Attendance:
Richard Westergreen-Thorne, Jonathan Lean, Peter Grimes, Barry Donovan, Tony
Lloyd, Dave Wood, David Barlow, Graham Berry, Paul Life, Terry Sweeney, Steve
Hobbiger, Geoff Elcome, Phil Armstrong, Bill Walker, Martin Graham, David
Gauge, Colin Norman, Peter Wade, Peter Sweeney, Chris Roy, Hazel House, Pat
Lloyd, Steve Mathers, Warren Churms, Mike Tipper, Michael Etwaroo, Ian Riches,
Graham Gadsden, Anthony Bell, David Price, Oz Osman, Pete Salmon, Richard Cobb,
David Tamsitt, Dave Sutton, Derek Young, Keith Fuller, Len Greaves, Gordon
Goodchild, Lawrence Atherton, Chris Sullivan, Tony Newman, Paul Dobson, Tony
Smyth, Terry Domagala, Fred Williams, Michael Newstead, David Lincoln, Rafe
Bateson, Trevor Darrington, Alban Macdonald, Clive Gardiner, Bob Isaacson
1. Welcome by the Captain,
Richard Westergreen – Thorne
Richard
welcomed members to the AGM and thanked them for attending and supporting the
section.
He outlined
that it is normal at this stage of the AGM to present the cheque to a
representative of the chosen charity. Unfortunately, the representative from
British Heart Foundation (BHF) was unable to attend and so there will be a
presentation in the clubhouse on 13th March at 2.00pm to which all
members will be welcome to attend.
However,
Richard was able to share with the attendees the magnificent total of £6,640
raised for BHF by members during the year. This is made up from the £1 charity
draw which is part of the entry fee for competitions, various raffles and
fundraising efforts plus a top up from the section funds from the small surplus
accumulated over the year. This was added to by £3,090 which is the share of
the joint captain’s pot from whole club fundraising efforts such as the ‘free
membership’ raffles held just before Christmas.
Richard
also pointed to two other substantial charity contributions by senior section
members to be covered later in the agenda and thanked everyone for their
charitable giving.
2. Apologies for absence
Nigel Underwood, Jan Murphy, Malcolm Roberts, Keith Howlett, Gavin Little, Paul Jones, Ned
Yorke, Nick Peek, Steve Collins, David Trotter
3. Minutes of the 2023 AGM
Taken as read
4. Matters arising
None
5. Captain’s report by Richard Westergreen – Thorne
It gives me great pleasure to stand here today and make
this report to you on my year in office. They always say that it goes quickly …
and it has sped past but there have also been many highlights along the way.
I would like to start by thanking your committee and the
near 30 members in total who help us run our programme each year. Organising
matches, running roll ups, helping with events, etc. In particular, the hard
work and dedication of your committee without whom our programme would not
exist.
Whilst the various officers will give more detailed reports
on our activities, I thought I would focus on the highlights for myself over
the course of the year. Number one has
been the rounds of golf and conversations with very many of you during the year
which I have thoroughly enjoyed. Where else, for example, can you have
conversations about wallabies landing on car bonnets as we did at Whipsnade
Park GC or have the best excuse of the year as at Harpenden Common – ‘I was
bitten near my eye by a parrot last night’ … with the scar to prove it.
There were also some sad days along the way as we lost four
members of the section during the year. Fergus Moynihan, Andrew Bowen and, most
recently, Richard Herbert and Bernard Gurney. As a club we also lost three past
captains during the year and I attended their funerals representing the senior
section.
Rule one in golf is to choose a good partner, and I did
this in all the matches we played with other clubs this year. I managed to take
part in 26 of the 30 matches and on an individual basis came out with honours
even winning as many as I lost overall. Thank you partners.
I also tried out a variety of jokes after matches. Some
induced a titter from the audience but I also suffering the indignity on one
occasion of nobody laughing – I am still recovering.
I would urge you all to take part in our competitions and
events this coming year. They are good fun and as Captain, playing in almost
everything, I seemed to play most of my rounds this year with a card that
mattered in my hand. Despite this my handicap ended the year exactly same as it
started the year.
Behind the scenes I represented the Senior section on the
Club Captains Committee and the Club Golf Committee and was involved in
discussions around the code of conduct, dress code, pace of play, charities,
handicaps and stroke indices amongst a range of other topics.
Your support of my charity British Heart Foundation has
been mentioned earlier in the meeting, but I also wanted to add mention of your
support fortwo other charitable events.
The Longest Day Challenge was completed by the four club captains in
June and you raised over £1,700 for Macmillan Cancer Support on my
JustGiving page for which I am very thankful. My particular challenge on many
of the 54 holes was to see if I could get my second shot past the first shot of
the junior captain!
I must also mention the Jock Allan Prostate Project Charity
Day where a fantastic £5.900 was raised for the prostate charity. Well done to
all involved and more to follow in a moment.
As you know we have had a packed programme of events and
the highlights this year for me were the new developments that took place:
-
Introducing Luffenham Heath as a new fixture
-
Consolidating Brocket Hall and our Swap Day
into our programme
-
Setting up of our first ever seniors tour for
2025 – thanks Barry
-
The additional Honours Boards now proudly on
display in the clubhouse and the excellent and well attended event unveiling
them to past winners – thanks Algy
-
Bringing the annual Jock Allan Prostate Project
Golf Day into our auspices so that we can better support Bill Walker and his
committee. Not just open to seniors this year’s event is on Monday 14th
April and I am very pleased to pass on that Bill Walker has arranged for the
Man Van to be here on the day so that all males 45 plus (40+ with a family history) can have a free
PSI test on the day whether you take part or not.
-
Introducing the qualifying stableford roll ups
trial and this will continue into 2025
-
Managing to navigate the Staggered Start
through the club committees so that it is now in place for our matches at home
in 2025. If you do not play in matches you may not appreciate what this means.
If you do play in matches it will mean a much enhanced experience for members
and visitors alike and will also enhance the perception of our club by other
clubs
You may not be aware that I was Club Captain for a day or
so, or at least it said so. When the signwriter added new names to all the
boards around the club they inadvertently put my name on the club captain’s
board. I did not see it but I gather it was up there for a day or so before it
was changed. However, if you look closely at the board, as I have a long name,
you can still see where my name had been added!
Finally, thank you all for your support for our
competitions and events throughout the year. A particular thanks from me must
go to my Vice Captain, Tony Lloyd, for the hard work (much of it behind the
scenes) unswerving support, help, gentle reminders, good ideas and much
more.
Many thanks Tony and I know that you will make a great
Captain this coming year.
6. Honorary Secretary’s report by Tony Lloyd
Looking back at 2024, the Senior Section has gone
from strength to strength, thanks to the hard work done by my fellow
committee members, match organisers and roll-up organisers as
well as you, the members, for your unstinting support.
I have signed up over 20 new members this year,
taking the number receiving the weekly newsletter to 290. I am
grateful for the positive feedback I have received from members reading the
newsletter. Your responses have made it a pleasure to write,
although I have to say I am more than happy to hand it back to Richard. I will,
however, continue to write the blog, which attracts around 650 hits a
month, and is another great way of keeping members up to date with
everything that is happening in the section.
Other officers will give you a more detailed
account of how things are going but it is pleasing to see that competition
entries are holding up well and the roll ups remain strongly supported. 158
members took part in at least one Golfer of the Year event in 2024, slightly
down on the previous year but still quite an achievement.
Matches were well supported and I’m sure that
everyone involved in them will thank Captain Richard for his hard work
in securing the staggered start for matches next year and into the
future.
I will say more about the coming year’s events
later but for now this is me signing off as Secretary and thanking you once
again for all your
support.
7. Competition Secretary's report by Jonathan Lean
We managed to complete our usual full programme of
competitions in the year consisting of 14 regular events, the Green Tilley,
Holmwood Plate and Foursomes knockout competitions, Greensomes and Scramble
with the Ladies’ section, the match against the Juniors plus the Members and
Guest Day. Only the 4BBB was affected by
the weather. The original planned date
in March was not possible but we managed to find a suitable free Tuesday in
October for the event to take place.
Nine of the regular competitions counted towards the Golfer of
the Year award. Unlike previous years,
no individual won more than one competition.
All 9 were won by different people.
In fact, the top 4 players in the GOTY did not win any competitions
which shows the value of consistency.
Overall, it was a very close-fought event with the winner, Graham Gadsden
squeezing out second place Peter Imray by just 2 points.
In all, 158 of our senior members took part in at least 1
GOTY event.
The knockout competitions were closely fought. Paul Hammond edged out Paul Clark in the
final of the Green Tilley. The Holmwood
Plate saw Dennis Ford overcoming Steve Luckman and the Foursomes Knockout was
won by Hazel House and Jack Shepherd beating Lorna Jerome and Cavan Kendall.
The entry for the Green Tilley and the Foursomes Knockouts
opened early this morning and close on 24th February so don’t delay
in entering.
Overall, entries for all competitions were slightly lower
than 2023 but all the individual Stableford and Medal competitions were well
subscribed.
I am very grateful as always to those who agreed to be
shuffled around at the last minute to accommodate late withdrawals. Just a gentle nudge to everyone to please
ensure that when you enter a competition you are free on that day and not wait
until the draw is done before you realise that you will be in Barbados at that
time!! Late withdrawals are inevitable
due to medical or other domestic matters but the fewer there are, particularly
for team competitions, the easier the Competition Organiser’s job is.
There have also been a few issues regarding pace of play in
competitions. Please just keep in mind
that your objective is to keep up with the group in front and not to just keep
in front of the group behind.
Finally, our objective is to provide a wide range of
competitions to encourage as many Seniors as possible to enter them and enjoy
them. We hope to have succeeded in this
endeavor, and we welcome any feedback you might have to assist with our
objective.
8. Match
Secretary’s report by Algy Grimes
Overall,
our season performance was Played 30, Won 7, Drew 7, Lost 16. This was a
slightly lower win ratio to last year. Overall we lost 127 to 101 with the best
win being a 6.5 to1.5 home to Gog Magog, the worst result has to be the 6 nil
at Brocket Hall (including the home match they won 11.5 to 0.5!)
Season in
numbers
We had 70
players signed up early on but it only went up to 74 which is a few more than
last year. Most players getting selected for around 60% to 70% of the matches
they had made themselves available for based on the mean selections
overall. There were a few outliers caused by late additions and
withdrawals and long-term illness/injury.
Of the 74
players 52 used their Joker. The most popular joker fixture was
Wellingborough 13, followed by Saffron Walden 10, Northampton 9, Aspley Guise
6, Gog Magog 4, Letchworth 4, Harpenden Common 2, Leighton Buzzard 2, Millbrook
and St Neots 1 each. However 7 of those withdrew from their match. But no
Jokers were played for Bedford & County, South Beds and Cambridge Country
Club. There were no Jokers allowed for Brocket Hall or Luffenham
Heath, players that played in these matches will be ineligible next year.
Last year
withdrawals numbered 101 but we had an improvement this year with only 53
withdrawing over the course of the season. The largest number of withdrawals
was for Gog Magog (away) numbering 10. Some of this was caused by illness and
injury and some by changes of circumstance. However I think the Batch
selections system we used this year worked well in the end.
My thanks
especially go to the players that responded to our calls for help and stepped
in during the season, particularly for the South Beds away match. It was
much appreciated.
Costs
At £24 (and
not charging a match fee), we were not the most expensive club for match fees
and meal costs that was South Beds at £25, with Leighton Buzzard, Northampton,
and Saffron Walden still only charging something like £17 and seeming to be
able to supply a meal of equivalence with others charging £18-£22. It has to be
noted that some clubs also treat us at their halfway house.
The system
to ensure players are charged for the matches in a timely manner needs to be
improved, the instructions to the organisers has been amended to ensure there
is improvement next year.
One thing
that caused some concern was where players signed up for only away matches and
no home, they were not selected (even when a Joker was used) it was discussed
with the individuals and they accepted the decision taken. It needs stressing
again that we require players to sign up for at least two home and two away
matches to ensure fair play in overall costs.
Selection
system
In my view
we should continue with the batch selections using Google Sheets which, after
an initial teething problem, has worked very well, thanks to Alban Macdonald
for all the work he has put in to creating the system and the help he gave me
throughout the year.
Finally
thanks to all that played and in particular to my ‘back pocket’ players that
stepped in at short notice.
9. Honorary
Treasurer's report and adoption of accounts by Barry Donovan
At the foot of this report are the Audited Accounts for the last Calendar year, Balance Sheet,
and Prior year comparison.
Another
year of successful Senior’s activities comes to an end. I’m pleased to
report that from a
financial point of view we have achieved our objectives and are well positioned
as a section financially moving into 2025. More of this in a moment.
Prior to
this I’d like to reiterate my thanks to Trevor Darrington who once again has
provided his professional expertise to the Audit of these accounts.
We set out
this year to manage a tight budget and minimise the impact of high inflationary
pressures through good husbandry. The Seniors section looks to make a very
small margin on all activities, whilst also allowing ourselves to meet the
desire to help our community.
This is
achieved through our contributions to the captain's chosen Charity, and
assistance to the Junior section.
Most of our
revenue is derived from members playing in Competitions, Inter Club Matches and
participation in Seniors organised events. In all cases Costs pretty much match
revenues and managing our cashflow is crucial. With fantastic support from
fellow committee members responsible for these activities we have been able to
provide a very active programme and meet our financial objectives
We treat
each event as a small project – each with a budget for income and expenditure.
This year our activities covered 55 such projects. Keeping on top of this level
of financial transactions requires the whole team to work closely and in
harmony. I’d like to thank all the committee members involved for getting us
through this – and still have a smile on their faces!
I’d also
like to recognise the great assistance we get from the Club staff – House
Management and Finance. Without their help this job would be very difficult.
We end the
year with £8893 in our bank account. However, considering prepayments,
creditors and debtors, and accruals for costs not yet received this is reduced
to £2496. We started the year with £2418 in available funds – so you can see
that overall difference between costs and revenue is as low as £79! However,
the final balance includes a payment from our Seniors funds of £3500 to the
Seniors Captains chosen Charity. Many of our significant costs appear over the
last month of the financial year – Christmas fayre, Annual Dinner and Charity
donation. It takes a little time for these costs to work their way through to
our Bank account – hence the need for the accruals.
Also, at
the end of the year we are holding funds for the 2025 Golf tour at Forest
Pines. This promises to be a great 2-day event in May next year. In this year’s
accounts I have classified these moneys as ‘Prepayments’ of costs and revenues.
The
Accounts identify that the 21 Competitions generated income of £6014 before
allocation of the Captain’s charity payment. Direct costs against this are
£3194.42, leading to a surplus of £2820. Inter Club Matches provided an income
of £10904, and through careful controls over costs led to a small surplus of
£965. This is a significant achievement by Algy and his team of Organisers.
During the
year we have also spent £662 on New Club House Boards and Trophy engraving. We
have also now purchased a small scorecard printer for £148.98 (including
supplies) to enable our Competitions team to produce their own cards.
Our total
contribution to the Captain’s charity is £6590. This includes Richard’s
allocation of the combined Captain’s efforts which generated £3090. As
mentioned above we have been able to generate £3500 from our funds. In
addition, in 2025 a further £50.25 has also been added from BHF collection
tins. This makes the final total to be paid to the Charity of £6640.
We are
delighted to pay this amount to The British Heart Foundation and hope this in
some ways helps achieve their extremely worthy cause.
In addition
to the Charity, we have also been able to repeat previous years donation to the
Juniors section.
At the
beginning of the 2024 year the committee set a Budget for the year. A comparison
shows a surplus (net of adjustments) of £78 compared with a budget of £597.
However, the Budget did not include the increased Charity donation or the new
Honours Boards. For our main categories of activity, the variances are minor:
- Competitions
£6014 versus a budget of £6361
- Inter
Club Matches - £10904 vs £10944
- Events -
£7803 versus £6175
Looking
forward to 2025 my objectives from a financial perspective are
- Ensure we
support the Sections many activities and continue to make a small
contribution
- Support
Seniors committee on all new ventures and challenges
- Look to
continue to simplify the accounting process and provide more rapid insight into
our financial activity
The
accounts were passed unanimously.
10 .Appointment of an
auditor
Trevor
Darrington was unanimously appointed Auditor
11. a) Proposal to change the
constitution to make Trophy Custodian a committee role
Proposed by Bill Walker and Seconded by Jonathan
Lean – passed unanimously
b) Proposal to remove the roll of Clothing Co-ordinator
Proposed by
Chris Roy and Seconded by Michael Newstead – passed unanimously
12. Appointment of Officers
for 2024
Nominations:
|
Position
|
Nominee
|
Proposer
|
Seconder
|
|
Captain
|
Tony Lloyd
|
Richard Westergreen - Thorne
|
Jonathan Lean
|
|
Vice-Captain
|
David Barlow
|
Tony Lloyd
|
Bill Walker
|
|
Honorary Secretary
|
Richard Westergreen - Thorne
|
Barry Donovan
|
James Kerr
|
|
Competition Secretary
|
Nigel Underwood
|
Jonathan Lean
|
Alan Curtis
|
|
Match Secretary
|
Algy Grimes
|
Barry Donovan
|
Graham Gadsden
|
|
Treasurer
|
Barry Donovan
|
Algy Grimes
|
Rob Ebsworth
|
|
Trophy Custodian
|
Dave Wood
|
Jonathan Lean
|
Richard Coventry
|
All Officers were appointed unopposed and David Barlow briefly addressed the audience to thank them for his appointment as Vice Captain.
13. Address by the Captain, Tony Lloyd
Hi everyone. It’s amazing what some people will do for a parking space!
First of all, I would like to thank Richard for nominating me as Captain. Having seen at close quarters the amount of work he has put in over the past year I am truly in awe. His will be a hard act to follow.
At this point the new Captain traditionally announces his chosen charity. This year we are ringing the changes slightly and all four captains will be joining forces to support one great cause. We started the process off by drawing up a shortlist of five charities which were then voted on by the membership as a whole. The result of the poll means that we will all be supporting the Alzheimer’s Society.
Sadly, 1 in 3 people born in the UK today will be diagnosed with dementia in their lifetime. It is probably true to say that most of us will be touched in one way or another by this awful disease and if you have seen a loved one succumb to it, well, I don’t need to tell you the heartbreak that it can cause. So any help we can give, no matter how small, I am sure will be gratefully received.
The way the Senior Section raises funds for charity will not change and I hope you will all be as generous as you always are. In addition, and in another new development this year, a percentage of the total raised will be directed into a fund for local causes. It will be administered by the charity committee, currently comprised of David Barlow and Amy White, and all approaches for funds will be given consideration. So, for instance, if your local football club needs new kit, or any deserving local organisation needs extra funds, we might be able to help. Details of how this will work are still being discussed but you will be kept fully informed.
Looking forward to the coming year my priority will be to increase participation in everything we do. Yes we want to take our golf seriously, get our handicaps down (or up, as the case may be), reduce slow play and all that stuff. But primarily I want you to have fun and get the most out of this amazing golf club. The Senior’s Committee is here to help you do that.
As well as the usual calendar of events we also have something new to look forward to this year – the Seniors Tour at Forest Pines organised by Barry Donovan. And if I could give it one more plug, Barry is still able to take a few more people. Just have a word with him or myself. If it is a success, I am sure everyone will want to make it a regular event. So, however you play your golf, whether it is in matches or competitions, the roll up or social games, I wish you all a great golfing year in 2025
And thank you once again for electing me your Captain.
14. Proposal to co-opt Jonathan Lean to the committee for 2025 to assist the Competitions SecretaryProposed Bill Walker, seconded Derek Young. Passed unanimously.
15. Address by the Trophy Custodian – Dave Wood
The Trophy Custodian now has responsibility for 26 Trophies which includes the Captains Gavel and the four new Seniors Honours Boards. 2024 saw the Jock Allen Prostate Cancer Competition adopted by the Seniors Section with the Trophy becoming the responsibility of the Custodian. The trophies are stored securely in a trophy cabinet situated in the Committee room at the club.
The custodian is required to maintain the trophies in good order and arrange for any repairs, alterations and cleaning. Trophy winners are reminded that when the trophies are taken home after a win, they must be returned to the custodian prior to the anniversary of the relevant competition or at the latest in November of that year so that they can be engraved with the current years’ winners.
The custodian is also required to ensure that the trophies are available for presentation to the winners following each competition. Those winners have the responsibility for the safety, maintenance and cleaning of the trophies in their care. It would make my job much easier if I could be informed when the trophy is returned to the club and to whom. (Last year one trophy went missing for a number of months and was finally discovered in one of the trophy cabinets in the bar entrance). Trophies should only be returned to me, Wendy, Gordon or Nigel. Once returned I will ensure that they are secured in the correct cabinet.
Unfortunately, the Baz Backhouse trophy has suffered some serious damage over the past few years. I spite of a number repairs in the past it is sadly currently in three pieces. Arrangements are in hand to have it repaired or replaced.
The Captains’ Gavel has been repaired and restored and is now good for a few more years. The new Seniors Honours Boards will be updated with the 2024 winners in the second half of February, as the year end is the busiest time of the year for the sign writer. The headings on the boards have proved to be difficult to read and will therefore be highlighted in gold to match the majority of the Club Honours Boards. A spelling error will also be rectified.
I have tried to locate a third club to add to the 2 club and putter trophy to make it representative of its new title of 3 clubs and putter. My search has been in vain. If anyone has access to a 3D printer, or knows of a member with access to one, I would like to explore the possibility of having a club printed.
Presentation Dinner.
This year saw the numbers at the dinner slightly down on previous years with 60 diners in attendance. Fire and safety regulations restrict the numbers in the Burgoyne Suite to 80 diners. It would be nice to see the dinner fully subscribed in 2025Following feedback from some members that they were attending too many Turkey meals on the approach to Christmas and that they would prefer ‘something different’ This year I replaced the usual Xmas menu with a beef or fish choice. I would like to change the menu for 2025, perhaps back to a Turkey dinner and another choice. I have been informed that it is not possible to have a carvery. I would like to thank everyone for your support in my endeavors, and in particular the congratulations I received from many of you following the Presentation evening.
16. Address by the Honorary Secretary, Richard Westergreen – Thorne
Thank you for electing me as your Secretary for the year.
If you have any friends who are interested in joining in our activities do put them in touch with me. I will send them some welcome information and put them on the mailing list for the Newsletter. They are then welcome to take part in all of our events and activities during the year.
If anyone has any points that they wish to be discussed at a Committee Meeting then they are welcome to contact me and I will add the item to our next agenda.
17. Address by the Competition Secretary, Nigel Underwood
Nigel was unavoidably absent from the meeting and so Jonathan Lean spoke on his behalf.
Jonathan outlined all of the competitions that opened for entry on the day of the AGM and encouraged people to take part in the programme on offer during the year.
18. Address by the Match Secretary, Algy Grimes
At last year’s AGM I said if I would thank Andy Shilton for nominating me as Match Secretary or not, I think it is just about a thank you. Following an initial issue that most of you noticed whereby I caused some problems because I was not completely used to the system, I have to say it should be better this year. We have around 50 players signed up already for the first tranche of matches, last year at this stage we had around 70 signed up.
You should all have received an email from Google sheets with this heading;
Please ensure you have saved it, and then you can use the tab ‘Edit response’ to sign up for future tranches. Never sign up a second time, you wouldn’t believe the issues it causes.
When it comes to selections, I will aim to make them as even as possible to give around a 60% success rate of your choices. You are asked to sign up for at least two home and two away matches over the year as a minimum, last year we had to refuse some players being allowed to play away because they had not made themselves available for any home matches. I will be taking this into account throughout the year as other tranches open. As far as Brocket Hall away is concerned, at the end of June, priority will be given to those selected for the home game in April, if you played in this match in the last two years, apart from the Captain you will be ineligible to be selected this year, with only 12 in the team we need to give others a chance to play there. This will also apply to those that played Luffenham Heath last year although this year it is 16 a side.
Withdrawals are always a concern so changing to the tranche system last year seemed to work slightly better than the previous year because we did have fewer withdraw, although still quite high. I trust that this year there will be even fewer drop out once selected, people should be able to manage their diaries over the shorter time scales to keep this to a minimum. In due course I will give the selections to each Match Organiser and they will be in touch with those selected to play or as a reserve. They will choose the playing pairs and will hopefully be able to ensure the shots end up about even with the opponent teams once their handicaps are known. I thank all organisers in advance for their help.
A huge thank you must go to Alban Macdonald for all the time he has spent working on our system. I would like to present Alban with a small token of our appreciation of the many hours of work he has put in on the sign up system.
One last thing, we will be keeping the cost per match at £24.00 following discussions with the club.
Should you have any issues do feel free to contact me after the AGM and I will as best I can.
19. Other Agenda Items
None
20. Close of Meeting 3.40pm
