Attendance:
Algy Grimes (AG), Jonathan Lean (JL), Barry Donovan (BD), Richard Westergreen – Thorne (RWT), Tony Lloyd (TL)
Apologies
Andy Shilton (AS)
Justin Thomas (JT)
JT (Club Vice Captain) attended the meeting for this item and discussed a number of topics of mutual interest including the club’s 75th Anniversary events and seniors’ competitions and presentations.
Minutes previous and matters arising
Several Action Points from last time were confirmed:
- JL to present AM with a gift in recognition of his efforts on behalf of the seniors – in hand
- Annual Dinner DW and TL to produce a questionnaire for all members to gauge views on the options open to us in 2023: Sent to members this week and responses are due by the end of the month.
- 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. See Captain’s Report.
- 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.
See Calendar agenda item.
- 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 senior’s events.
Apart from AG expressing an interest in becoming Match Secretary there were no other responses. AG was thanked for his interest and RWT will follow up with other committee members as to next steps with other posts.
Captain (JL)
There appears to have been very little take-up of the opportunity for ladies to participate in Seniors events. Only 1 entry in the Rex Bullock and only 1 so far in the Annual Medal.
I had a meeting with Gordon to discuss various issues. I passed him a copy of the document RWT prepared regarding Staggered Starts for matches and advised him that we intend to continue to request two-tee starts for early matches. He recommended that we wait until the new Governance documents are finished and accepted by the officers of the club which will probably be at the meeting after next of the Golf committee.
I asked Gordon about the possibility of arranging additional matches for coming years. He is very supportive of having as many matches as possible against other clubs, particularly if they are ‘prestigious’ clubs such as Brocket Hall or Woburn. Available dates for home matches might be an issue unless we look at days other than Tuesdays. Reduced size teams with a lunchtime start is a definite possibility.
There are now new JOG Rules of Competition Entry and Conduct. Details were circulated separately. There is now a proposal to increase the Club Honours Board competition entry fee to £5 from the current £4. The Ladies’ captain has proposed that they raise the competition entry fee for all Club Honours Board events and any other competitions administered by the Club, from £4 to £5. We do not have to follow this as our competitions are not ‘administered by the Club’ but it is likely that we will need to follow this lead as we have with the current £4 entry fee. This could impact the raffle and captain’s charity funds.
Many thanks to Richard Westergreen-Thorne for standing in for me in the Aspley Guise match. An honourable draw.
Action Point
It was agreed that JL should communicate with the club our desire to maintain a £5 competition entry fee for 2023 and to explain the reasons why.
Vice-Captain (RWT)
RWT updated the committee on his communications with fellow seniors.
Immediate Past Captain (AG)
AG outlined the arrangements for the Swap Day at St Ives which he is organising and a discussion took place about some of the arrangements for the day.
Treasurer's Report (BD)
The 2023 budget has now been set and will be used by the officers to control the financial aspects of this years extensive programme. Our current projections provide a small surplus for the year. The budget process also allows the committee consider with confidence additional activities - such as the new afternoon matches.
During the coming year I aim to improve the book keeping system used by the section to help make monthly and annual reporting of actual activities against plans easier to produce. The role of Treasurer should not be about producing financial statements - it should be more focused on helping the section’s financial ambitions materialise.
Our current financial position is strong and we are well placed to face the significant cash movements driven by our hectic programme.
BD also supplied the committee with the latest budget and cash flow figures and projections.
BD was thanked for his hard work in putting our accounts on to the new system.
Honorary Secretary’s Report (RWT)
Every time I think that the numbers joining the seniors has tailed off, we get another flurry of new joiners. At present these new members who join us are mainly new members to the club and people reaching the ‘magic age’ and average about one or two a week in total. Gordon and Wendy are very good at passing on names and introductions to me and there are a couple of new members looking to come along to the roll up in the next couple of weeks. Our total is currently just under 260 receiving the newsletter which has a total circulation of around 270 each week.
Much of my time recently has been spent working on the calendar for 2024 and this is covered in a separate agenda item. One matter to signpost is that whilst there are still a few pieces of the jigsaw to put into place it looks as if we can get some movement in the distribution of home and away matches with other clubs at the end of the season.
Our first match with Brocket Hall, incidentally also our first afternoon match with a light meal to follow, was a success. The weather was good and players on both sides enjoyed the opportunity. Brocket Hall are currently trying to revamp their seniors and organise more opportunities for their members and they are keen to play us again next year on the same basis. Once we have confirmed a few matters regarding the 2024 calendar at this meeting I will get back to them and offer some dates.
Our Swap Day with St Ives will soon be upon us and Mike Tipper is primed to meet the St Ives players at JOG at 9.00am on the day to make them welcome. Hopefully, it will be a good day for both sets of players.
Dave Wood and Tony Lloyd drafted a questionnaire to members about options for our presentation event and dinner at the end of the year and, following a note asking for help in the Newsletter, Keith Howlett came forward and set one up for us. Tony and I can provide an update at the meeting and it should be ready to go out to members shortly.
I start each week wondering what to put in the Newsletter and by the end of the week it is another bumper edition. It seems to have taken on a life of its own and I still get a few responses each week to items we have included in it.
Competition Secretary’s Report (TL)
Mixed Greensomes with the Ladies
As discussed last month, it proved impossible to find a date to replay this competition and the Ladies’ Section agreed with the decision to cancel.
Rex Bullock Trophy
The Rex Bullock Trophy was won by Andy Brown with 38 points. In second place on 37 points was Paul Hammond and in third place, on 36 points, was Jed Isbell. Scoring was relatively low following the recent prolonged rainy period. Less than a third of the field scored 30 points or more. After very high initial uptake for this competition there were a number of withdrawals for a variety of reasons, mostly health related, and numbers settled down to 99 entrants.
I had to miss this due to family reasons and am very grateful to everyone who covered in my absence.
Swap Day with St Ives
There were a number of withdrawals due to various reasons but an appeal by RWT resulted in the number of entrants remaining at 40 with another week to go to the competition.
Annual Medal & Jubilee Cup
Promising numbers for this competition with 96 entries at the time of writing this report. The option remains to increase the number of slots to 120 if necessary.
Jock Allan Prostate Cancer Charity Day
A significant number of senior section entries helped make this a successful day, raising £5,300 for the charity.
Ken Robinson Scramble
At the time of writing 78 seniors were signed up for this competition which is limited to 92 entrants
Golfer of the Year Competition
Competition set up to coincide with Rex Bullock, first of our qualifiers, thanks to JL for setting this up.
There was a discussion about competition entry fees and whether, and under what circumstances, they should be returned to players who withdraw from the event.
Action Point
It was agreed that the fairest way to deal with this was to keep with the 72-hour rule, whereby, unless in exceptional circumstances, only players who withdraw more than 72 hours prior to a competition should have their entry fee returned. TL to follow this through when dealing with withdrawals from competitions.
Match Secretary’s Report (AS)
We are now well into the first batch of matches which have gone off without major incident. The odd player forgetting they were selected until being phoned on the morning of the match being the only significant one that comes to mind. Since the last report we have played 2 home matches, Saffron Walden (won 7-1), and Aspley Guise (Drawn 4-4). We also played our first afternoon match against Brocket Hall with sandwiches and chips to follow the 4-2 defeat. A very well received format that we will be looking to do more of against other prestige clubs. It is understood that the quality of joke told at all matches this season has been of the highest standard.
We had a high level of withdrawals for the Aspley Guise match with 8 players (that were selected as either playing or reserve), dropping out. Fortunately, we had enough cover to field a team so thanks to the players that stepped in, and a note in dispatches for Jim Kerr who still acted as organiser even though he was injured and couldn’t play.
We have 3 more matches before the end of the month so it will be a busy time.
I have had some feedback that some players hadn’t put their full season availability in and might be missing out on getting selected when we had to select for the whole season. Where I’ve had that message, I’ve asked them to let me know their availability so that if any opportunity arises, I can slot them in.
Calendar 2024
RWT circulated a draft copy of the 2024 calendar and asked members of the committee to look through it over the next few days to see if they notice any issues, omissions, etc.
RWT highlighted where he had got to with the calendar and the things that need to be confirmed and agreed before completion. Much of the calendar is in place but, from experience, the last few pieces of the jigsaw always take time to confirm. He will speak with Nigel Tarn shortly to confirm with him a number of points.
Action Point
There was a discussion about clubs to approach regarding future Swap Days and afternoon matches. A list was completed and RWT will contact these clubs and report back on the response at the next meeting.
Staggered Start
A minor amendment was suggested.
It was confirmed that JL will circulate the draft paper at the right time and the copy that he currently holds will be the Master Copy.
AOB
Reg Batson Trophy
Peter Imray had contacted the committee to suggest that, as numbers entering seniors competitions was now higher, the numbers allowed to take part in the Reg Batson be increased from the top 30 (and ties) from the Annual Medal and Rex Cleaver combined to the top 40 – plus the Senior Captain and previous winner unless already selected.
This was agreed by the committee.
Action Point
RWT to circulate this information to all members via the Newsletter and TL to amend the information on the sign-up page for the competition on the club website.
Date and time of next meeting
Thursday 4th May
Thursday 20th July
Tuesday 29th August
Thursday 5th October
Tuesday 7th November
Tuesday 16th January 2024
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