Notes of the Senior Section Committee Meeting May 4, 2023

 

Attendance:

Algy Grimes (AG), Jonathan Lean (JL), Richard Westergreen – Thorne (RWT), Tony Lloyd (TL)  Andy Shilton (AS)

 

Apologies

Barry Donovan (BD),

 

Justin Thomas (JT)

JT attended the meeting for this item. There was a discussion of the arrangements for the club's 75^th Anniversary in June and various other matters including progress with the new club governance arrangements and the timetable for roll out.

Minutes previous and matters arising

Two Action Points from last time were confirmed as completed:

 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. JL has this in hand.

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. Covered in an agenda item.

Captain (JL)

There has been an unofficial meeting of the Golf Committee to allow members to meet each other and in particular to meet with Rob Earls the new Chair of Golf. The meeting was also intended to advise members of the new way that the meetings would be run using RE’s business methods, spreadsheets and projectors.

There was some discussion about general matters. It seems likely that the Handicap Committee will be re-formed with the intention of encouraging members to submit more general play cards for handicap assessment.

The Seniors can assist with the annual review of handicaps by continuing to record winners of the roll-ups. It has also been suggested by one of the seniors that once a month the roll-up could be configured as an individual Stableford rather than 4BBB. This would allow participants to put in cards if they want to.  All roll-up organisers should be asked to carry out a straw poll to see if this would be popular.

It was agreed that JL would seek further clarification at the Golf Committee before we ask the roll up organisers to record results each roll up.

I have discussed with Gordon the implications of increasing Honours Board competition entry fees to £5 from the current £4. Gordon stated that, in his view, we can do what we like with entry fees but it is better to run this past the Golf Committee first to ensure that it does not contravene the agreement made when the Seniors became an official section and the honorarium came into force.

The 75th Anniversary event diary is now finalised and Seniors should be encouraged to participate as much as possible in these events.

Vice-Captain (RWT)

RWT has had a number of communications with seniors and he updated the meeting. He also informed those present that Rod Evans had recently passed away and that he would notify members in the next Newsletter.

Immediate Past Captain (AG)

 AG reported back on the Swap Day at St Ives and that he had compiled the full list of results. It was agreed that TL would publish the full list on the blog.

Treasurer's Report (BD)

BD was unable to attend the meeting but sent in the following report which was discussed by those present.

 

Cash position has increased from £3037.21 to £4082.71.

In addition, invoices have been raised for all events prior to the Annual Medal. Invoices

outstanding amount to

- JOG Finance £1932

- Camb Country Club £384

I’m still awaiting invoice details for the Away Day at St Ives

 

Quick summary of financials as end of April

 

Income

Comp Entry 460

Matches 1872

Other 40

Total 2372

Expenditure

 Prizes 296

Raffle 36

Other 140.65

Total 472.65

 Increase in Surplus 1899.35

 Too early to draw any big conclusions – but things going to plan.

 I have raised the issue with the Club that to date I have had no food costs for Matches

played.

Hon. Secretary (RWT)

Not a great deal to report since the last meeting.

My focus has continued to be on the calendar for 2024 and I will provide an update under this agenda item as to the current position. I have sent a ‘latest draft’ to Nigel Tarn outlining the areas where I would welcome his input and agreement and I met with him prior to the meeting.

Membership enquiries had slowed but we have enlisted 3 new members in the past week.  The three seniors who are following up enquiries about membership with a call are doing a good job. Everyone who joins is different with different interests and needs but the feedback from their engagement with new members has been very positive.

Jonathan has suggested that we ask the roll up organisers to keep a tally each session of the winners due to forthcoming handicap changes and it would be helpful if we discussed this briefly at the session before I send out a note.

The Annual Dinner questionnaire closes soon, and we seem to have a sufficient response already to get a decent picture of people’s interests. Keith Howlett has done a good job setting it up for us and Jonathan has suggested that we cover the outcomes of the questionnaire at our next meeting.

TL reported that there had been 746 hits on the blog in April.

Action Point:

The survey results to be an agenda item at the next meeting.

Competition Secretary (TL)

Swap Day at St Ives

Forty seniors took part in a very enjoyable swap day at St Ives Golf Club organised by Algy. We were met by their president who gave us a few tips about playing the course and joined us later for lunch.

Winners, on 40 points, were Richard Herbert and Trevor Darrington. John O’Gaunt Captain Mike Tipper and Vice Captain Justin Thomas in turn welcomed the St Ives players who, it is reported, had a splendid day on our course.

Annual Medal Trophy and Jubilee Cup

The first of our medals, played from the Carthagena white tees, was won by Dave Wrench with a score of nett 62. The Jubilee Cup, for the best stableford score for those with handicaps of 21 or over, was won by Richard Herbert with 40 points. Eighty-eight seniors took part after a few late withdrawals due mostly to health reasons. It was a shame that the kitchen was closed for this prestigious event and concerning that our competition was not taken into account when deciding on a date to carry out essential work. It was hoped that this would not happen again in future.

Action Point:

JL to raise the lack of catering at the Annual Medal at the Golf Committee.

Ken Robinson Scramble

The numbers for this fluctuated quite a lot as the date of the competition approached. Some withdrew because it clashed with an important funeral but thanks to emails from Richard we were able to keep the numbers up. At the time of writing we have a field of 80 – perfect for the scramble format – with two reserves.

Order of Merit

Following our second qualifier of the year, the Annual Medal Trophy, the Golfer of the Year leader board reads: Dave Wrench 21 points, Andy Brown, 21 points, Paul Hammond and Malcolm Roberts, 20 points.

Match Secretary's Report (AS)

Since the last report we have played three home matches, Wellingborough (won 5-3), Cambridge Country Club (drawn 4-4), St Neots won (4.5 – 3.5) and one away to Aspley Guise (Lost 4.5-3.5).  Overall performance to date Played 7, Won 4, Drawn 1 Lost 2.  The season is going well.

 We have had a few withdrawals (some at late notice), that could have been avoided.  The other issue to report is late changes to handicaps due to previous day competitions.  This has caused some scrambling around on match day mornings.  I think its going to be wise for the organiser or the captain to have a laptop with them to make it easy to deal with any adjustments by using the team spreadsheet.

 We have seven matches before the next Committee meeting on 20 July so it will be interesting to see if our good form continues.

Calendar 2024 

RWT shared the latest draft of the calendar for 2024 and invited comments. We are looking for a club for the Swap Day as Newmarket have had to withdraw and possibilities for further afternoon matches. The list of clubs to approach was confirmed.

There are a few loose ends to tie up and there will be some further tweaks but otherwise the calendar for 2024 is nearing completion.

Action Point:

RWT to contact the identified clubs to seek to arrange a Swap Day for 2024 and also explore the possibilities of further afternoon matches.

Member and Guest Day

 Nigel Underwood (NU) has kindly offered to arrange the day for us this year. A discussion took place about the arrangements and costings as the event will need to be publicised to members shortly and catering arrangements confirmed with the club.

 It was agreed that we would like to keep the cost down to £40 a pair if possible but also try to get a balance between cost and a good day for those taking part.

We would like:

- tea/coffee and a bacon roll on arrival

- a simple half way house of tea/coffee and soft drinks - we had sale or return last year. The half way houses to be on the 10th and the 1st (stud bar if wet or just by the tee if dry)

- a simple meal of something like ham and chips at the end with people seated when they come in so start serving soon after the first groups turn up (say 30 mins) and then it means that there is less of a wait for the results, etc.

 Prizes to be £50 shared by the first pair, £40 for the second pair and £30 for the third pair – TL will get the pro shop vouchers for this.

 Three nearest the pins, one nearest the pin in 2 on the 11th and longest drive on the 17th.

 Once NU has discussed prices with the club then we will look at the costings for the day. It was agreed that there is the option of putting some of the captains' honorarium towards the halfway house and also subsidising the meal from seniors funds.

 In the meantime we will advertise the day without saying a price except to say it will be around £40.

 Action Point:

 RWT to communicate the draft arrangements to NU and NU to report back on costings when he has spoken with the club.

 

Honours Board

 Paul Marshall (PM) had previously been in contact regarding the possibility of increasing the number of senior section honours boards around the clubhouse. AG had responded to PM and the topic was discussed with a view to progressing the subject. It was agreed that we should take this further.

 

Action Point:

 AG to raise the possibility with the Club Manager and contact PM with a view to enlist his help if we are able to take this forward.

Charity Weekend

 This had been discussed when JT was present at the meeting and there was a brief follow up discussion about the Senior Captains Charity.

Date and time of next meeting  

Thursday 20^th July

Tuesday 29^th August

Thursday 5^th October

Tuesday 7^th November

Tuesday 16^th January 2024