Notes of the Senior
Section Committee Meeting
23 March 2023
Attendance:
Algy Grimes (AG), Jonathan Lean (JL), Barry Donovan
(BD), Richard Westergreen – Thorne (RWT), Tony Lloyd (TL) Andy Shilton (AS)
Minutes previous and matters arising
The minutes previous were approved.
TL provided a brief outline of the Prostate Day arrangements and senior
section involvement.
Captain (JL)
I tabled ‘discussion notes’ regarding the participation of ladies in
Seniors’ events at the Golf Committee meeting on 7th February. These notes have
already been circulated to this committee.
The outcome of the discussion at the Golf Committee Meeting was that
there was a general consensus that it was good to start having this sort of
discussion around the table. We are moving in the direction of equal
opportunities for both (or should I say all) genders! There was a suggestion
that although there is a Senior Ladies squad, they only have a very few
matches, and they are keen to play in more if possible. It was suggested that
in the future we could designate some of our matches as ‘mixed matches
‘depending on the responses we get from the clubs we play against regarding the
possibility of ladies being included in our squads.
My suggestion for the time being is for Richard WT to contact all the
clubs (or you if that is more appropriate) and advise them that there is a
possibility of ladies being in our squad and see what the reactions are.
If any club comes back and rejects this then we can just make sure that we do not
include any ladies in that match. If any of them are happy then we can
possibly select ladies for these matches if any of them put their names down.
From next year onwards the suggestion is that we can designate 4 of our 13
matches ad ‘mixed’ matches.
There has been a reaction from some of the senior men who are refusing
to play alongside ladies in competitions. We need to have a consensus on how to
handle this situation. (see agenda item below)
Plans are well advanced for the Charity week and also the Club’s 75th
anniversary celebrations week in June. More details to follow when all
arrangements are finalised.
JL also updated the committee on the progress of the arrangements for
the club's 75th anniversary events having recently attended a meeting
of the planning committee.
Vice Captain (RWT)
RWT updated the committee on his engagement with fellow members who are
currently not playing.
Immediate Past Captain (AG)
Nothing to report.
Treasurer's Report (BD)
BD outlined what he has done since the last meeting. This included
familiarising himself with the accounts and the transactions involved in the
competitions and matches. He has also been looking at the cash flow during the
year and estimating what the end of year balance will be based upon assumptions
regarding income and expenditure in
competitions and matches.
Of particular importance to our finances this year are the Member and
Guest Day, Senior Captains Day, Christmas Fayre and Christmas Dinner where
subsidies are traditionally given towards the cost of the food and, in the case
of the Dinner, the cost of the meal for invited guests such as the staff.
The increased cost of food has increased our costs this year for matches
and the numbers entering competitions look likely to be larger than in previous
years but it is still early days for us to be able to have a clear estimate of
income from competition fees. BD outlined that the finances look tight this
year and he will circulate some documents to the committee when he has done
further work on them and this can be discussed in more detail at the next
meeting.
It was agreed that we would need to increase the cost of playing in the
three events that are currently subsidised due to the rising cost of food and
potential impact upon our finances.
All three are a shotgun start with a limited field and so we cannot
increase numbers taking part in order to for us to increase income.
It was agreed that Senior Captains Day entry fee should rise to £10,
Xmas Fayre rise to £10 and the member and Guest Day to £35 per team.
Action point:
Subsidies and prices for these events to be an agenda item at the next
meeting and, in the meantime, RWT to flag up the anticipated entry costs in the
Newsletter.
Hon. Secretary (RWT)
Since we last met the membership numbers have continued to increase at a
rate of around one a week. It is currently 254 with a further couple of
ex-players who also receive the newsletter. There are 8 Ladies as members and I
think one or two more who are engaged but through their husbands/partners email
account.
When anyone asks to join us, I have continued previous practice to send
them a welcome email and an offer to follow up with a chat and to arrange a
game if they would like to do this. This year I am now able to add for people
who are not known to us contact with one of the three members who have offered
to help with the new member liaison role. They have had 9 people to contact in
total so far and it seems to have proved very useful A couple of those they
have spoken to have become engaged with us and others are interested but still
working, etc. I have arranged with the three taking on this role to take stock
of where we are in a couple of months.
I have removed several names from the mailing list where I know people
have left the club but will go through the club membership list more
systematically now the membership is known for the year.
There has been a lot of interest in the additional match with Brocket
Hall and it has opened up the possibility of further afternoon matches and this
is on the agenda as part of our review of the calendar for 2024. There are a
number of other points to consider regarding the calendar for 2024 and I need
to make good progress on it shortly so that we are in synch with other clubs
deliberations.
I have recently sent an email with our contact details to the other
clubs we play and referred to our gender-neutral status as we agreed at our
last meeting. I can update you on the responses during the gender-neutral
agenda item.
I was pleased to see the level of response from members when we needed
to get extra players for the 4BBB and now that we have started our season of
matches and competitions, I hope to see good numbers looking at the blog to
keep up to date with what is going on.
Other matters are considered elsewhere on the agenda.
Competition Secretary (TL)
The Green Tilley and Foursomes knockouts opened on the day of the AGM
and caused immediate interest, with two ladies signing up for the foursomes for
the first time. This led to a little confusion as we considered how to run the
knockouts from red and yellow tees. Eventually, after seeking advice, we
arrived at what we hope will be a workable solution. i.e the same rules as the
Fletcher Cup and President’s Cup.
Fifty-two signed up for the Foursomes and 82 for the Green Tilley. The
draw for both was conducted on March 7 along with the draw for the 4BBB.
The mixed greensomes with the ladies was due to take place on March 9
but had to be cancelled when the course was closed due to snow. Forty ladies
and 40 seniors had entered but their fees were reimbursed. Fortunately, as the
decision was beyond our control, we did not have to pay for the cake. It is
hoped we can rearrange the match for later in the year, although the crowded calendar
may make this difficult.
The 4BBB Trophy on March 14 filled up very quickly, soon reaching the
maximum 92 including, again for the first time, two ladies. There were a
handful of withdrawals, but the reserve list kept the start sheet full. There
were two further withdrawals on the eve of the competition and one on the morning
of the competition. Following an appeal by RWT we just got over the line.
Thanks to those who stepped forward at the last minute. The competition itself
was played in fine weather and was won by Chris Saunders and David Wrench.
The Rex Bullock Trophy, to be played on April 11, was so popular that
the initial cap of 102 had to be increased to 120 by adding earlier and later
tee times. At the last count 111 players had signed up, justifying our decision
to maximise the number of available tee times by making it a one tee start. If,
as we hope, interest in competitions remains high, we will continue with
one-tee starts where appropriate and monitor the situation.
The Brocket Hall matches opened for entries on March 5 and 31 players
quickly signed up.
The Swap Day with St Ives. The entry list of 40 is full, with two on the
reserve list.
Jock Allan Prostate Cancer Charity Day While not a seniors event, I have
been helping Bill Walker, Algy Grimes and David Barlow with IG sign-up. At the
last count, there were 70 entries, with the hope that a last-minute publicity
drive would attract a few more.
Action Point
It looks unlikely that we can find a mutually agreeable date to rearrange
the Greensomes and TL will propose to the Ladies section that it be cancelled for 2023.
Match Secretaries Report (AS)
Matches are now underway with our first game against Beds & County
played on Tuesday 21st ending with a positive 5-3 result and a
good joke. Next match Saffron Walden at home next Tuesday (28th).
We have had a very strong sign up of 60 players and the availability is
such that all matches are oversubscribed with the lowest at 22 players
available for 20 places. Due to the level of sign up the
availability/selection ratio is between 50 and 60% which is less than
historically the case. This has also made the selection process quite
difficult and required many iterations. I decided to do the
selection for the whole season as most people had put availability in for the
entire season. This made it easier to ensure fairness. But I have
stated that only batch 1 is confirmed and batches 2 and 3 are provisional.
There were several players that didn’t put in for equal availability of
home and away and some rather heavily skewed to away games. All have been
written to and responded appropriately.
As usual no sooner was the selection made than people started dropping
out. There has been something like 13 withdrawals notified within a week
of publishing. So already the data is starting to look skewed. This
is a reality.
We have settled on a price of £24 to try to keep the costs
reasonable. By way of comparison Beds & County players were charged
£17 on Tuesday up from £16.50 last year. The menu is I think satisfactory
with how and cold options available.
The work with Alban Macdonald to develop a better way of managing teams
is now live and I used it in earnest for the selection. This was a bit
painful as we worked our way through the issues. It is certainly now for
a PC user a better tool for looking at what you have been selected for.
However, it still doesn’t work well on a mobile (the temporary filters
are not supported on mobile), so we have left the
original reporting tool live for mobile users. Use of this
version has dropped down considerably and the initial problem of multiple users
has settled as traffic has reduced. From the Match Secretary perspective,
it is now working fine but you do need to be comfortable in the tech space to
manage it.
On a side note, sales of new 75th anniversary Senior
Jumpers seems to have been strong as many were on display on Tuesday.
AS and Alban MacDonald (AM) were thanked for their considerable efforts
with the new selection matrix.
Action Point:
JL to present AM with a gift in recognition of his efforts on behalf of
the seniors.
Annual Dinner and Presentation of Trophies 2023
Dave Wood (DW) attended for this item.
The Annual Dinner in December is where we have traditionally presented
our trophies to competition winners. The majority of members who attend are
competition winners and last year we did not fill all 80 spaces available with
winners, invited club staff and other senior members. Discussion took place
about the reasons for this. For example, does the presentation element
discourage other seniors from attending or is there only a limited interest in
such an event?
Action Point
DW and TL to produce a questionnaire for all members to gauge views on
the options open to us in 2023:
-
Keep the event as it is and encourage
more members to attend
-
Have just a presentation event and
discontinue the dinner
-
Have a separate dinner and
presentation event and if this was the preferred option consider some form of entertainment
at the dinner
Once ready to be sent to members to be distributed via the newsletter.
It was agreed that trophy winners can keep their trophy when they
receive it until Oct/Nov when DW will ask for it back for engraving. It will
then be formally presented at the Dinner/Presentation Evening when winners can
then take home again until it is required for the next year’s competition.
Gender neutral status
Following discussion it was agreed that it is early days for ladies
being involved in seniors competitions and that the committee should monitor
entries from ladies and communications from individual seniors. Currently a
small number of ladies have entered our competitions that have been open and none
have put themselves forward to play in matches.
When RWT circulated the fact that we are a gender-neutral section to the
clubs we play in matches one raised an objection and the others were either
positive or did not specifically respond.
To be returned to at the next meeting.
Calendar 2024
RWT
is currently working on the 2024 calendar.
RWT
had circulated in advance of the meeting a number of options for the 2024
calendar and some have already been
agreed regarding possible dates and days for competitions with, for example, the
Ladies section and the Junior section.
It
was agreed that we should look to play Brocket Hall in 2024 as an afternoon
match again and look to see if we could add one or two more Monday afternoon
fixtures along similar lines with new clubs. Given the increase in membership
this would give more members the option of playing matches.
Newmarket
have been unable to agree to the proposed Swap day with them in 2024 and so we
need to find another club to swap with.
Action Points:
JL to
discuss additional afternoon fixtures with The Club Manager with a view to raise
as an agenda item at the next club Golf Committee.
RWT
to circulate other clubs with the potential offer of a Swap Day and/or an
afternoon fixture and a number of clubs were discussed as possibilities to
approach.
Staggered Start
RWT
circulated a draft paper regarding a staggered start arrangement for home
matches. A number of amendments were suggested and RWT will circulate a second
draft to the committee.
Action Point
At
the appropriate time JL will table the proposal at a club Golf Committee
meeting.
AOB
-
Committee 2024
Action Point:
It was agreed that RWT will put a note in the Newsletter inviting
members to come forward if they are interested in becoming involved in helping with
the organisation of seniors events. There is a need to make changes within the
committee for 2024, for example, RWT will stand down as Hon Sec when he becomes
Captain. There are also plenty of other roles outside of the committee where
members can be involved and help.
-
Past Senior Captains Lunch
Action Point:
JL to follow up and report back at the next meeting
Date and time of next meeting
Thursday 13th April
Thursday 4th May
Thursday 20th July
Tuesday 29th August
Thursday 5th October
Tuesday 7th November
Tuesday 16th January 2024
