In attendance: Tony Lloyd (TL), Dave Wood (DW), Jonathan Lean (JL), Richard
Westergreen – Thorne (RWT) Barry Donovan (BD)
Apologies: David Barlow (DB) Algy Grimes (AG)
Bill Walker (BW) attended for two items
Minutes previous
Agreed
Matters arising not covered elsewhere on the agenda
None
Captain's report
I now know at first hand what it is like to captain
our matches, with a 5-3 loss away at Bedford and County and a 5-3 victory at home
against Aspley Guise. I thoroughly enjoyed both days and was grateful for the
work put in by organisers Terry Domagala and Rafe Bateson.
Rafe’s morning was made unnecessarily stressful by
a no-show by one of our players but thankfully we stole Len Greaves from
the roll-up to save the day.
I have had a conversation with Nigel Tarn who has
committed whenever possible to continue putting out nearest the pin boards for
our home matches. I have said that if ever he can’t find anyone to do this I
will happily take them out in the first group, but hopefully this will not be necessary.
I was joined by David Barlow, Barry Donovan and
Terry Domagala for the Captains’ Scramble on March 29. We had an enjoyable day’s
golf followed by the conventional putt out and drive. My thanks to Terry for
making up the team and David for carrying out the putt out on behalf of Richard
who could not be there.
On Monday March 7 Richard and I enjoyed the
hospitality of Newmarket Links GC ahead of our Swap Day in October. As well as
enjoying a great game in sunny conditions with their last year’s senior captain
and a member of their board, we had a useful discussion afterwards over lunch
setting out the format of the Swap Day, which is a new thing for Newmarket. I
will pass on their contact details to Dave Wood who can discuss with them the finer
detail of the day. It’s a great course with two unique holes where you have to
drive over the gallups from a raised tee and I am confident that the 40 JOG
seniors who take part will have a memorable day.
The first Captains' Committee of Peter Wade’s year
takes place on Monday April 28. This will be attended by Richard as David
Barlow and myself will be hosting the Brocket Hall team for a late lunch
following our afternoon match.
The first golf committee of the year will be on
Tuesday April 22 after which I will report back to you.
Finally, I am sure Nigel will have more to say
about the Rex Bullock Trophy but I will just say how heartening it was to see
108 seniors playing - in the sunshine!
Treasurer's report
1. Financial position. At the end of March, we have
just over £6k in our account. The attached schedule shows the Income &
Expenditure to date this year. This includes a significant amount of 2024
transactions that have been completed this year that were accounted for in our
year end accounts.
Payment made this last period for the Charity and
Tour balance.
2. Tour at Forest Pines is currently showing a
surplus of £189.55 before Prizes are purchased. The Tour organiser is also providing
a Driver and Tee Shirt for the prize pool.
3. Captains Honorarium seems to now have been
resolved, and Tony’s kit will be charged against the balance. Thanks to Wendy for
her support
4. Payment / Interface with the Main club – whilst
not resolved or fully understood – seems now to be working. Key contact
with AMGL now established.
5. Aspley Guise Home successfully processed – well
done to those involved. Slight surplus on the day
6. Bank Account. No action yet on new bank Account.
Charges are £4.25 per month.
Vice Captain's report
A couple of names were passed on to DB to follow
up.
IPC report
RWT outlined the conversations that he had held
with members since the last meeting.
Secretary's report
You will have read that we have reached the magic
300 receiving the Newsletter each week. Most of the 300 are current members but
there are a handful who have stopped playing or have moved away who like to keep
in touch with what is happening. In addition, there are 4 members of
staff and Tom who receive a copy.
Since the last meeting we have had several people
join us and I will update on names and numbers at the meeting. I also attended,
along with David, on Tony’s behalf, the latest club induction meeting for
prospective new members and we both spoke to several interested attendees. These
meetings have proved a very useful way for people to make initial contact with us and
several attendees over recent months have reached out to us as soon as they have
joined the club. However, there are still examples of new members slipping through
the net and are found ‘wandering in the car park’ unaware of how they can
get involved.
The club is still receiving a steady stream of
enquiries about membership and another induction session will be held soon.
Like the first sign of summer, I have already had
one club we play offering dates for 2026 which means I need to get on with it so that
we can keep on top of the 2026 calendar before we receive offers from elsewhere.
Nigel Tarn has informed me that, at present, there is a free diary to work with
apart from the usual dates and caveats so that will be a great help in mapping things out.
With my calendar hat on I would welcome a brief
discussion at the meeting about the Away Day, Past Captains Away Day and Seniors Tour
in relation to possible dates for 2026. If anyone has any thoughts or ideas
regarding our 2026 calendar, then let me know at the meeting. This applies to both
matches and competitions.
(The meeting agreed that the current structure of
the calendar be maintained for 2026)
I have dealt with a number of questions and queries
from members, and all of these these have either already been followed through or
form part of the agenda for the meeting.
Competition Secretary's report
The only competition to have taken place since the
last meeting is the Rex Bullock Trophy played on Tuesday April 8th . A full
field of 107 enjoyed lovely weather and the playing conditions were reflected
in excellent scoring. 28 competitors played to handicap or better, 4 players
tied on 41 points but the prizes went to Anthony McLean, 3rd with 42, Bill
Walker 2nd on countback but 5 points clear on 47 (!) was Anthony Bell.
Congratulations to Anthony. The first competition to count for this year’s
GOTY.
Next up are:
-
Prostate Cancer Day, next
Monday, April 14th with a full field of 100 players.
- Ken Robinson Scramble, Tuesday 29th April. 79
signed up so far, 13 places still available. Entry closes on April 21st .
- Annual Medal Trophy and Jubilee Trophy on 6th May.
79 signed up so far, 23 places available, a GOTY qualifier.
-
Rex Cleaver Championship Trophy
on June 3rd. Entry opens April 29th, also a GOTY qualifier.
JL and I have discussed the time commitment
involved in managing and concluding large competitions, especially with single
tee starts. I would welcome opinions but some form of rota might be a solution,
assuming that 2 or more of us would be playing in most competitions.
Action Point: to be an agenda item at the next meeting and NU to give some thought to
possible options prior to the meeting.
Finally, we now have our own label printer so will
be able to produce cards for all our competitions… I sort of know how to make it work
! (Nigel Tarn remains ready to produce labels and cards when called upon but the
“normal” situation will be to produce our own).
Action Point: NU to look to train one or two
other committee members in the use of the card printer so that we have back up.
Match Secretary's Report
As you will now be aware I am unable to attend the
April meeting due to a golf trip to Majorca. We still have 64 players signed up with
most matches now well covered for players,
Cambridge Country Club has the minimum required but
I have some ‘back-pocket’ players should they be needed.
Saffron Walden away has seen 12 Jokers played, with
the Captain and Organiser that only leaves two places, therefore I have closed
it to prevent any more signing up.
We have played two matches so far and the scores
are quite even, having lost at Bedford & County 5 – 3, we won at home to
Aspley Guise & Woburn Sands by the same score, 5 – 3.
An issue occurred just prior to the Aspley Guise
match, a player failed to turn up and when called claimed he was unwell and had
problems with his internet. This has now
been taken care of with him not being eligible for selection until Tranche 3.
Thanks to Len Greaves for stepping in from the roll-up.
There was an accounting problem for the Bedford &
County match, one of our team (Dave Wood) was charged twice, when questioning
it with the accounts team and Paula, I was told it had been repaid, but I was
playing with him at the time and the refund had not happened, assumptions were
made rather than looking at the facts! All repaid now though.
Tranche 2 sign up closes next Monday, 14th April
and when we get to the selections, I will ask Dave Wood to help me with the
task to ensure fairness is continued.
Action Point: TL to liaise with AG regarding asking match organisers to ask those
players selected for the match they are organising to respond confirming that
they are still available when the team information is published.
Action Point: TL and DB, when the teams meet up in the morning, to stress to those
involved in home matches on JOG that home players must escort their opponents
to the 17th tee via the right hand side of the pro shop.
Trophy Custodian's Report
There is little to add to the report I gave at the
March Meeting
Bas Backhouse Trophy
I am pleased to report that the Bas Backhouse
Trophy is still intact.
All trophies are accounted for and in a good state
of repair.
The Prostate Cancer Trophy has been returned to the
club by Malcolm Roberts and will be available for presentation on the day.
Question of Trophy retention
I note that Club competition trophies are retained
at the club following presentation at the conclusion of each event. I ask your
views on whether the Seniors should adopt this procedure, commencing when the
trophies are engraved in November 2025. I feel that this will prevent future
damage, which historically occurs to the Trophies when they are displayed in
our members homes. It will also ensure that they are available for presentation
following our competitions.
After discussion it was agreed that members enjoy
the opportunity to take trophies home and display them after winning. As a consequence,
it was agreed to continue with the practice of allowing winners to take
trophies home and return them later in the year.
Prostate Day Planning BW presented an update and a discussion followed:
Golf.
A full field of 100 signed up + some reserves.
Blood Testing.
-
Team of 6 Phlebotomists from
Empowered Health Networks
-
90 signed up for PSA blood tests + capacity
for casual walk-ins on the Day
-
Misunderstanding re blood tests
for ladies. Late notification of costs
applied of £850 - £950 per person resulted in total withdrawal of ladies.
-
Loss leader for Bloods Team
bidding for PP summer program - current arrangements
might not be repeatable.
Auction
-
31 Items available – 25 x 4-ball
voucher – 3 golf lessons & 1 fitness class
from Pro shop – 2 other items (whisky & classical guitar).
Raffle
Tickets sold through Club “Sum
up” facility on trial with cash alternative.
Finances.
-
2024 figures:
- Income £7,066
- Expenses £1,766
- PP donation £5,290.34 + £500 cheque from Paula
Allan.
-
Aspiration for this year is a
donation to PP after exceeding
£6,000. Stretch Target to exceed £7,000.
-
Main benefit – number of lives
saved – but priceless.
Roll up Update
Numbers building back to pre-pandemic levels.
-
Influx of new members to Section
appearing at roll up
-
First Singles Stableford of year
(20th March) had 28 players. Submission
of supplementary scorecard – personal choice.
-
4BBB roll up. Example Tuesday 1
April with interclub match in progress.
Still had 21 roll up participants.
Handicap monitoring actions
Actions taken on advice of Sect/Club handicap
committee members.
-
Record book resurrected.
- Record of
roll up winners documented
-
Winning scorecard retained for
future review as necessary.
-
Emphasis on proper recording of
scorecard with signature.
-
2 issues resulted and dealt with
Policy going forward.
-
Above actions carried out in
background in order to retain appropriate balance
between casual nature of roll up while observing the rules of golf
as closely as appropriate.
Cancellation/postponment/abandonment of
competitions on the day
Discussion was led by NU
The Club policy concerning this can be seen by
going to Information – Club rules and policies – inclement weather. This can be
summarized as if you hear a klaxon get of the course asap, don’t play in fog, look
after your own and others’ safety.
The policy then talks about the use of temporary
greens.
There appears NOT to be a club policy re postponing
a competition before it starts: we operate on the basis that, if the course is
open, the competition goes ahead.
Neither does there appear to be any mention of
suspending/abandoning play when the course (usually flooded greens) becomes
unplayable.
I have surveyed several other clubs’ policies. They
tend to be very wordy and go way beyond our needs BUT It is possible to distil
down to these key questions:
-
Who makes the decision?
- How is this person/s notified of the problem?
- How is a suspension of play notified? (Klaxon)
- How are players kept informed when they have left
the course?
- Is there a backup procedure (see below)?
-
What happens if a player/s
decides play is impossible or unsafe e.g high winds, intense rain without
lightning etc ?
Nigel Tarn replied that the arbiter would be
himself or someone from the pro shop. He stressed, though, that their availability
to go out, evaluate and make a decision could not be assumed.
It is a difficult matter particularly when poor
weather intervenes whilst the competition is in progress. We will endevour to have a plan of action in
place the next time that inclement weather is possible. In the meantime, was agreed that NU should liaise with BW who
had experience of a course closure at the Prostate Day last year and followed
several matters up with the club at the time.
Action Point: Course closure and competition abandonment to be returned to at the
next meeting to confirm strategy
Past Senior Captains Lunch
Alan Fowler has organised the lunch for the last
few years and wishes to stand down. It was agreed that the IPC would take
ownership of planning the lunch going forward. Alan has suggested the third
week of September for this years lunch.
RWT will take on the organisation and liaise with
the club and then circulate to past captains the proposed date. It was agreed
that the Senior Section Captain will continue to host the lunch, invite the
club captain, and pay for welcome drinks from the honorarium.
Communications and engagement with the club
RWT has taken on a Membership, Communication and
Engagement role on the club Executive. He is currently seeking views from
members and sections about communications and engagement. He took the
opportunity of the meeting to ask the views of those present which were fed
back to him.
Action Point: Financial transactions with the
club on next agenda
Action Point: Clothing on next agenda
AOB
-
Email from member regarding mix
of competitions between JOG and Carthagena and Medal and Stableford and the
perceived advantage of high handicappers.
The aim of the seniors is to provide opportunities for members to play
social and competitive golf. Following discussion, it was agreed that the
current calendar balance provides a mix of opportunities for members to engage
in seniors activities and there was not a current need to change the mix. A review of winners of GOTY events over the past couple of years
indicate a spread of winners from across the handicap range. However, the note from the member had provided a
very useful opportunity to audit and reflect on the offering currently
available. It was also agreed to consider additional opportunities for handicap
division prizes within competitions.
Action Point: TL will write back to the
member thanking them for their comments.
Action Point: Adding three handicap division
prizes to the Annual Stableford competition as a trial to be an agenda item for
the next meeting.
Swap Day and Away Day 2026
DW is organising this years Swap Day and will
liaise with RWT to find a venue for 2026. TL had a few leads to follow up from
his search for a 2025 venue which will be pursued.
Richard Coventry is standing down from organising
the Away Day from this year and AG has offered to take over the role for 2026.
Dates of Future Meetings
Thurs May 8
Thurs June 12
Thurs July 17
Thurs Aug 14
Tues Sep 16
Thurs Oct 16
Thurs Nov 13
Tues Jan 13 2026
Thurs Feb 3 2026 (AGM)
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