unfortunately we lost out in the Captains v Vice Captains trophy by one point. Thanks to all who helped on the day.
I am being notified by various means about some of our members that have had issues during the period.
AG then listed the members whom he had been made aware of and his response to them on our behalf.
There were no matters to report.
The bank account stands at £3668.80 of this £1274.50 is charity money. That leaves a balance of £2394.30
I have already paid for the prizes for the last 3 competitions. Gordon Percival, Autumn Stableford & 3 clubs and a putter. I have not yet received the income from the club for them. £1325. Of this £687 will be added to the charity pot.
I am looking at a membership subscription next year of only £5. Collection should be by swipe card as usual open from 1st January 2021 until the day before the AGM. Payment after that will be direct to me.
Following discussion it was agreed that the subscription for 2021 should be reduced to £5 to reflect the level of balances of the Section as a consequence of lockdowns and the cancellation of the Annual Dinner and changes to the Christmas Fayre.
The Newsletter continues to be the focus of my activity and it usually elicits a couple of questions or queries each week. It clearly acts as a good reminder to people to sign up for competitions as there is always a big spike to entries on Sunday and Monday each week.
Jonathan and I played at JOG with two people from West Herts early this year and we will be invited back to their club at some point. Bill and I were due to play two people from Millbrook on Thursday at JOG under a similar arrangement with a return game at some stage. Both clubs have approached us about playing them on a regular basis. Whilst we have a full list of clubs and matches it is useful to have good relationships with a couple of additional clubs just in case.
We have dates for all the games and I am pleased to report that so far no club on the list has contacted us with concerns about fulfilling the fixtures. Whether the logistics and practicalities of staging matches with other clubs make it possible to play come the first set of matches is anybody’s guess. With the first fixture not until March we can but hope!
I am pleased to see that the Tuesday Game has started and Anthony, despite his trip to hospital, is busy setting up for the next date of 10th November. From then on there are only two Tuesdays with something booked until March so, hopefully, the weekly games can become established and settle in to a good working routine. It has certainly proved popular with members and well worth doing.
It was confirmed that the Annual Dinner was regrettably cancelled.
Competitions since the last committee meeting:-
Senior Captain’s Day 25th August 2020
98 paid entrants plus guests Peter Horlock and Paul Fletcher with 4 withdrawals. Winner was Richard Cooper with 37 points playing on JOG off the Yellow tees. The only player to play better than his handicap! Only 12 players scored 30 points or more.
Rob Anderson won the Putting Competition and the Captains beat the Vice Captains 37 – 36.
Seniors’ Bailiff Shield 1st September 2020
93 paid entrants, two of whom withdrew or did not return scores. Winner was Ralph Black with 37 points playing on JOG off Yellow tees. Rather better weather than for Captains Day saw 25 players getting 30 points or more but still only Ralph Black and 2nd place David Wood on 36 points played to their handicap or better.
Senior Section Gordon Percival Team Trophy – 6th October 2020.
This was played as usual as a Stableford. Winner of the Martin Ives Trophy for the best individual Stableford Score was Nick Schumann with 38 points playing on CAR off the White tees. Only six players played to their handicap or better out of 100 entrants.
Winning team for the Gordon Percival Team Trophy was Len Greaves, Sam Standen and Stephen Foster with a total of 100 points.
Autumn Singles Stableford 13th - October 2020
94 entrants playing on JOG off Yellow tees but with 8 withdrawals either on the day or just before. Winner with 35 point was Richard Coventry. Lower scores overall reflect the increasingly difficult playing conditions with wet ground and lack of run on the ball.
Seniors’ 3 Clubs and a Putter – 20th October 2020
Played on CAR off Yellow tees, 69 entrants with 2 no-shows on the day. One was a genuine mistake but the other did not turn up!
Winner with an incredible 41 point was Philip Armstrong, beating Sam Standen with 39 points into second place. 28 out of the entrants scored 30 points or better.
Match against the Juniors – 27th October 2020.
Both camps managed to scrape together 12 players! Match ended in a 3-3 draw so Bill Walker magnanimously decided to award it to the Juniors.
Scramble with the Ladies – 3rd November 2020
Rather more popular with 40 Seniors and 40 Ladies entering with a strong reserve list also.
Upcoming competitions:-
Seniors’ Powerball Team Stableford – Replaces Bring and Win.
As at 30th October we had 66 entrants. Seems to be less popular than the conventional Stableford or Medal competitions.
Christmas Fayre and Baz Backhouse Trophy – 22nd December.
Suggestions please for a suitable replacement for the traditional competition. Should we stick to Stableford since the Powerball seems to be less popular?
The report was discussed and a number of points taken forward to the following agenda items.
The draft calendar had been circulated prior to the meeting for members to review. It was agreed that:
After discussion it was agreed that the traditional prize format could not take place. It was agreed that the number of players winning a prize would double to 6 and the first prize would be £60 going down in £10 increments to 6th place with £10. It was also agreed that the section would pay for the raffle prizes from funds so increasing the donation to the charity and double the number of winners to 8.
After discussion about the options it was agreed to have this as an agenda item at the next meeting and that the discussion would also include the Constitution.
Dave Wood had provided the committee with an update on the whereabouts of the trophies and thoughts on how to get those that had been won to their worthy recipients.
It was agreed that BW would consider the options and discuss them with the club and to have this as an agenda item at the next meeting to confirm what arrangements to be made.
RWT to write to Dave Woods to thank him for his efforts and update him on next steps.
The Captaincy and Vice Captaincy for 2021 was considered and will be an agenda item at the next meeting.
Wednesday 9th December – time and venue to be confirmed
