Present: David Barlow (DB), Terry Domagala (TD), Jonathan Lean (JL), Tony Lloyd (TL), Nigel
Underwood (NU), Warren Churms (WC) Dave Wood (DW) Steve Mathers (SM) Barry
Donovan
Apologies: Algy Grimes (AG)
1 Minutes of last meeting accepted with no matters arising
2 Captain’s Report
Personally,
a bit of a mixed bag of personal performances and results. Great trip to The
Nottinghamshire. Match results are on the positive side still in spite of the
St Neots whitewashing and the forced abandonment of the Brocket Match
(A
discussion took place on the abandonment of matches and competitions, retunding
of fees and effect on handicaps etc. which concluded that, under the
circumstances, abandoning the Brocket Hall match was the correct decision. Action:
DB to seek advice from Nigel Tarn, TL to suggest 11.30am start against Brocket next year as 1.30pm tee
off was seen as a contributing factor to the problem.)
In
other news from the Committees and The Board.
Charity Committee.
Lorna is working hard with the hospices with numerous projects on the go, the
54-hole challenge is the next big one on the horizon. Sunday 21st
June.
Golf Committee.
A new ball collection and marshal’s buggy are on order and should be delivered
within the next few weeks. The ball collection buggy (enclosed and protected)
will help minimise range closures which is becoming an issue due to its
popularity, especially during weekend competitions. It was always our intention
to acquire a dedicated marshal’s buggy to replace the old and broken club
buggy. Favourable rental terms were agreed by renting both vehicles from the
same supplier.
Club competitions continue to thrive with full participation in most events.
Water Project.
As we know sprinklers have been installed on Carthagena’s 4th fairway.
Nigel B told me that to water to a depth of 3mm they use 6m3 of water. They’ve
done this 8 times so far.
Illustratively
£1.15 per cubic metre to take water from the mains (£55)
Graham Leith (lead on this project) will attend the next Board meeting to give
an update to the Directors. A preference for some kind of pond / reservoir was
emerging. Test drainage trenches are being dug and a topographical study using
an aerial drone is going to map exactly where the aviation pipeline is!
House and Social
Half way house is taking money and has now been put in the hands of F&B to staff & talk with Karen
(Dave Wilsher’s wife) when there is a large society or event.
Visitor's
changing room.
Almost complete. A few finishing touches need doing still. e.g. pictures to be
put up, deep clean of tiles etc.
New carpet was considered, but the existing carpet tiles have been cleaned and
is fine.
Redecoration. New ceiling tiles Made good / better, existing coat hanger
benches. Kevin Diss provided graphics solution (£800)
Great work by Richard H again, just in time for the peak society and visitor
period.
I have contacted Kevin to look at other areas around the Club House e.g. the
red/orange statement wall in the changing room corridor.
I am repurposing photos and pictures from the archive project. Some are fit for
immediate use around the clubhouse, some are only fit for the bin. There are a
number of aerial shots of the club which are badly sunlight faded. Kevin Diss
has been engaged to recolour these with a view to reframing by Phil Gow.
Car
park signage.
Agreed by the Board. Approximately £1850 + VAT.
1) Outside the steps to the changing room.
2) Outside the Pro Shop.
3) The raised flower bed in the middle of the car park.
We will have to instate
The main entrance signage (from the main road) has been cleaned and paint work
has been touched up.
Site Security
As per the Club update. Salvus Security (John Cherry_ - Steve M’s
recommendation has been engaged to conduct a thorough review and update of
current security arrangements across the Clubhouse, Pro Shop and Compound.
The barrier is broken and will not be repaired because it is going to cost £6k.
Other exit solutions are being looked at.
RFID Bag Tag Update
Still progressing.
Getting closer to signing. Discussing the pros and cons of battery power on
both courses, costs involved, likely disruption etc.
3 Treasurer’s report
Cash position at
9th June is £11,293 up from £6,727. This is due mainly to deposits for the Away
and Tour 27. See analysis
I have completed a
full reconciliation of matches , events and competition entries and agreed this
fully with Wendy. This is good news and it shows our new processes are working.
We owe a net £785 to JOG as of today - NOT reflected in these accounts
Nottinghamshire
Tour 26 was a very enjoyable event and a great venue. The overall net cost was
£26 for additional prizes purchased. Tour 27 has already been booked and we
have 30 paid deposits and a couple more due. We can go up to 34 . Deposits are
£4350
This month’s report
includes a second level analysis of transactions. This is manually cranked using
Excel - however what I'm trying to develop is an effective analysis that we can
add to the list for Accounting package needs for later this year. I will take
you through the approach at the meeting
No action yet on
New Bank account other than a cursory glance at the Market options. Not
enticing me yet !
The Past Captains
day shows a slight profit of £45. We are holding £1205 deposits for the Swap
Day to Stoke Rochford
The Sum Up machines
have yet to used - hopefully we can get some value from these in H2 of 2026.
Please note: if you can't read this table above and are interested, please ask Barry and he will send you the excel spreadsheet.
DB thanked Barry
for his hard work behind the success of the 2026 Tour and planning the 2027
Tour
4 Use of sum-up machines – committee members
were given a short tutorial on how to use sum up machines for selling raffle
tickets etc.
5 Varying cost of home and away matches.
A discussion was held on the subject of charging more for
away matches.
Action point: Stick with current pricing at the
moment and discuss again if and when catering prices go up with consideration
given to charging more for away matches to keep cost of home matches down.
6 Secretary’s Report
Two members have contacted me as a result of the invitation
contained in Richard Westergreen-Thorne’s club round-up for those of senior age
to join us.
They are Andy Chappell HI 9.7 and John Evetts HI 16.8. Both
are established club members who have reached senior age and are looking
forward to joining in our activities.
The number receiving the newsletter currently stands at 318.
All but one of the clubs we play in matches have now agreed
2027 dates with us or pencilled them in “in principal”. Luffenham Heath, who we
would expect to visit on August 26 have indicated that they might want to move
this match. Not a bad thing as it is only a few weeks from our home match
against them on Sept 14.
That leaves South Beds who were last to confirm last year
because of the date of their agm so I don’t anticipate a problem.
I have agreed with Nick Church that the Seniors v Juniors
match will be on Wed Oct 27 2027.
So the 2027 draft calendar is in good order, barring
surprises, and ready to agree with the golf committee whenever they want it.
Note: Since circulating my report all clubs have
confirmed match dates and Luffenham Heath have agreed to keep their home match
on Aug 26 as we cannot accept their suggested alternative date. I have also
signed up a third new senior and friend of NU - Sean Gillard.
Facebook page? TL floated the idea of producing a
facebook page for the senior section.
Action point: DB to seek advice from the Club on the
merits of this.
7 Competition Secretary’s Report
There have been no competitions since the last meeting.
Next up are :
The Rex Cleaver on 23.06
. 102 places all taken . I am keeping a reserve list if people contact
me.
The Annual Stableford trophy, 07.07.26. 18 places
available at time of writing.
The Reg Batson invitational medal trophy ( entry decided by placings in
the Annual Medal Trophy and the Rex Cleaver) on 14.07 .
Senior Captains Day entries open on 29th June
(brought forward one day to avoid clashing with inter club match at
Letchworth).
NU gave an update on plans for member and guest day
£55 fee (per couple) to be charged to members’ cards
Catering: Tea,coffee, bacon roll before golf. One-course
lunch afterwards
It was decided not to run a halfway house
8 Match Secretary’s Report
None submitted due to AG holiday
9 Trophy Custodian’s report
Trophies are all accounted for and remain in the new
trophy store:
I had a conversation with Peter Imray regarding keepsakes
for the Peter Imray Jug
Competition. Peter has purchased 10 keepsakes and was
concerned about the
decision made regarding the Gordon Goodchild competition.
It was decided that we
do not wish to create precedent – Gordon was advised of
this decision.
I informed Peter that we are very grateful for his
continued generosity in buying
keepsakes and that we would go ahead with Peter
presenting them along with the
trophy for the next 10 years. I agreed to have the
keepsakes stored with the main
trophies.
Seniors Captain David Barlow asked me to research the
possibility of re-purposing
an old trophy for the Tour and having and identifying
engraving removed from any cartouches or
bands. My initial enquiries reveal that this is not a
service supplied by our engraver,
and is not a service included in the website of local
trophy suppliers. It seems to be
a service which is possible, but rarely offered by select
jewellers and will require the
jeweller to have sight of the older trophy before a
decision can be made as to the
possibility of abrading any engravings and the cost of
carrying out the work.
I suggest that we identify a suitable old trophy in order
that I may make further
enquiries.
The historic chart of Trophy winners is still on-going.
Action point: tour trophy on agenda for next
meeting
10 Swap Days
Swap day 2026 – Stoke Rochford Golf Club 5 th October
2026
Confirmed at both clubs and in respective diaries.
Following a round of golf at Stoke Rochford, the meeting
with their organiser, Darrel
Knight, was very productive and positive with all usual
arrangements and
agreements set in stone.
I am awaiting some dates of availability from Darrel for
a return visit to JOG. I will
advise the committee when this is set.
Swap day 2027 – Essendon Golf Club 11 th October 2027
I have established contact with Simon Harden their
organiser, confirming the date
and inviting meetings at both clubs to kick off the
arrangements. I have not yet
received his reply so will send him a reminder.
Pending clubs for Swap Day
The Bedfordshire
This club would welcome a swap day in 2028. They are
suggesting a split swap with
them visiting JOG on a Monday whilst we visit their club
on a Wednesday. I will
welcome the committee’s views on this as it presents a
move away from previous
swap days.
Brickenden Grange
Awaiting reply from this club with regards to 2028 and
beyond.
Spalding
Interested in a swap day 2028 and beyond
Wellingborough
Interested in a swap day 2028 and beyond
I will maintain contact with the organisers in order to
keep their interest fuelled.
11 Away Days
WC gave an update on away day planning and potential venues
for 2027 such as Oundle, Spalding, Ely, Girton, Cambridge Bar Hill
Action point: SM and WC to research further ahead of July
meeting
A discussion was held
on the best way to collect fees which seems to be I.G.
12 Captain's Day plans
TD gave an update on plans to include virtual nearest the
pin in the swing studio, putting competition and a new idea for this year - captain’s chip “spot the ball” sweepstake. Fourball
voucher to be raffled?
Food: wraps and chips. Price to be held at £12
13 Committee away day
TD gave an update on the putative committee away day for a
maximum of 22 players to include roll up organisers. Suggested price offered by
Royston GC £43 for full English breakfast plus golf. £50 per head would also
cover cost of prizes
14 50th anniversary
Band and disco booked by DB for event in 2027
15 AOB
Past captain lunch booked for Sep 23. TL to send out
invitations
Dates of future meetings
Thurs July 2
Thurs Aug 6
Thurs Sep 10
Thurs Oct 8
Thurs Nov 5
Thurs Dec 3
Tues Jan 5
Tues Feb 2 AGM tbc
