Present: Richard Westergreen-Thorne (RWT), Tony Lloyd (TL), Jonathan Lean (JL), Algy Grimes (AG), Barry Donovan (BD), Nigel Underwood (NU), Dave Wood (DW)
1 Minutes and matters arising
Minutes of the previous meeting were accepted.
Matters arising: None
2 Captain’s Report (RWT)
RWT presented a draft version of his report to the AGM
3 Vice
Captain’s Report
TL had sent
out sympathy cards to the wives of one member and one former member who sadly
passed away recently
4
Immediate Past Captain’s Report
Nothing to
report
5
Treasurer’s Report (BD)
BD presented a
set of accounts which are currently being audited by Trevor Darrington. He
reported a small surplus for 2024 and forecast a surplus of around £1,600 for
2025. RWT thanked Barry for his work this year.
Finances around
three competitions were discussed.
A)
It was agreed to continue with the Three Clubs
and a Putter competition despite the declining number of entries.
B)
Concerns voiced by members about the cost of the
Arthur Lucas (Bring and Win) Cup were discussed and it was decided to reduce
the competition fee from £5 to £3 and to reduce the minimum cost of the prizes required to be purchased by entrants from £7.50 to £7, bringing the total cost down from
£12.50 to £10. This competition will be a non-qualifier for handicap purposes.
C)
Concerns voiced about the cost of the Christmas
Fayre were also discussed. It was decided to keep the fee at £11 to cover the
cost of prizes but to include free sandwiches and chips as this had proved very
popular when it was introduced last year. This competition will be a
non-qualifier for handicap purposes.
6 Honorary
Secretary’s Report (TL)
I have signed up four new members since our last meeting:
Ray Nicholls, Jack Kennedy, Alan Holme and Richard Newman. Martyn Graham, who
has moved to Potton, will be joining us in March when his membership of South
Beds expires. Martyn is keen to play in our matches, having previously played
against us for South Beds.
Much of my time since our last meeting has been spent negotiating new dates for
Brocket Hall and Luffenham Heath home matches after the Bedfordshire County
Ladies Week meant that we could not have Monday June 30 and Tuesday July 1.
I resolved Brocket Hall by simply swapping the home and away
matches.
Luffenham Heath has been more difficult but, because of the
circumstances, Nigel Tarn has agreed to let us have Friday August 15. This
places us on JoG which I know Luffenham Heath were keen on. I am very grateful
to Luffenham Heath who have been very understanding.
Bear in mind we were already one Tuesday down as the Sir
Malcom Stewart Cup is always played on June 24 which this year falls on a
Tuesday.
The club is now hosting a Faldo Junior Tour Series for 13 to
21-year-olds from August 11 to 13 which is a great scoop for John O’Gaunt but
might impact on our home match against Saffron Walden on Tuesday August 12. As
things stand our fixture is safe but I await further information from Nigel
Tarn.
All these issues have convinced me that our calendar is so
full in the main playing season that we cannot entertain any more events unless
we drop something else.
I have contacted all the clubs we play where the staggered
start will apply from next year and they have all responded enthusiastically.
The newsletter is now going out to 290 recipients which I
think reflects the rude health of the Senior Section. Now that I understand the
daily limit of 500 emails and the best practice of reducing links to a minimum
I have experienced far fewer problems.
TL went on to present a draft report for the AGM
7 Competition Secretary’s Report (JL)
JL gave a brief report as there had been only one
competition since our last meeting – the Christmas Fayre. He thanked colleagues
who stepped in to help with the competition while he was recovering from knee
surgery.
8 Match Secretary’s Report (AG)
Algy presented his draft report for the AGM
He reported that the
selection process for the first tranche of matches was now ready and suggested
it was tested by committee members. If it worked TL would send the link to the
rest of the membership.
In his capacity as Senior Representative on the Club’s
Handicap Committee AG reported that winners of the Green Tilley and Holmwood
Plate knockout competitions last year would see their handicaps cut by one
stroke. This is now the club policy for all of the club knockout competition
winners. This policy was endorsed by the Senior Section Committee to also
be adopted for senior section singles knockouts (Green Tilley and Holmwood
Plate) for 2024 onwards to ensure that we keep in step with the club.
Finally, Dave Wood volunteered to assist Algy with the
selection process for matches.
9 Trophy Custodian’s Report (DW)
DW presented his draft report to the AGM.
A discussion was held about the menu for the Christmas Fayre
which had met with mixed reviews. It was agreed to look at the possibility of a
carvery in future or to revert to a Christmas Dinner menu.
Action point
DW to report back at the next meeting on March 13
10 AGM Agenda run-through
RWT led a discussion on the AGM agenda. It was reported that
there had been no further nominations for office or requests for other agenda
items.
Action point
TL to circulate the AGM agenda to all members. TL to ask the
organiser of the roll up on the day of the AGM to get players out promptly so
that they would have time for lunch before the AGM. TL to publicise in the
newsletter and remind members that we need 30 members to be present for the
meeting. TL to create sign-in sheets to record AGM attendance.
11 Committee eligibility
The committee exercised its authority under the constitution
to set eligibility rules for anyone standing for office.
Currently the constitution states that “only members
of the senior section who have taken part in a minimum number of Section events
(the number to be determined by the committee from time to time) can stand for
office”.
A motion proposed by the Captain was passed, adding: “All
members of the senior section at the time of the 2024 AGM to be held on Feb 4
2025 are eligible to stand for office on the senior section committee for 2025”.
12 Stableford roll up
A discussion was held on the roll up and the inclusion of
dates where players could enter a card for handicap purposes. It was
decided to operate those stableford roll ups which are on the 2025 calendar as
previously agreed with Bill Walker. Roll up attendees will have the opportunity
to confirm in advance of starting their round, by signing up via IG, if they
wished it to be considered for handicap purposes and also informing their
playing partners.
13 Contact details for 2025
TL had produced a list of contact details for 2025 and a
list of officers of other clubs that we play in matches.
14 Charity donation
With money raised by the Senior Section plus money from
raffles shared with us by the club we are able to donate £6,640 to the British
Heart Foundation in addition to money already raised by the Longest Day
Challenge for Macmillan Cancer Care. TL reported on the poll held by the club
to determine which charity all four captains – club, ladies, seniors, juniors –
would support this year. The result of the poll, and the name of the successful
charity, should be known by the time of the Senior Section AGM.
15 AOB
A)
DW reported that the Baz Backhouse Trophy was
considered by our Trophy supplier to be beyond repair and offered a choice of
replacement trophies or using a similar one already in our possession. JL said
he would have one last attempt at repairing the existing trophy.
B)
Discussion was held on how the sign up and
fair selections would work if, for any reason, there becomes a problem
to continue setting up the matches using Google Sheets – a very
complicated process requiring exceptional I.T. skills.
C)
BD to contact Gordon McLeod to discuss interaction
with the club over the handling of Senior Section finances
The meeting ended with RWT thanking all committee members
for their hard work during the year.
Dates of future meetings
Tues Feb 4 after AGM
Thurs Mar 13
Thurs April 10
Thurs May 8
Thurs June 12
Thurs July 17
Thurs Aug 14
Tues Sep 16
Thurs Oct 16
Thurs Nov 13
Thurs Jan 13 2026/ Thurs Feb 3 AGM
