Seniors Section Constitution

John O’Gaunt Club Senior Section

Constitution

Including

Eligibility for and Rules and 

Responsibilities of Membership

And

Eligibility and Rules for and Responsibilities ofEntering

Senior Section Competitions and Interclub Matches

 

First published June 2017

 ​

 

A. Constitution

1. Objectives

The purpose of the John O’Gaunt Golf Club (‘the Club’) Seniors’ Section (‘the Section’), is to arrange and encourage the play of social and competitive golf among those eligible for membership of the Section (see Section 2 below).

Section members are not a separate category of membership of the Club but the Club kindly supports the Section by:

o allowing the Section to manage competitions and matches through the Club’s golf management system;

o allowing the Section to reserve tee times for matches and competitions;

o allowing free golf for visitors for Interclub Matches and the Senior Member & Guest Day;

o including Section events in the Club calendar and diary.

Section members retain the same rights and responsibilities as any other member of the Club as defined by their Club membership category. Correspondingly members of the Section have a responsibility to ensure that their actions or words do not embarrass or cause difficulties for the Club or the Section.

The Section defines its own governance and rules provided that those do not conflict with the Club’s current governance and rules or the current Rules of Golf, bothapplicable at the time and including any changes to those which may be made from time to time.

The membership and financial year of the Section shall run from 1st January to 31st December each year.

2. Membership

Playing Membership of the Section is available to any playing male member of the Club who will be aged 60 or more in the current calendar year, on payment of an annual subscription as set by the Committee from time-to-time.Playing members (‘members’):

• may enter any Section Competition (and see C below)

• may enter the Section Interclub Match Squad (and see D below)

• may offer to organise any Section Competitions and Matches

• may be elected to any Office on the Senior Section Committee (see 3 below)

• shall be a voting member at any General Meeting of members of the Senior Section.

The annual subscription will become due on 1st January every year. A new member joining during a year will be required to pay the full annual subscription for that year with no reduction.

Annual subscriptions must be paid before any member may vote at a General Meeting of members, enter any Section competition or be selected for any Interclub match in that year.

Courtesy Membership of the Section may be offered by the Committee at their discretion. A Courtesy Member will pay no annual fee but in all other respects has the same rights and responsibilities as a Playing Member.

Social Membership of the Section is available to any male social member of the Club who has also previously been a playing member of the Section. No annual fee is payable by Social members of the Section.

Any member may attend the Senior Section Annual Dinner on payment of the fee set by the Section Committee.

A Social Member who changes his Club membership category back to a playing category, must pay the required annual subscription before having the rights and responsibilities of a Playing Member of the Section.

3. Governance

An Annual General Meeting (AGM) of members shall be held in February each year. Only members who have joined (or rejoined) the Section in the current year shall be eligible to stand for office and/or vote at the AGM.

On behalf of the Committee, the Hon Sec shall give notice of the AGM and issue an Agenda at least 5 weeks prior to the AGM.

At the AGM:

• the Captain and Honorary Secretary shall present their reports, and the Treasurer shall present his report and the accounts, for the previous year to 31st December.

• Members shall be asked to vote to adopt the accounts for the previous year and to appoint an auditor for the current year’s accounts.

• The members of the Section shall then elect the following Officers:

o Senior Section Captain “Seniors Captain”

o Senior Section Vice-Captain “Vice-Captain”

o Senior Section Honorary Treasurer “Treasurer”

o Senior Section Honorary Secretary “Hon Sec”

The above officers, together with the Immediate Past Senior Section Captain, shall comprise the Senior Section Committee (‘the Committee’).

Should a vacancy arise on the Committee during the year, the Committee has the power to co-opt addition membersas necessary. Such co-opted members of the Committee shall retire at the next AGM but be eligible for proposal for election at the next AGM.

The Committee shall meet as they decide is necessary and be responsible for:

• the overall management of the Section;

• responding to any matters that arise from Section members relating to Section activities;

• dealing with any breach of the Rules of Golf, the Rules of the Club and/or the Rules of the Section which may occur during or relating to Section events.

o This responsibility does not exclude or replace the responsibility of the Club Committee for dealing with disciplinary or other matters relating to any events at the Club, including Section events. (See Paragraph E below).

• agreeing a list of competitions, interclub matches and other events for the Section Calendar to be submitted to the Club for consideration for the Club diary;

• after approval by the Club for those events held at the Club, agreeing the annual Section Calendar;

• agreeing the conditions of entry, fees and prizes for Section competitions, matches and other events;

• agreeing a budget from which the Captain may obtain keepsake prizes for winners and other gifts for thoseassisting in any Section event;

• agreeing the style of any Senior Section clothing (e.g. ties, t-shirts, jumpers, slipovers).

o Any change to the Senior Section clothing which includes the Club logo must be approved by the Club.

• appointing and determining the roles of any Organiser to assist in any Section competition, match or event.

The Seniors Captain shall be responsible for:

• choosing one of more charities to support during his year of Captaincy and, if more than one, determining the apportionment of total money raised to go to each charity;

• captaining, or appointing a Match Captain for, each Interclub Match;

• selecting the team for each Interclub match;

• using the budget determined by the Committee to provide keepsake prizes for each competition winner and other gifts to those assisting in the running of Section events as he may decide;

• presenting prize-winners and other placed competitors with their trophy and/or prizes ;

• chairing the Committee meetings or appointing a deputy to do so;

• chairing the Annual (or any Extraordinary) General Meeting until the point where a new Captain is appointed, or appointing a deputy to do so.

The Vice-Captain shall be responsible for:

• deputising for the Captain in his absence;

• being a primary contact for members expressing grievances concerning the running of the Section.

o This does not preclude any member from expressing a grievance to any other member of the Committee;

• having a particular care for members who are temporarily unable to participate in Section events due to any adversity.

The Treasurer shall be responsible for:

• keeping the accounts of the Section and ensuring that they are ready for audit before and presentation at the Annual General Meeting or at any other time requested by the Committee with reasonable notice;

• reporting the current status of the accounts at each Committee meeting;

• managing the purchase and sale of Section clothing (optionally through a Section Clothing Administrator).

The Hon Sec shall be responsible for:

• the day-to-day running of the Section on behalf of the Committee;

• receiving communications from members on behalf of the Committee with the exception that any member wishing to communicate with the Committee concerning the Honorary Secretary shall be able to communicate with any member of the Committee;

• maintaining a mailing list of members of the Section;

• communicating any decisions of the Committee to the Section members;

• liaising with the Club regarding diary bookings for teesand/or social facilities in order to enable the Committee to agree the annual Section Calendar;

• liaising with his equivalent at other club’s to agree the dates and times of Interclub matches;

• with the Club’s agreement, having ‘Competition Management’ access to the Club’s golf administration system to set up and manage Section golf events, including arranging the draw and tee bookings;

• ensuring that all competitions, matches and events are run in accordance with the Committee’s decisions. This may be through an Organiser where one has been appointed;

• ensuring that all competitions are run according to the Rules of Golf and any local, Club or Section rules and that the appropriate penalties are applied for breach of those rules;

• ensuring that a register is maintained whereby members can join or leave the Senior Section Interclub Match Squad and can maintain their availability to be selected for a match team;

• recording the decisions made at any Committee, Annual or Extraordinary Meetings and producing minutes of that meeting;

• corresponding with members of the Section to ensure all members are kept informed of events including opening and closing dates and results of competitions, matches and other events. Optionally this may include maintaining a Section Blog and this may be maintained through a Section Blog Administrator;

• managing the Senior Section notice board in the changing room lobby.

An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of members may be called the Committee or by 5 or more voting members with at least 5 weeks’ notice.

B. Handicaps

Each member wishing to play in a Section Competition or Interclub Match must have a Competition Handicap. The member is responsible for ensuring that his own handicap is maintained correctly by the Club and that he meets the requirements to maintain a competition handicap.

A member without a Competition Handicap who registers to play in a Section Competition will initially be added to a Reserve List. Should spaces remain after entry for the competition has closed, the member will be added to the competition but will not be eligible to win any prizes.

If the competition is a qualifying competition for handicap purposes, all cards will be submitted for possible handicap adjustment.

Where requested, provision will be made available for 9-hole qualifying competitions for members who do not play 18 hole competitions.

C. Competitions

The Section will run a number of competitions of various formats over the year and, unless specified in the particular competition rules, entry to these will be limited to members of the Section. The list of competitions will be determined by the Committee, agreed with the Cluband published annually.

Members or their families wishing to donate a new trophy should submit their proposal to the Section Committee. The Section is limited in the number of competitions it can run by course availability and must abide by Club decisions. The Committee will look at any requests and consider them in the context of existing competitions. Any changes to the list of competitions will be published before the next AGM for consideration by members at the AGM.

The rules, including rules of entry, for each competition will be set by the Committee and published annually and again prior to entry for the competition opening.

Members may enter competitions between the opening and closing dates for the particular competition and may, if required, withdraw from a competition before the closing date without notice. Members who have signed up to a competition and need to withdraw after the closing date, must advise the Organiser or Hon Sec in writing, giving a reason for their withdrawal.

Members who fail to attend a competition for which they have signed up, or habitually withdraw from a competition with short notice, may be subject to discipline (see G below).

Members who fail to submit a card at the conclusion of their competition round have breached a Rule of Golf and may be subject to discipline (see G below).

In a competition, where the stipulated round starts at other than the first hole, the holes must be played consecutively from the allotted start hole until completion of the eighteen holes.  Players must ensure their card is correctly marked (Rule 6-6d).  Failure to play the holes and/or record them in the correct order will result in disqualification.  For the purposes of count back in such competitions the front nine will always be the front nine of the course and the back nine will always be the back nine of the course.

An Organiser may be appointed to assist with the running of any competition. The Organiser’s duties will be communicated by the Hon Sec to the person appointed for each competition.

Optionally a raffle may be held at each competition. The net proceeds from the raffle will be added to the sum raised for the Captain’s chosen charity/charities.

Members over the age of 70 who no longer play in 18-hole competitions may, by prior arrangement with the Hon Sec and agreement of the Club Golf Administrator, play a separate 9-hole competition. Where such competitions are qualifying, the members’ cards will be submitted for possible handicap adjustment.

D. Interclub Matches

The Section will run a number of Interclub matches over the year and entry to the teams for these will be limited to members of the Section. The list of matches will be determined by the Committee and published annually. Matches will comprise a home and away leg. The dates and times for home legs will be agreed by the Committee with the Club to ensure the appropriate tee reservations can be made. The dates and times of away legs will be agreed by the Committee with the opposing club.

Members wishing to be selected for a match team should ensure they are registered as available for both legs of that match.

Selection for a match team will be limited to those indicating they are available for both legs of a match. Selection will be made in time to enable members to confirm their availability for both legs. Other than the Senior Section Captain, all members who are selected for a team but are unable to confirm their availability for both legs will be withdrawn from the match team and replaced by a reserve for both legs of that match.Members who, having played the first leg of a match, subsequently withdraw from the second leg without, in the Committee’s opinion, good reason may be withdrawn or removed from subsequent matches. The Committee may, in exceptional circumstances, remove a member from the Interclub Squad.

The Captain’s team selection decision is final.

Members who fail to attend a match for which they have been selected or habitually withdraw with short notice may be subject to discipline (see G below).

Members selected for a team are expected to wear the Seniors’ match kit whilst playing matches. Unless advised otherwise by a member of the Committee, team members are expected to dress in jacket and Senior Section tie at the match lunches.

The Captain has discretion to impose a fine on any member playing a match who breaches the match dress code or any etiquette. Any fines imposed will be added to the Captain’s Charity fund.

An Organiser may be appointed to assist with the running of any match. The Organiser’s duties will be communicated by the Hon Sec to the person appointed for each match.

E. Invitations.

The Senior Section receives invitations from other clubs to send representatives to special events. These will be published and are open to all Section members to offer to play. 

Where entry is unlimited, members are free to enter such competitions but are asked to report the result to the Hon Sec or Blog Administrator.

Where entry is limited, the Captain will select those who are to represent the Club and Section and selection will be made on an equitable basis.

F. Holes in One

The Committee will reimburse the reasonable bar bill of a Section member who achieves a Hole in One at any Section Competition or Interclub Match. The member must pay the bar bill and submit his claim to the Treasurer with his bar receipt and the signed card.

G. Disputes

Any member who wishes to dispute any decision made by the Committee or anyone acting on behalf of the Committee should follow the procedure below:

• Discuss the matter with the Hon Sec or, if the dispute concerns the Hon Sec, any other member of the Committee, to try to come to a resolution informally;

• If the matter cannot be resolved informally, the complainant(s) should send the complaint in writing to the Committee. If necessary, the Committee will then invite the complainant(s) to attend a Committee meeting to discuss the grounds for their complaint.

The Committee will confirm any decision verbally and in writing and their decision is final.

Any member who makes a complaint to the Club regarding any matter that affects the Section is required to inform the Section Committee via the Honorary Secretary of the nature of the complaint so that they can be properly prepared to respond to the Club on the matter. A member who fails to inform the Section Committee of any such complaint may be subject to discipline.

H. Discipline

The Committee are responsible for ensuring adherence to the Rules of Golf and any local, Club or Section rules in any Section events.

Failure to attend a Section competition or Interclub match without notifying the Hon Sec or Organiser in advance and/or without reasonable excuse, is considered a breach of Section rules.

In the event that any rule is breached, in addition to applying any penalties defined in the Rules of Golf, the Committee may, after hearing submissions from the member or members concerned, apply any of the following sanctions according to the seriousness of the breach of rules:

o disqualification from a competition. If this occurs after the competition and the member has been awarded a trophy and/or a prize. The trophy and/or prizes may then be awarded to the next player(s) on the results list and/or retained by the Committee until the following year at the Committee’s discretion;

o banning from a number of subsequent competitions in the current and/or following year;

o withdrawal from one or match teams in the current and/or following year;

o removal from the Interclub match Squad;

o removal from membership of the Senior section.

In the event that any of the above sanctions are applied, the Committee has the right to retain any fees paid.

In the first instance the Committee delegates to the Honorary Secretary the responsibility for applying the appropriate penalties to be applied with regard to a breach of any Rules of Golf. Any member so sanctioned by the Honorary Secretary may appeal to the Committee.

In the event that a banning or removal sanction is applied, the member may apply for reinstatement the following year and the Committee has the right to approve or reject that application. 

Any disciplinary action taken by the Committee does not preclude the member(s) involved also being subject to the Club’s disciplinary procedures where appropriate.

 

I. Changes to this Constitution

This Constitution can only be changed at a General Meeting of voting members of the Section.

A proposal to change to this Constitution can be submitted by the Committee or by a minimum of five members of the Section, provided that such a request is made in writing. Prior to making such a request in writing, the members may discuss the reason for the request with any member of the Committee.

Seniors Autumn Stableford October 13 2020

The Seniors Section’s ‘Autumn Swing’ continued on October 13 with the Autumn Stableford, played in relatively benign conditions from the John O’Gaunt yellow tees.

In first place was Richard Coventry with 35 points and the only person to have his handicap cut (from 14.0 to 13.7). Richard’s score included an impressive seven pars in the first 10 holes.

Winner Richard Coventry

In second place was Ian Riches on 34 points and in third place was Stephen Collins, also on 34 points.

Commiserations to Richard Knell, Ralph Black, Malcolm Falconer and Steve Clark who all also had 34 points but lost out on countback.

There was a total of 94 entrants, eight of whom had to withdraw either just before the competition or on the day.  

Despite the favourable conditions, Stableford scores were relatively low, perhaps due to lack of run on the ball following recent periods of heavy rainfall.

The number of players who managed to enter their scores on IG fell slightly to 64 per cent.

Gordon Percival Team Trophy October 6 2020

The Gordon Percival Team Trophy was a very close affair.  There were 2 withdrawals so the average of all the Stableford Scores (29 points) was used to calculate the final team scores.

In the end, two teams totalled 100 points exactly.  One was Nick Schumann, Ian Riches and Richard Westergreen - Thorne and the other was Len Greaves, Sam Standen and Stephen Foster.  To separate them, competition organiser Jonathan Lean added up the total of the individual positions in the Martin Ives Trophy to award the prize to the team with the lowest total.

On that basis Len, Sam and Stephen totalled 55 points and Ian, Nick and Richard 70 points leaving the worthy winners as Len Greaves, Sam Standen and Stephen Foster.

Things were very close all the way down the field as equal third were three teams on 97 points:

Laurence Wilson, Peter Evans and Tony Goodson

Clive Morley, Neil Pinnington and Graham Lewis

David Lincoln, Peter Jarman and Graham Berry

Nick Schumann, winner Martin Ives Trophy

Congratulations also go to Nick Schumann for winning the Martin Ives Trophy with a very creditable 38 points.  Second was Ian Murray with 37 and third on countback was Nigel Underwood with 36.  Commiserations to David Lincoln, Neil Pinnington and Kevin Donnelly who all had 36 points also.

Apart from these 6 players, everyone else returned Stableford scores lower than their handicaps which is a clear indication that the playing conditions were less than conducive.  This particularly applies to anyone teeing off at 10am or later who got caught in some very heavy rain.  Well done to everyone who soldiered their way through the elements.  Jonathan received several communications from people still playing asking what to do if the greens were flooded!

Charity coffee morning Friday September 25 2020

A big thank you to those who supported the Coffee Morning on both courses on Friday September 25. The event raised a magnificent £920.02 to be split between Macmillan Cancer Care and Keech Hospice Support - the charities of the respective Seniors and Ladies Captains.

A special thanks to Ian Simpson and Hazel House who ran the day on behalf of the two Captains who did very well despite the cold and windy conditions. This is Ian's report:

Well what a great day it turned out to be despite the windy conditions. After a slow start on both courses where a few groups had decided not to play in the wet & windy conditions everything picked up with the majority of players donating. I saw a guest donate £40!

Unfortunately, the conditions didn't allow us to erect the gazebo so we went to Plan B and decorated the buggy, but stayed at the 9th tee on the Carthagena course - this also proved successful, although a bit exposed for Hazel and myself.

The JOG kitchen made the cakes, which went down a treat with a number of players commenting how nice they were. It was great to see people just turn up to donate and have their coffee and cake.

Many thanks to Gordon, Jodie, Jo, Dawn and Alan for their assistance in making this all possible.

Bailiff Shield Tuesday September 1st 2020

Winner Ralph Black

 The Seniors Bailiff Shield was played out under blue skies and in warm sunshine ... in marked contrast to the Seniors Captain’s Day a week earlier.

Ninety-three seniors teed up on the John O’Gaunt course, which had greened up nicely after the August rain.

First place went to Ralph Black, whose 37 points included an impressive eight pars on the back nine. Only a six on the 13th due to a ball in the brook cost him a full house. His victory saw him cut from 13.7 to 12.8.

Second Place went to David Wood with 36 points, who was cut from 17.2 to 16.6 and in third place was Neil Pinnington on 35 points, who was cut from 16.8 to 16.5.

Competition Secretary Jonathan Lean, also on 35 points, narrowly missed out on countback but still had his handicap cut from 15.3 to 15.0.

Second place: David Wood

Third place: Neil Pinnington

Senior Section Captain’s Day Tuesday 25th August 2020

 

The Seniors’ Section Captain’s Day was played in challenging weather conditions, beginning with driving rain for the early starters and ending with 55mph winds for the later entrants.

Despite this, 92 determined seniors battled the elements to finish the course.

The winner of the Kethro Tray, with an impressive 37 points, was Richard Cooper, playing off 28. His victory saw his handicap cut by 1.6 shots.

Second place went to Tom McEvoy, playing off 7, who scored 35 points. Tom was cut 0.4 to 6.6.

Ian Riches, playing off 15, came home in third place with 34 points, and was cut by 0.3 to 14.2.

Because of the relatively low scoring due to the weather conditions, all other handicaps remained unchanged.

It is not surprising that only two players managed birdie 2s, both on the 16th. Congratulations to Jim Peacock and Peter Imray. There were no birdie 3s on the 11th.

In addition to the main competitions there was a target putting competition. Areas were marked on the practice putting green with varying scores depending on the distance and difficulty in stopping the ball in each particular area.

Champion putter was Rob Anderson with 300 pts, followed by Rafe Bateson with 275 pts. Then came the chasing group of Paul Fletcher, Fred Williams, Clive Thompson, Bernard Gurney, John Hazelwood, Philip Odell and Graham Lewis all on 200 pts.

The captains versus vice-captains trophy was also contested and, as in previous years, it was a closely fought battle. There was everything to play for until the vice-captains played the 17th; their nemesis. The captains beat the vice captains 37pts to 36.

As ever, the challenges of the day were met with fortitude, determination and good spirit that is the hallmark of the John O’Gaunt Seniors’ Section.

 

 

Winner Richard Cooper

Seniors Committee Meeting Tuesday 4th August 2020

Seniors Committee Meeting

Tuesday 4th August 2020

Notes of meeting

Attendees:

Captain​​​​Bill Walker (Chair)​​​(BW)

Vice Captain​​​​Algy Grimes​​​​(AG)

Immediate Past Captain​​Dave Gauge​​​​(DG)

Hon Sec/Match Sec​​Richard Westergreen – Thorne​(RWT)

Competitions Sec​​Jonathan Lean​​​​(JL)

Hon Treasurer​​Les Bolland​​​​(LB)

Club Vice Captain​​Paul Fletcher (for item 1)​​(PF)

 

Apologies – None

 

Club Vice Captain Paul Fletcher (PF)

A discussion took place relating to various aspects of the club including the impact of Coronavirus. Other items for discussion included course irrigation and the fairway watering project, clubhouse refurbishment, opening arrangements and facilities. 

Various matters were passed on for consideration including a continued desire for the Senior Section to support the integration of new members to the club and the possibility of a Seniors Pack to be given to appropriately aged members who join. 

 

Minutes of meeting 5th May 2020 – Agreed

 

Matters Arising from meeting of 5th May

All Matters Arising from the previous meeting have been addressed.

Captains Report

The period since our last meeting (5 May 2020) has been a busy one, despite our lack of interclub matches and early season competitions. I am delighted to report that the SeniorSection has been fully involved in the planning and implementation of the incremental reopening of club facilities. Needless to say, this activity continues and is likely to do so for some time to come.  In this endeavour, I feel we are likely to see some restrictions across golf, social activities and clubhouse facilities continuing until a fully effective Covid19 vaccine is available. May that come as soon as is safely possible.

At the risk of repeating myself I wish to formally record my appreciation to all members for their support, both verbal and financial, for my Longest Day Charity Event on 21 Jun which raised a magnificent £2,746 for Macmillan Cancer Support. I am confident that, with the reintroduction of our competitions and their associated charity raffles, we will see our charitable giving for 2020 exceed all previous years’ achievements at a time when the need was never greater.

Since the reintroduction of social golf I have set myself the task of meeting, welcoming and playing with as many new members to the Seniors’ Section as I possibly can. I am delighted to report that to date, I have played at least one round with 9 new members. I will continue in this endeavour for the foreseeable future.   

Discussion: Members were pleased with the take up of new members interested in playing with BW and agreed this should be continued.

LB to circulate a list of the new members for 2020 and committee members to annotate with comments and pass to BW so he can follow up on any new members who have been missed.

Committee members offered to help BW with playing games with new members if it would help.

Vice Captains Report

It has been difficult to keep up to date with members who are ill or injured as we do not have the usual opportunities such as roll ups to keep abreast. Fred Williams has reinjured his shoulder and Keith Fuller is recuperating and should be back soon.

A discussion took place about any other seniors who may be injured or unwell. We should all pass any names we come across to AG

AG to contact Bill Burrows.

Tony Lloyd has taken over the blog and may need help to cover competition results in depthas we do not have a presentation at the end of each event.

Treasurers Report

Situation as of 30th July 2020

Bank account is currently £2512.20

Of this £217.50 is set aside as Captain’s charity money.

Longest day donations already forwarded to Macmillan Cancer Support.

The situation is I have paid out £117 in golf and raffle prizes for the Reg Batson held on 14th July but have not yet received the income from the day. (Sue in accounts has been on holiday) This will alter the balance of the account by £510 of which £270 will be in the charity money pot.

 

£134 in entry fees for the Green Tilley has been repaid to the club and repaid to the entrants.

 

£104 has been repaid to the club in respect of the Seniors Foursomes Knockout. This has not been repaid to the entrants as the competition was not set up to take money from their cards. The club should not have paid it to us in the first place.

 

The competition on 28th July has still to be accounted for. One of the entrants was not a member of the seniors but signed up afterwards). We do need to keep an eye on the entrants of our competitions so as not to have a repeat of previous difficulties where non-members or lapsed members walk off with the prizes

 

We receive a 10% discount from the pro shop for all vouchers purchased and given as prizes.

 

Current membership stands at 177 including 174 paid and 3 courtesy.

 

Hon Sec Report

Since the return to golfing activity the section has been increasingly busy – particularly since we resumed competitions.

Our membership has continued to grow in ones and two’s and this seems to be a mixture of long standing club members seeking to get involved in competitions and newcomers to the club being signposted to us. Gordon is keen to liaise with us and he has passed on several names of new club members and I have spoken with several not yet 60 as well as those who have joined. 

This is a good development but still rather ad hoc and would benefit from being more formalised. It is not always easy for new members to navigate their way in to the club and to find regular golf and we can help as well as recruit more members for ourselves. Having the article on the club website with our photographs attached and Bill’s commitment to meet and play with new members have both helped make us more visible and welcoming.

On the matches front I have not heard from any club looking to resume games this year. I think everyone is hoping for next year. Mid Herts have been in touch again and remain keen to get involved. Jonathan and I hosted two committee members from there pre lockdown and have an invitation to go there once we are able to do so.

The calendar is ready for next year and entered on the club draft diary with Michael Grace. We just need to:

- check and confirm the numbers that will be able to participate in the swop day with Northampton if it goes ahead

- agree at some stage before publication the format of the competitions – shall we keep them all the same?

The Newsletter seems to be read by a sizeable percentage of the membership judging by the spike in entries to competitions in the hours after it is sent out each week. I tend to get 3 – 5 responses each week on matters various and, interestingly, different people each time.

‘The List’ continues to grow and is now well over 40 strong. As I am not a member I am not sure how well it is used but I have not had any complaints. Is it time for a revamp? Perhaps to be considered along with the item on Roll Up’s.

In follow up discussion it was agreed that ‘The List’ remains fit for purpose and does not need any amendments at present.

Action Points:

• BW to confirm with Northampton Golf Club the numbers for the Swop Day and RWT will confirm with Michael Grace when agreeing the final calendar with him

• All - We will confirm the calendar for all of the competition and match formats for 2021 at the November Committee Meeting. JL and RWT to prepare a final draft for the meeting to consider.

Competition Secretaries Report – this incorporated the agenda item ‘Forthcoming Competitions’

Reg Batson Trophy. 14th July 2020

Stableford Competition on CAR off Yellow Tees, full handicap. Full field of 102 entries with no no-shows! Tee times set at 10-minute intervals from 0700 to 1230.

Excellent return of over 71% entering scores on IG.

Congratulations to Ian Riches who won with 41 points. Second place was Jack van Gorder on 39 and third was Alan Kirkman also on 39. 2 others on 39 points also but missed out on countback.

Senior’s Annual Stableford. 28th July 2020

Stableford Competition on JOG off Yellow tees, full handicap. At the request of Michael Grace, tee times changed to 0720 to 1250. Same number of possible entrants but later tee time to allow pro-shop to get sorted out before handing out score cards.

Competition initially filled up really quickly with a healthy reserve list. However, there was a steady stream of withdrawals, partly as holidays became more possible but also some injury issues. In the end, all reserves were accommodated and some spaces meant that there were a few 2-balls. There was one no-show who mis-read his tee time and turned up too late. A final total of 98 entrants.

Congratulations to Chris Sullivan who won with 39 points, second place was David Wood on 37 points closely followed by Richard Westergreen-Thorne also on 37 points on countback.

Upcoming Competitions

Senior Captain’s Day – 25th August 2020. This will be played on JOG off Yellow tees as a Stableford competition with full handicap.

At the time of writing I understand that it is not possible to have a putting competition, nearest the pin or refreshment although this is under review. It is possible to have a 2’s competition on all the par 3 holes which could possibly be extended to a 3 on the 11th (which was initially NTP in 2).

There is also a Captains v Vice Captains competition.

Details to be discussed and finalized at this meeting – see later item

Seniors Bailiff Shield – 1st September 2020. To be played on JOG, Stableford, Yellow Tees. At the time of writing there were 85 entrants out of a total possible of 102. With Covid-19 rules changing all the time I have left this as the same format as previous competitions in terms of organisation and score entering etc. I have now also set up a reserve list for this competition.

Senior Section Gordon Percival Team Trophy – 6th October 2020. Currently advertised as a

Stableford but should we change this to a Medal?

 

Seniors Autumn Singles Stableford Trophy – 13th October 2020

2 Clubs and a Putter Trophy – 20th October 2020

Seniors v Juniors – 27th October.

Ladies and Seniors Scramble – 3rd November 2020

Seniors Arthur Lucas Cup (Bring and Win) – 17th November 2020

Seniors Christmas Fayre and Baz Backhouse Trophy – 22nd December 2020

I have also been approached by a Bill Conway as a representative for some of the other seniormembers asking that we consider setting up a weekly seniors roll-up competition.

Action Points:

• Agreed - Gordon Percival to remain as a Stableford

• Two Clubs and a Putter to be changed to three clubs and a putter

• DG to contact the Junior Section about the viability of this competition – DG to report back asap and if this competition is not possible to be held then JL to liaise with Michael Grace about substituting a different Senior Section competition.

• Ladies and Seniors Scramble – JL to liaise with the Ladies Section about arrangements. If there are unbalanced numbers we can have teams with 3 men or three ladiesprovided the Ladies agree. (we did this in the Greensomes in March)

• Bring and Win – not possible to Bring and Win but to remain as a competition and we will agree format  - BW to make a proposal to be circulated to the committee prior to competition opening for entries

• Christmas Fayre – to be played in a format appropriate to the Covid arrangements of the time – BW to make a proposal to the committee prior to entries to the competition opening

• RWT to circulate all of the above points in the Newsletter

Past Captains Report

There have been only two competitions to date and there have been no matters that have required his attention.

 

Senior Captains Day 2020

The following arrangements were confirmed:

• 102 maximum entries in groups of 3 off the first tee 7.20am – 12.50pm

• Playing for the Kethro Tray

• There will be a putting competition using targets on the putting green rather than holes with the trophy awarded to the winner as usual 

Action Points: –AG to recruit people to run it and liaise with the club

• There will be a £10 voucher prize for all 2’s and also for a birdie on the 11th

• Raffle along the same lines as the first two competitions of the year

• AG to produce a programme for each entrant to be distributed with cards on the day

• Refreshments – preferred option is for a ‘free’ half way house.

BW to liaise with the club as to the possibilities

• AG to provide a poster to be attached to a Newsletter for members

Roll Ups

Bill Conway had raised roll ups with JL. Following discussion it was clear that there were two separate issues:

- Can we organise roll ups for members to which the answer is an unfortunate no at the moment due to the potential numbers that would be involved and current Club policy

- Once it is possible we will discuss with Steve Cooper and ensure that roll ups return

- Should people be able to play in the roll ups off full handicaps, or some other variation to max 18 such as 3/4 or 9/10ths.

Action Points:

- BW to discuss with Steve Cooper holding a vote on the handicap options amongst those who play in the roll ups as soon as the roll ups are able to return

- JL to thank and feed back to Bill Conway our action points and discuss with him that he, and others, are welcome to set up alternative options if he would like to do so

Post Meeting note: Any questions regarding handicaps to be used during roll ups is likely to be addressed by the introduction of the World Handicap System in November.

AOB

There was uncertainty as to the awarding of the Martin Ives Trophy. It was confirmed that it is for the best individual nett score in the Gordon Percival Team Competition.

Dates of future meetings:

3 November 2020

9 December 2020

19 January 2021

 

Annual Stableford Trophy July 28 2020

The Senior Section Annual Stableford Trophy was played out on the John O’Gaunt course in fine weather on July 28, 2020 with a field of 98 golfers.

First place went to Chris Sullivan, playing off 18. His 39 points, including an impressive birdie on the 13th, saw his handicap cut by two strokes.

Second place, on countback, went to David Wood on 37 points, which earned him a handicap cut from 18 to 17.

Third place went to Richard Westergreen-Thorne, also on 37 points, with birdies on the third and fourth, earning him a handicap cut from 17 to 16.

It seems we are getting more used to the new system of entering scores on IG as the numbers using this facility was slightly up on the last competition. However players are reminded that they still need to drop their card into the box outside the pro shop before leaving so that scores can be checked.

All eyes are now on Senior Captain’s Day to be played on John O’Gaunt on Tuesday, August 25.

Reg Batson Trophy July 14, 2020

Reg Batson Trophy

The Seniors competition programme resumed on July 14, 2020 with the Reg Batson Trophy. After competitions were interrupted by the Covid-19 lockdown, 102 members turned out to celebrate the event in fine conditions on the Carthagena course.

First place went to Ian Riches, playing off 15, with an impressive 41 points, including 11 pars and a birdie.  In second place was Jack Van Gorder with 39 points and in third place was Alan Kirkham, also on 39 points.

Reg Batson winner Ian Riches

In line with new scoring procedures, players were asked where possible to enter their own scores on the Intelligent Golf app and post their card in the pro shop box. Seventy-four players managed the task, with just a few “dubious” scores,  which was a great start.