Notes of the Senior Section Committee Meeting
1st September 2022
Attendance:
Algy Grimes (AG), Jonathan Lean (JL), Bill Walker (BW), Richard Coventry (RC), Richard Westergreen – Thorne (RWT), Andy Shilton (AS) Tony Lloyd (TL)
Apologies: Tom Simm (TS) was not able to attend.
Mike Tipper (MT) attended at the beginning to provide some updates on club developments and to discuss items of mutual interest with the committee.
Action carried over from the previous meeting:
It was agreed that AG and BW would follow up a number of these matters of mutual interest with MT and Robert Bage (RB) and would agree a date to meet with them to do so.
To be arranged asap.
Annual Dinner and Trophies
Dave Wood (DW) attended for this item and the committee discussed some of the key points regarding the organisation of the end of the year for 2022.
After discussion it was agreed:
- The Dinner will be renamed the Senior Section Annual Presentation Dinner
- DW will ensure that all trophies are returned and engraved in time for the dinner
- 2022 winners, the committee, and guests such as Gordon will be invited first and then any remaining spaces opened up to the general membership with a cap at 80 people attending due to fire regulations
- Trophy winners who do not attend will be able to ask DW to be given their trophy to hold until required
- The arrangements will be circulated to all members so that they are aware of what is happening. Invites will then be sent to those groups who have first refusal prior to opening it to all members. All responses to DW.
- DW to liaise with the club about timings and serving of the meal for the dinner and this to include the start time and ways to get people seated quickly – DW to report back to the committee
Action
- DW to continue the process of preparing for the evening and to be invited to the next meeting of the committee – provisionally Thursday 13th Oct
- DW and RWT to liaise over communication to members and timescales
Minutes previous and matters arising
Agreed with no matters arising not on the agenda.
Captain’s Report (AG)
Gog Magog was entertained at JOG on 26th July, when we ran out winners 5.1/2 to 2.1/2. One of our losses coming despite our member playing to 4 under his handicap with 3 or 4 birdies, and still lost. An interesting story was from after the game, briefly Nick Schumann, the organiser, chatted with their Captain only to discover that their paths had crossed a number of years ago in Hong Kong. Nick referred to him as God!
On the 29th July we visited Cambridge Country club for the return match, having lost the home match 8 nil, they retained the scroll but we did fare a little better, only losing 5 to 3. If you like the look of marble, pay it a visit.
The Seniors Member and Guest Day was on the 2nd August, Forty-four seniors invited guests for this popular event which showcased the newly-irrigated old course at its summer best thanks to Nigel Broadwith and his team. A two tee start meant that participants were round in just over four hours to enjoy a drink with pals in the bar followed by bangers and mash in the Burgoyne Suite. A credit to Amy and her catering team.
The day went without a hitch, apart from one guest being delayed in traffic, resulting in a last-minute rearrangement of tee times. But starters Bill Walker and Bill Burrows were on hand to make sure everything went like clockwork. Thanks go to Ladies Section Vice Captain Lorna Jerome and Anna Hoad for being on raffle duty. Special thanks go to Competitions Secretary Jonathan Lean who wrestled with some very dubious cards which caused more than a little head scratching. The event was won by Tony Walters and his guest Simon Harden with an impressive 45 points. They were closely followed by Paul Beasley and John Maynard on 44 points and Chris Roy and Michael Charles on 42.
On the 8th August we played at Wellingborough, which is always to be enjoyed: to quote our esteemed Seniors Vice Captain – Lovely Course, Lovely Clubhouse and always Lovely Lunch;. For this visit, I can also add lovely weather. It was just a pity about the golf. We lost 6.1/2 to 1.1/2 having won at home 6 to 2.
The 16th August saw us playing at home to Dunstable Downs, we gave about 87 shots over the 8 pairings to Dunstable. However, for a variety of reasons, Dunstable could only muster 7 pairs, but we did win 4 to 3. Whilst I played to my handicap, their Captain managed to be about 14 under his, hence we lost that pair.
The last match recently saw us lose away at Letchworth 5.1/2 to 2.1/2, with a 3 tee start everyone was back in the clubhouse without a wait for the latter groups. There was initial confusion on handicaps, the original message was that they wanted to limit it to 18 but on discussion that was the maximum number of shots to be received by one player.
The Senior Captain’s Day competition which took place on 23rd August, after a couple of dropouts there were 96 players competing for the Kethro Tray. The winner with 43 points playing off 10 was Club Captain Rob Bage and due to his fantastic play, the Captains beat the Vice Captains, therefore completing the double, having won it last year as Vice Captains. The overall amount collected for my charity was in the region of £450. Thanks to Jonathan for his brilliant organisation of the day and to the Ladies Vice Captain Lorna Jerome and Jean Cobb for handling the front desk duties.
‘The Golf Sub-Committee was held on 23rd August, and the Diary for 2023 was an item on the agenda.There was debate about the 'concession' to the Seniors for the Swap day to continue in future years. Also the Prostate Project Day being rolled into the proposed Charity weekend in July. I was against this because in my opinion it would dilute the amount raised for the Prostate Project if wrapped up in with the four Captain's Charities. The Seniors Committee to discuss prior to the next Golf Sub committee and GCM.’
My view is that we take it on as a Senior event as it has been run in the past to try to keep it in the diary as a separate day.
The Bailiff Shield was played on the 30th August, so will be reported later.
There are also new 5-day members joining. RWT and myself will have played with a couple of them before this meeting.
Vice Captain’s Report (JL)
JL briefly outlined his contact with members since the last meeting.
Treasurer's Report (RC)
RC reported that flows of funds with the club are now running more smoothly for competitions and matches and that our balances remain healthy.
We currently have different levels of prizes for different competitions and it would be helpful to have greater uniformity.
Action
JL to liaise with RC and to bear this in mind when setting up competitions for 2023.
There were a number of questions raised about whether all the various pots of income from the various activities on Senior Captains Day had reached RC and these were resolved.
The arrangements for the prizes for the Christmas Fayre were discussed.
Action
AG to contact Les Bolland about previous practice and RC to liaise with AG.
Secretary’s Report (RWT)
The club have recently opened some spaces for 5-day membership and we have gained 4 new members during the process. Two are transferring from another club and 2 are returning to golf/moving to the area with one yet to get a handicap. We have offered a game with them all and promoted the roll up as a way to get to know people. Two of the new members are due to play with Algy and me in the roll up just before the meeting.
There are currently around 230 playing members of whom 41 are new this year and 5 joined at the end of 2021. If we had not opened up to all 60+ club members, then on previous experience with the membership fee in place I would estimate that we would have had around 190 – 195 members as numbers were growing anyway.
You may have seen in the Newsletter last weekend that 138 people have played in at least one GOTY competition so far this year and so, if you add a few who have played in non GOTY competitions we have around 140+ participants so far in 2023.
There has been a late change to the date for the away game with Letchworth for 2023 due to coursework on their course but otherwise seems calendar is settled. The latest version that I have circulated includes the Letchworth switch and also has a few tweaks to tees spotted by Jonathan when he entered the events on the club diary. Algy passed me a copy of the club draft calendar for 2023 that Michael has produced for the Committee and there are a few minor errors in it which I have passed back to Michael. The Prostate Day is included as a ‘seniors event’ and needs a discussion and is covered elsewhere on the agenda.
We have had communications with several other clubs since the last meeting. Brampton Park, Northampton, Whipsnade and South Beds have been in touch with us, and these are all covered elsewhere on the agenda.
The Newsletter continues to generate a few responses and queries from members each week and the blog goes from strength to strength both in terms of content but also the numbers who read it. Our first video made an appearance on the blog last week which was one of Algy’s tee shot on the Captains Day.
Dave Wood is attending the meeting and we need to agree the arrangements for the Annual Dinner and Trophy presentations soon so that we can communicate to members the arrangements for both. With spaces limited for the dinner we need to agree an order in which people can sign up to attend the dinner. Last year the numbers wishing to attend and the available spaces were about equal and we ended up with a few spaces on the night as we had a few withdrawals. It will be interesting to see how many wish to attend this year.
Action
RWT to contact the clubs who have been in touch to update them.
Comp. Secretary’s Report (JL)
Since the last meeting we have had the following competitions.
When the Annual Stableford closed for entries we had 98 participants. Now that the date has changed to Wednesday 26 th October there has been a number of withdrawals for various reasons and the total number of entrants is now 75. At the moment this is still a 1 tee start but with first tee time of 8am because of the lateness in the year. I could change it to a 2 tee start with a 9am first tee time but we might lose a couple more who need to start early.
The Member and Guest Day was successful and thanks to Andy Shilton and Ian Riches for organising it. The event was won by Tony Walters and Simon Harden with 45 points, just edging out Paul Beasley and John Maynard on 44 points.
The Senior Captain’s day was enjoyed by just under 100 participants and raised a good amount of money for the Captain’s charity. It was won by Rob Bage with 43 points! Second was Robert Isaacson with 39 points and third was Keith Fuller with 36 points. These were the only entrants who played to their handicap or better.
The Bailiff Shield is on Tuesday 30th August. Although it is a 2 tee start, at the time of writing, only one person is on the reserve list. 81 participants in total.
Remaining competitions are 3 Clubs and a Putter on 4 th October, Gordon Percival on 11th October,
Autumn Singles Stableford on 18th October and Annual Stableford on the rearranged date of 26th October.
We also have the Arthur Lucas Bring and Win and the Christmas Fayre plus the match against the Juniors and the Match with the Ladies to arrange. I can set up entry lists for these matches but numbers will generally depend on the number of Juniors and Ladies available.
Tony Lloyd expressed an interest in becoming the temporary Competition Secretary when I become Captain in 2023 when the opportunity was advertised to members earlier this year. As the arrangements for 2023 are now beginning Tony has been co-opted onto the committee to allow him to familiarise himself with the processes, etc. so that he would be in a position to take over from me during 2023. This arrangement will be put to the members for ratification at the AGM in February.
I will make a minor tweak to reserve lists. Main competitions entrants cannot withdraw themselves. I have to do it for them. By default, this is the same for reserve lists but I will change it so that members can withdraw themselves from reserve lists. This means that anyone on the reserve list is still willing and able to play. It means that I don’t have to check first.
There was a discussion about two groups of fourballs coming on to the course and starting to play during the recent Bailiff Shield competition. The issues that arose were discussed and JL and RWT will liaise regarding guidance to members when we have the next competition with a 2 tee start.
Match Secretary’s Report (AS)
Interclub Matches
We are having quite a turnover of players in some games most notably Beds & County where 5 players and reserves have withdrawn. We were also short of players and reserves for South-Beds. We have had good responses to our appeals for both games so all is currently ok.
Match Results
Since the last report we have played 7 games. We won 3, lost 3, and drew 1. So we remain well balanced in our results.
Match reports continue to provide amusement.
Things to improve.
We had quite a traumatic game against Dunstable with several issues from the menu selected, dress code of ties when it was going to be hot, 1 tee starts, and then they were unable to field a team and really scraping the barrel for players. So in the end it was a 7 pairs match. I believe that it ended amicably though I think Brian lost some hair through the process.
Other observations
Generally, unless there are contrary views everything remains under control.
Immediate Past Captain’s Report (BW)
Nothing to report.
Matches 2023
There has been a number of communications with other clubs about dress code and handicaps during 2022 and also with regards to 2023. Our position in 2022 has been:
- Jacket and tie for home games with the captain’s discretion to change depending upon the weather and to do what the opposition wishes in away games
- Play with 90% of course handicaps for all players at home games which is the norm. Two clubs had requested variations for the away game with them. One a cap on upper handicaps and therefor a cap on shots given and the other a cap on the maximum difference for shots given between players in a game. After committee discussion, we had agreed to both requests and, in practice, had ensured that pairings were such that there were no issues on the day for either match.
We have now had a request from a third club to cap the differences within individual games and we also revisited the dress code policy. It was agreed:
- We should maintain the principle of captain’s decision for home games. JL has canvassed players during the year and a large majority are in favour of smart casual. JL has decided that for 2023 we will have a smart casual dress code for home matches with clear guidelines as to what smart casual means. We will continue to take the lead from other clubs in away games.
- We agreed that where clubs in away matches want a cap on the shots given to individual players, we will go along with this and ensure in our pairings that we avoid the need for any capping to take place.
There followed a more general discussion about match arrangements for 2023 including Match Organisers role, selection procedures and timelines for communicating information about 2023 to members.
Action
RWT and AS to liaise about the content and timeline for communications to members about the match programme in 2023.
Joining age for the Senior Section
The questionnaire results were very close with 67 in favour of a change to 55 and 66 against making a change. This represents returns from around 60% of those eligible to respond. Most of the comments provided by those not wishing a change to be made cited concerns about the section becoming too large and competitions becoming full and so members not being able to play in them.
It was agreed that there is no mandate to change and that the committee will continue to monitor the numbers entering individual competitions. It was accepted that a decision may be taken by England Golf/JOG to introduce a 55 age limit and we would need to go along with that if imposed.
Actions
- A note to go to all members outlining the results of the survey and its implications – RWT to draft and circulate to the committee prior to sending out
- AG to ensure that the club are made aware
- AG to contact David Barlow who had made the initial enquiry
Prostate Project Cancer Day
This has been the subject of various conversations with the current organisers and also with the club whilst compiling the club calendar for 2023. A brief discussion had also taken place with MT earlier in the meeting.
This event is currently at risk of being subsumed into the Club charity weekend or lost altogether. The committee would be loath to see this longstanding, prestigious Club event diluted or lost. However, there are various questions that need to be resolved.
After discussion the committee agreed that, if necessary to ensure that the event were to continue as a discrete event, the Seniors’ Section were prepared to take responsibility for it providing that was agreeable with the Club. On that basis BW agreed to be involved in the organisation of the event if it goes ahead and suggested David Barlow as someone to approach to see if he would be interested in being involved in its organisation while retaining the invaluable support of Jim Kerr and Tony Goodson.
Actions
- AG to liaise with the Club as to whether they would agree to the Seniors’ Section taking responsibility from the Club for the Prostate Project Day as a discrete event within the 2023 calendar.
- Subject to the above BW to contact David Barlow and the previous organisers Jim Kerr and Tony Goodson to discuss their future involvement the event’s organisation. The committee would be loath to see this longstanding club event lost. However, there are various questions to be resolved regarding this event for 2023 which includes how it fits in with the proposed club Charity Weekend and who will organise it if it were to take place.
Calendar 2023 inc. Swap days
Version 7 of the seniors calendar for 2023 had been shared prior to the meeting which had reflected a change in the away match with Letchworth due to coursework and a couple of tweaks to tees for competitions. RWT had cross refenced with the draft club calendar for 2023 and identified a number of small differences. Michael Grace has now confirmed these anomalies have been resolved and the seniors calendar for 2023 is complete.
Action:
JL/TL will enter the competitions on to the club diary for 2023 and RWT/AS will liaise about the matches being added to the club diary.
AG reported that the Golf Sub-Committee was held on 23rd August, and the Diary for 2023 was an item on the agenda. There was debate about the 'concession' to the Seniors for the Swap Day to continue in future years. Also, the Prostate Project Day being rolled into the proposed Charity weekend in July. I was against this because in my opinion it would dilute the amount raised for the Prostate Project if wrapped up in with the four Captain's Charities. The Seniors Committee to discuss prior to the next Golf Sub committee and GCM.
We have an agreement to swap with St Ives for 2023 and interest from two other clubs to swap with us in subsequent years.
Action
AG to liaise with the club on this matter. Our view is:
- The swap with Northampton this year was agreed by the club in 2019 and delayed due to Covid to 2022 and we enquired about a 2023 swap day through normal channels
- The swap day was advertised from the beginning of the year alongside all other events on the club website and in the seniors Newsletter and was open to all club members aged 60+
- The day was very popular with members from both clubs
- Whilst there were no green fees collected by holding the day on a Monday when few societies take place and member usage is low it brings significant additional revenue into the club through meals and the bar (estimated to be around £1,600)
- The previous Monday to the 2022 Swap Day there were 3 people in the clubhouse at the time the following week 40 Northampton members were present
- The day proved a popular addition to the calendar for JOG members and enhanced the sense of value from membership for all whether they attended or not
- The day added greatly to the reputation of the club and indications are that many Northampton members are likely to return to play at a later date who would not otherwise have come to JOG
- Many club members, both seniors and younger members have used the phrase ‘no brainer’ when discussing it
- Whilst its overall use should be limited the opportunity of a Swap Day should be extended to the Ladies
AOB:
Committee Structure for 2023
TL has kindly agreed to take on the role of Competition Secretary in 2023 whilst JL is Seniors Captain and attended the meeting as an observer.
There is a roll for new member induction that is currently undertaken jointly and includes welcoming new members and offering games. However, there is scope to take this support for new members further with, for example, contact during their first few months if they would like help to integrate into the club.
Action
To be discussed at the next meeting with a view to firming up what this role would look like and where such a role would sit.
AG offered to be the point of contact with the club regarding the 75th anniversary events and celebrations in 2023.
Golf Sub Committee
AG fed back from the recent Golf Committee Meeting and, in particular, two items:
- When the clocks change the format on the weekend will be all may play both courses
- The Winter Mixed Greensomes will be played on the 4 ball course of the day this winter
Date and time of next meeting
RWT agreed to put forward some alternate dates for future meetings which are booked to be after competitions. (all 2.30pm). The remaining meetings are:
Tuesday 11th October after the Team Trophy propose switch to Thursday 13th October (note there is the Open Budget Meeting that evening at 7.30pm)
8th November is after the roll up so can stay on this date
19th Jan is after the roll up so can stay on this date and the major agenda item is the AGM.
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