Notes from the Meeting
Attendance: Bill Walker (BW), Algy Grimes (AG), David Gauge (DG), Richard Westergreen – Thorne (RWT) Les Bolland (LB), Jonathan Lean (JL)
Apologies: None
Robert Bage (Club Vice Captain) attended the beginning of the meeting. There was a general discussion with Robert who referred to the club’s intention to send articles to the Biggleswade Chronicle on a regular basis. It was agreed that the Seniors were keen to support this initiative and that the Seniors Blog and its editor Tony Lloyd would be the best source of items from the Seniors. It was agreed that if the club appointed a named person to liaise with the Biggleswade Chronicle then the Seniors would liaise with them to ensure a regular supply of articles and information..
Action: Robert to report back to the committee on progress.
Tom Simm was unable to attend due to a holiday.
Draft Minutes
Minutes Previous – agreed
Matters Arising – apart from matters already addressed:
- RWT will circulate to the committee a first draft of a questionnaire to be sent to members about match and other arrangements for 2022 with the intention to circulate a final version to members and receive their responses in time for the AGM in February
- It was confirmed that the committee will seek to find ‘ambassadors’ from the membership to help induct new members into the seniors. This will form part of the AGM.
Annual Dinner, Presentation Evening and Trophies
Dave Wood (DW) attended the meeting for this item.
DW had circulated a report on progress prior to the meeting regarding trophies, dinner and presentation event and this was discussed.
It is the intention that all Trophies will be engraved with 2020 and 2021 winners in time for presentation at the two events.
It was agreed to continue the planning based on the report from DW. It was further agreed that DW would liaise with the club about the detailed arrangements and that RWT would circulate a draft email to members outlining the arrangements for booking places and for the events themselves. Once confirmed, the email will go to all members and JL will open entries on the system for members to sign up.
It was agreed who will be invited as guests to the Dinner.
Once members have signed up to attend the Dinner they will need to contact DW with menu choices.
DW was thanked for his hard work on our behalf.
Captains Report
The normal programme of inter-club matches, Section Competitions and introductory rounds of golf with new and prospective members of both Club and Section have continued. I believe the latter arrangements for welcoming new members to the Section is contributing significantly to the increased membership along with the re-introduction of the Tuesday Thursday roll ups which are enabling new members to integrate into the Section very quickly indeed.
My thanks go to Vice Captain Algy for leading the Section in 2 matches during my absence in September. My strategic activities have continued to be focused upon building on the Section’s standing within the Club. This endeavour took a significant step forward on 24th August, my Captain’s Day, when Club Captain Pauline established a Seniors’ Section Captain’s car parking space. Whilst this can be viewed as a minor step forward it is a very visible sign of the Section’s recognition and standing within the Club and has drawn much favourable and supportive comment. The next step is to discuss Section finances with the Club who are keen to remove our annual subscription which the Club sees as a source of contention and not in keeping with our “One Club” philosophy. My position continues to be that we are not wedded to our subscription arrangements and are open to proposals of alternative financial structures as long as any such proposals secure the financial viability of the Section without undermining our financial autonomy.
Meetings of Club Golf Sub-Committee
There have been 2 meetings of the Golf Sub-Committee since our last meeting. The first was on 31August which I attended. The second was on the 20th September at which I was represented by our Hon Sec. The main topics of discussion were the same at both meetings. Namely, course format and the issue of tee booking. As a result, the course format has reverted to the traditional 2 ball and 3-4 ball formats. Moreover, a questionnaire is being designed to test the membership’s appetite for restoration of a tee booking system in some form or other. This questionnaire should be distributed soon.
Club Incorporation
The legal structure under which the Club exists is being reviewed to consider a proposal to move from an unincorporated status to an incorporated status limited by guarantee. A large group of members (approximately 40) has been convened to consider proposals and communicate with members before a proposal is put before a General meeting of the Club. I am pleased to say that there is an appropriate level of representation within this group of Seniors’ Section members. The first meeting is scheduled for 21 October.
Roll up Rules.
I have amended the rules governing the Section roll ups to provide a procedure to be used should inclement weather curtail part or a whole roll up.
The draft amendments to the rules were discussed at the meeting.
Action Point: BW will bring a ‘final draft’ to the next meeting for confirmation.
Vice Captains Report
AG covered the current position regarding those members whom he has been in contact with since the last meeting.
Treasurers Report
As of 29 September 2021
Bank Account is £6908.44
Of this £3286.50 is set aside as Captain’s charity money leaving a balance of £3621.94
I have recently done an audit on the payments from the club and found two competitions have been paid twice so £610 will have to be returned leaving a balance of £3011.94
There are still some matches to be dealt with. I am expecting a small profit on those when all is reconciled (c£500)
Membership is now at 188 (9 new members since the last meeting)
Secretaries Report
It has been a busy time since we last met and, whilst not wanting to add to meetings, when we plan next year’s committee’s dates, I would suggest we put one in for early September to give us a chance to look at the events for the rest of the year which then seem to come thick and fast.
I have been involved with Dave Woods looking at the position with the trophies and the arrangements for the Annual Dinner and Presentation Events. Dave will be attending the meeting so we can cover this topic then.
Matches since we last met have gone well on the day, but we have continued to have a higher than usual number of people needing to drop out and be replaced. This seems to be mainly due to Covid related issues and changing holiday plans.
When I set up the second batch of matches, which was before the first batch was completed, we had people being selected around 50% of the time they had put themselves forward and everyone was between 40% and 60%. Whilst the average selections now stand at 51% the range is from below 20% to over 70% as on the one hand we have had injuries and withdrawals and on the other side we have needed to enlist people at the last minute who did not make themselves available originally. I think things will settle back down next year but we should plan on the basis that they may not. We are going to distribute a questionnaire to members later this year and the responses to this will help inform what we do.
As you know Knebworth have dropped out and we have enlisted Millbrook at the moment to replace them and we will need to discuss several aspects of this at the meeting.
Just one match to go on 14th October and I will then publish the matrix. Only a couple of clubs played twice this year and the challenges for Les of chasing up and making payments shows the benefit of reciprocal arrangements for matches.
The usual steady trickle of queries from members, usually linked to the publication of the Newsletter, but nothing significant to raise. The continued growth in membership is great and I am pleased that we have been able to continue to host games with new members – several more to possibly come. I would like to put on the agenda for our next meeting on November 9th ‘Induction of New Members’ so we have a clear plan in place for next year.
Competition Secretaries Report
Since the last meeting we have had the following competitions.
Annual Stableford. This was won by Lawrence Wilson with 41 points. Second was Philip Odell with 40 points closely followed by Michael Tomblin also on 40 points. A total of 91 entrants but 6 withdrawals.
The Seniors Member and Guest Day was won by Andy Shilton and his guest T. Greaves– a remarkable achievement to win this event as well as organising it! A successful event with 41members bringing guests. A last minute ‘scratch’ pair had to be found because of the odd numberof entrants.
Senior Captain’s Day was won by Philip Armstrong with 40 points. Geoff Elcome and Rafe Bateson were second and third respectively. 96 entrants with 4 withdrawals.
The Bailiff Shield was won by Paul Hammond with 41 points with Rob Bage and Brian Bullen filling the minor places on the podium.
The Gordon Percival is being played today. I can overcome the issue of not having the number of entrants divisible by 3 for the secret teams by creating one or two ‘phantom’ high handicappers who will score the average number of points of all the other high handicappers.
Just a few more before the end of the season.
The Arthur Lucas Bring and Win on 16 th November can be a 2 tee start to ensure as many as possible are in attendance for the prize giving. This will limit the number of entrants to 81 with 9 minute intervals. 15 groups off the 1st tee and 12 off the 9th .
There is a suggestion that the Seniors’ Christmas Fayre should be a shotgun start. This would limit us to 75 entrants and could not start until 10am to allow ground staff to prepare the course. In previous years it has been a 2 tee start from 9am to 11am and the average number of entrants is around 85.
I also need to finalise arrangements for setting up the ‘competitions’ for the Annual Dinner and the Presentation evening.
It was confirmed at the meeting that the Bring and Win would be a two tee start and the Christmas Fayre a Shotgun start.
As the arrangements on the day of competitions have worked well this year it was agreed that we would continue with the current arrangements for competitions in 2022 regarding entry fees, organisation of the day, collection of cards from the pro shop, raffle, etc.
Past Captains Report
DG had nothing to report.
Forthcoming competitions and events not covered elsewhere
There was a discussion regarding the rest of the years arrangements which were confirmed and will be circulated via the Newsletter when events open for entry.
Prostate Day
There has been no further contact with the organisers since the last meeting and there is a date of Monday 11th April in the club calendar for 2022. RWT has enquired as to the possibility of moving the day away from the Rex Bullock Trophy the following day but, after discussion with Michael Grace, there did not appear to be a better option.
Action Point: RWT to contact Michael Grace as to the possibility of moving the Rex Bullock Trophy to a different date.
Calendar 2022
This was circulated. RWT is waiting for Michael Grace to confirm if we can be flexible on which courses we play on for matches and competitions in 2022 regardless of the day of the month the event takes place. This would allow us, for example, to alternate courses for matches with other clubs each year and give greater flexibility for the course of the day for competitions.
It was agreed that Millbrook would replace Knebworth in the match fixtures for 2022.
Senior Section Clothing
It was agreed that AG would continue to hold the stock and sell clothing and ties to members for the time being.
Knockouts and GOTY
The winners will receive their trophies at the Dinner/Presentation Evening in the normal way and it was agreed to invite the runners up in the knockouts and those second to fifth in GOTY to receive their prizes at the presentation at the end of the Christmas Fayre.
Items from members
Mike Marshall asked about the decision of the club not to offer refunds to members in lieu of the time missed during lockdowns. This question will be passed on to the club prior to the club budget meeting.
Date and Time of next meeting
9th November - note change from 16 November – to include Reviewing arrangements for Annual Dinner and Presentation Evening – Dave Wood to be invited
18 Jan 2022 – Review arrangements for AGM
1 Feb 2022 – AGM
