Minutes of AGM February 1 2022

 

Minutes of AGM

 

Tuesday 1st February 2022)

 

Attendees:

 

Phil Armstrong, Rafe Bateson, John Baxter, Anthony Bell, Geoff Beck, Les Bolland, Bill Conway, Richard Coventry, Alan Curtis, David Curwen, Pat Gilgallon, Tony Goodson, Algy Grimes, Darryl Hayler, Dave Henderson, Paul Jones, Jim Kerr, Jonathan Lean, Graham Lewis, Tony Lloyd, Tony McClean, Michael Newstead, Neil Pinnington, Chris Roy, Peter Salmon, Nick Schumann, Andy Shilton, Ray Smart, Sam Standen, David Streatfield, Terry Sweeney, Clive Thompson, Bill Walker, Richard Westergreen – Thorne, Fred Williams, Dave Wood, Derek Young

 

1.                  Welcome by the Captain

 

Captain Bill Walker welcomed members to the meeting.

 

Gentlemen welcome to this 2021 Annual General Meeting of the JOG GC Seniors’ Section.

Before we get into the meat of the agenda, I would like to put this meeting into context.

The purpose of this meeting is 3-fold. It starts by your committee providing reports of our activities over the past year (Items 1 to 9 inclusive). Then we will review and hopefully approve an updated version of our constitution which describes the system under which we exist at item 10.We then look to the future to elect our committee for 2022 and hear from our new committee on their plans.

 

Now with a 17 item agenda the main purpose of the chair is to focus the meeting on core business and not let it digress or dive down any rabbit holes. Which is why we have arranged for a less formal Q&A session after the AGM is complete. Needless to say if you have burning questions to address genuine concerns, please raise your hand and you will be given an opportunity to speak. However, if it is just mild curiosity or clarification that can wait until the Q&A session, then I would urge you to do so.

 

2.                  Apologies for Absence:

 

Robert Bage, Kevin Barbour, Simon Bettany, Andrew Bowen, Stephen Collins, David Crosby, Gerry Degaute, Alan Fowler, Keith Fuller, David Gauge, Peter Imray, William Skelding, Ned Yorke, Chris Walker, John Whitbread, Stuart Wilcox

 

3.                  Minutes of the 2020 AGM (taken as read)

 

Proposed: Bill Walker

Seconded: Chris Roy

Carried unanimously

 

4.                  Matters Arising

 

There were no matters arising not covered in the agenda.

 

5.                  Captain’s Report

 

Given the level of regular communication to you from your committee in terms of the informative, and dare I say entertaining, weekly newsletters from our esteemed Hon Sec Richard Westergreen-Thorne and my occasional Captain’s Corners, my annual report, is what I hope, merely a synopsis of what you already know. That is, if you have been reading all that stuff.

 I hope that you will be aware that, throughout the 3 years that I have served on your committee as vice- captain and captain, I and more importantly your committee have been working with our Club’s management to improve relationships with, and the Section’s standing within, our Club. I must say that this has been done through a policy of winning friends and thereby influencing people. Something initiated by my predecessor Captain Dave Gauge and for which I will and we should always be eternally grateful. This has involved reaffirming our status within the Club and aligning the administrative and financial support we receive with that of other Sections; particularly, the Ladies’ Section.

But to get the full picture I must take a step back, some 5 years to 2017 and talk about, what some of you more longstanding members might consider to be, the elephant in the room. Namely, our aspiration for a 2 tee start for our home matches. In 2017 we asked the Club if we could have a 2 tee start to our home matches with other Clubs. We were denied that request on the basis that it would set an unwanted precedent with quote “other societies within the Club.” When I revisited this request to the GMC in 2020 the response, which was unminuted, was “What has changed? Nothing; so why ask the question? The answer is the same” I therefore set out at the end of 2020 to establish the necessary changes in particular the standing of our Section within this Club. “we are not a Society, we are so much more!” we are not a threat to Club Management, we are an asset to this Club, dare I say a jewel in its Crown”. So what followed during 2021 is of course now history but I feel it needs to be recorded as part of our AGM for the year in order to ensure it becomes a matter of record:

On the 27th January 2021 the GM C accepted a statement that we were a fully inaugurated section of John O’Gaunt Golf Club. Actually, and had been since 1977.

On August 24th 2021 that fact was visibly substantiated in the form of a reserved parking place for our Section’s Captain.

On 1st December 2021 the GMC agreed a revised financial structure for our Section that puts us on a par with the Ladies’ Section.

Gentlemen, I feel the need to reassure you that I have been clear throughout all our negotiations with the Club that I (dare I say we) hold 3 fundamental principles as sacrosanct: We will maintain

1. Continued Section financial viability.

2. Retention of Section financial autonomy.

3. The right to implement adequate control mechanisms to ensure the manageability of our Section.

 

I want to also assure you that while our Section finances have always been robust they will be improved as a result of these new financial agreements. Moreover, I assure you that this could not have been achieved without the immense hard work of your committee and as importantly the vital encouragement and support of 4 individuals: Club Captains Phil Haddow, Peter Horlock and in particular Pauline Aubigne and our Club General Manager Gordon MacLeod who has been a constant advocate of our Section.

Nevertheless, the elephant is still with us in the room. We still have an unfulfilled requirement for a 2 tee start for our home matches.

I firmly believe that a principle of successful negotiation is to find a win-win solution by understanding the other man’s problem. The problem the Club has with agreeing our perfectly reasonable request stems from the lack of control and discipline within our club of its members. Some internal societies feel that simply because they are long standing members of many years they can start their roll ups on unauthorised multiple tees. Not just 2 but 3, 4 and more tees. It is my belief that until that problem is properly addressed and resolved, our request will remain an aspiration and nothing more. The Club, quite rightly in my view, has no wish to be constantly in conflict with its members, particularly those who have been members for decades. Nevertheless, without a clear and enforceable disciplinary structure where rules, dare I say justice, is enforced and seen to be enforced on this issue and others, we will not be able to move forward.

 Interestingly, when full tee time controls were imposed on the Club due to Covid, the problem disappeared. The prospect of a hybrid tee-booking system that allowed open play for roll ups but extended tee booking at peak congestion times was, I felt, an opportunity to revisit our request under more stringent controls. Unfortunately, if only from my perspective, the members required a return to the old open play system and, you guessed it, the problem of unauthorised multiple tee starts by internal societies, as well as many other aspect of bad manners and indiscipline has returned. Therefore, I sincerely regret to say that the elephant remains with us and is something that I must pass on to my successor.

Gentlemen, I sincerely hope that over the past 2 years you feel, upon reflection, that I have lead you through difficult times and our Section has emerged in an improved state. I must thank what I called at the outset and will always consider my dream team of a committee, and I can only repeat a much overly used cliché, it has been an honour and a privilege to be your Captain. Thank you.

 

6.                  Honorary Secretary’s Report

 

A very busy season of events despite the ever-present Covid concerns. 

 The competitions were very well organised by Jonathan Lean with very good numbers taking part and with many different winners. It was also pleasing to see a steady increase in membership over the year to over 190 by the end. There seemed to be three types of new member joining us, those new to the club, existing club members reaching 60 and then there were others who were already club  members and 60+ deciding to join in and take part.

You will remember that we were not able to play matches with other clubs at the beginning of the year due to course and catering restrictions but, as these were relaxed, we were able to start playing what are a very popular part of our activities. As many people commented, it was just great to be back playing matches after no matches in 2020.

As more home matches were at the start of the year and more away matches at the end we actually played 5 games at home and 11 away during the season. Over 60 members took part in the games and, whilst difficult to maintain with injuries and covid positives, etc. we tried to keep to our principle of ‘fairness’ with team selections. As we had less matches than normal, the same number of people wanting to play and less holidays all round to take us away from the course, the ‘average person’ played around 55% of the times they put themselves forward – a little down from our last season in 2019.

 As for the results you may remember that Bill Walker was an undefeated Captain in 2020 – we did not play any games. He was soon brought down to earth with an 8 – 0 drubbing at St Neots in our first game of the year!

Overall, home advantage played its part and we finished:

Home

Won 3 Drawn 1 Lost 1

Away

Won 1 Drawn 2 Lost 8

 

Highlight of the year had to be when Peter Jarman and Gerry Degaute both achieved a hole in one at Dunstable Downs in our last game of the season – what are the odds?

 I must thank our Match Organisers for all their efforts in getting teams together, at the right place at the right time, being flexible to changing scenarios and ensuring all went well on the day.

Both the Away Day and the Past Captains Away Day proved as popular as ever, thanks to Richard Coventry, and we have added a Swap Day for 2022 to our calendar.

We took on the organisation of the Tuesday and Thursday roll ups on the resumption of play and numbers are currently very healthy each week. Many thanks to Steve Cooper for organising the roll up for many years prior to this, to Anthony Bell who stepped in and organised the Tuesday Group for people to get a game on a Tuesday when we had tee bookings and to Malcolm Lee who organised the Whatsapp Group for those looking for a game. All proved really important to keep the section going and people involved.

The Newsletter continues to serve a useful purpose in keeping everyone updated and involved and it ties in well with the blog so ably edited by Tony Lloyd.

A new feature for 2021 was organising games for new members with members of the committee. These proved very popular and also very helpful in getting new members involved and something we plan to continue as a committee this coming year.

Finally, a thank you to everyone for taking part, helping out and getting involved. Our aim is to provide a range of opportunities so that there is something for everyone. The fact that over 140 people took part in at least one activity in 2021 shows that we had a very vibrant year.

 

7.                  Competition Secretary’s Report

 

It was a year when we were able to return largely to a full programme of competitions.

We had: -

 14 ‘normal’ competitions

 The Green Tilley, Holmwood Plate and Foursomes knockouts

 Mixed Greensomes with the Ladies plus Seniors and Ladies Scramble

 Members and Guests Day

 Senior Section Away Day

 Seniors vs Juniors Match

 

I do not propose to detail all the results in this report as they have been fully documented in Richard Westergreen-Thorne’s excellent weekly newsletters and the brilliant blog – thanks to Tony Lloyd for this.

What was not normal about them was that, due to England Golf directives, we were only allowed to have a one-tee start on the majority of the competitions. The upside of this was that there was theoretically no limit to how many entrants we could accommodate but the downside was that the presentations were adversely affected. Understandably, the early starters were not willing or able to hang around until all the late starters had finished and entered their results.

On this note, as a brief aside, well done to the vast majority of you who managed to enter their results on IG whilst the terminals were temporarily unavailable. The high percentage of successful score entries frequently drew praise from Michael Grace.

Towards the end of the year, England Golf revised their guidelines, and we were able to introduce 2-tee starts to some of the competitions and also revised the tee time intervals to 9 minutes instead of 10. A 2-tee start does reduce the course capacity somewhat. If we stick to groups of 3 we are limited to 81 players on Carthagena and 84 on JOG. If we changed to 4 ball groups this would increase the capacity but result in very slow play, particularly in medals. Shotgun starts which are preferable for the Arthur Lucas Bring and Win plus the Christmas Fayre and Captain’s Day would limit the numbers to 75 on both courses but at least everyone would be around for the prize giving.

What I have done is kept a record of the numbers of entrants to each competition and, where the numbers allow, we intend to use 2-tee starts for 2022 with the exception of the Bring and Win, Senior Captain’s Day and the Christmas Fayre which will be Shotgun starts.

I would just like to thank all those who entered and supported these events and hopefully enjoyed them. That is the main objective!

 

8.                  Honorary Treasurer’s Report and adoption of Accounts

 

It is my privilege to present the John O’Gaunt Senior Section audited

accounts for the year end 31 st December 2021. This my fifth, and will be my last one

as I am standing down

 

At the end of the last financial year to 31st December 2021 our end of year balance

was £3367, which is down on the £3878 of the previous year. I have been able to

subsidise events to the tune of £511.

 

This leaves us with the healthy and sensible final year balance of £3367 (including

£2134.30 in the current account). This provides us with a sensible amount to take into

the new financial year and the new finance arrangements with the club.

.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to William Skelding for carrying out the

audit this year and for many years previously. William is also standing down so a

new auditor will be required.

 

I would also express my grateful thanks to the late John Ellary who ably ran the

supply of Senior Section clothing and ties over the last few years.

 

I wish my successor, Richard Coventry, well for the future

 

Adoption of Accounts

 

Proposed: Chris Roy

Seconded: Jim Kerr

Carried unanimously

 

9.                  Appointment of an Auditor

 

It was agreed that Richard Coventry would undertake a search for a new Auditor to take over from William Skelding and report back to the committee on progress.

William Skelding was thanked for his hard work in undertaking this role for a number of years.

 

10.              Constitution

 

Gentlemen, once again I feel it appropriate that I give some context to the need for this update to our constitution. I believe it to be self-evident that there have been a considerable number of changes since our current constitution was signed off in 2017, particularly as it has remained unamended since that date. However, given the significant changes that occurred in 2021, the need for an update has become paramount. 

What might not be so apparent is that this update has been conducted with full consultation with Club Management. Indeed, when a draft was first published in June 2021 the feedback received was that quote “eyebrows were raised” and the question posed of quote “Why does the Seniors’ Section need a constitution and wasn’t this the tail wagging the dog?”

I believe the reason for that feedback was that it caused particularly the new members of the GMC to actually pick up and read the Club constitution and realise just how “unfit for purpose” it was. The Club has proposed that the Seniors’ Section should be able to function on a simple set of rules which referred out to the Club constitution. My response is that this is a proposal that I would wholeheartedly support just as soon as the Club is in possession of a

Constitution that is fit for purpose. However, I am told that the timescales for that are in line with the Club incorporation project which is some time off. Therefore until such time I feel we need a fully up to date Constitution and I hope you will agree.

I am delighted to say that work to create a new Club constitution is underway and I understand that one of our members is leading the way and using our constitution as a starter for ten.

So to business. I hope you have taken the time to read the updated constitution. My thanks to those who have provided feedback in writing prior to this AGM and whose comments have been for the most part incorporated into the latest version distributed with the agenda.

Let me finish by saying that the constitution is a living beast particularly during times of change such as these. So I hope those of you who have any criticism of the document will be constructive by offering alternative wording to that you object to.

To determine how to conduct this review either page by page or comment by comment can I have a show of hands of those people who would like to raise any matters of concern?

 There followed a discussion and the comments from various members at the meeting were considered  before the motion was put to those attending to accept the revised Constitution as presented as the Constitution of the Senior Section.

 

 

Proposed: Algy Grimes

Seconded: Richard Westergreen – Thorne

 

Agreed unanimously to accept the revised Constitution as presented to the meeting.

 

11.              Appointment of Officers for 2022

 

Position	Nominee	Proposer	Seconder
Captain	Algy Grimes	Bill Walker	Jonathan Lean
Vice-Captain	Jonathan Lean	Algy Grimes	Richard Westergreen - Thorne
Honorary Secretary	Richard Westergreen-Thorne	Algy Grimes	Jonathan Lean
Honorary Treasurer	Richard Coventry	Les Bolland	Bill Walker
Match Secretary	Andy Shilton	Richard Westergreen - Thorne	Algy Grimes
Competition Secretary	Jonathan Lean	Richard Westergreen - Thorne	Bill Walker

 

As there are no other nominations, the above were elected unopposed.

 

12.              Address by the Captain

 

Firstly, let me say how proud and honoured I am to be elected as your Captain for 2022. On joining the club back in 2014 I never envisaged being elected to such a position. So thanks to Bill for asking me to become his Vice Captain.

Bill has done a fantastic job over the last two years, with so much going on, not least the latest standing of the Section within the club and the changes to how we finance ourselves. He has also updated our Constitution which we discussed earlier. Having stood in for him at a couple of matches, which I enjoyed, it just goes to show I need to sharpen up my joke telling.  (So Andy tells me).

Thanks to the Committee for the great work this last year and I hope the next Committee with a new Match Secretary (welcome Andy) and Treasurer (Richard, of course returning to the committee) will be up and running very quickly. We meet after this AGM. We also have a new Clothing co-ordinator Derek Young. (Ties etc). Continuing with the Blog is Tony Lloyd and looking after the trophies and organiser of the Annual Dinner is David Wood. I would like to thank them for their efforts this coming year.

I would like to formally thank Les Bolland for his work as Treasurer for the last five years, and present him with a card and gift on behalf of the Section.

I was pleased to see how much everybody appreciated Bill’s efforts over the last two years and delighted to present him with this card, together with a pro Shop voucher, will it be new golf clubs or more lessons?

I hope you all enjoy the new season, taking part in the competitions and matches as much as I am sure I will. I also hope you will please support my Charity which will be UK Sepsis Trust. There are approximately 245,000 cases and around 48,000 deaths each year. Having suffered from Sepsis a few years ago I wish to support the work they are doing to ensure the symptoms are more quickly identified so that urgent help can be administered, speed of treatment is key with this ailment, I know only too well. I wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for my GP recognising it and getting me into A&E swiftly. Unfortunately, our friend, John Ellary, was a casualty of sepsis only too recently.

On the subject of charities may I call on Jim Kerr to tell you about the Jock Allan Prostate Project Day on 4^th April.

Jim Kerr then briefly addressed the audience to publicise the day and ask for help with hole sponsorship, auction prizes and tombola prizes.

 

13.              Address by the Honorary Secretary

 

We now have an open system for JOG members who are 60+ to participate in Senior Section events as the membership fee has been dispensed with. The committee has agreed that the mailing list for the Newsletter will act as a proxy membership list and that all eligible JOG members who wish to take part in seniors events are encouraged to sign up for the Newsletter. This provides them with information about events, sign up arrangements and all other seniors’ activities and provides the committee with a way to communicate with those who wish to be involved.

There are currently 24 new seniors who have come forward since 2021. Three in the latter part of 2021 and a further 21 since the start of 2022.  There were 185 members at the end of 2021 and a further 6 members on the ‘courtesy list’ who were ex playing members now social members of the club.  Add the three together and there is a current mailing list of 215 members.

In previous years a number of members decide not to renew their subscription for the new year but this does not apply for 2022 and nobody has indicated they wish to come off the mailing list. I will write to all Courtesy members asking them if they wish to continue to receive the Newsletter and also do the same with the 2021 members.

The weekly Newsletter will continue to be the main means of communication with members during 2022 and this will continue to be supported by the blog which is receiving increasing numbers of hits each month and this was well over 600 in December 2021. Tony Lloyd has also now got access to the senior section of the news area of the club website and has begun to enter articles there. The scope to use this as a communication and promotional channel are currently limited but it will have an increasing value to us.

I encourage members to sign up to events, matches and competitions this year and am very encouraged to see the numbers who have already signed up for the first three events of the year that have recently opened for entry.

 

14.              Address by the Competition Secretary

 

So, what have we learned in 2021 that we can improve on in 2022?

 

As I have previously mentioned, I have kept a record of the numbers of entrants to the various

competitions and where we are able, I will be reverting to a 2-tee start on competitions with a limit of 84 on JOG and 81 on CAR. The exceptions will be The Captain’s Day, The Arthur Lucas Bring and Win and The Christmas Fayre, these will be Shotgun starts.A couple of observations.

Particularly applicable to late starters, please can you all ensure that, once you have finished playing, your score is entered, and cards put in the relevant box before you do ANYTHING else. The competitions cannot be finalised until all the results are in and leading scores checked against the score cards. Also, don’t forget to sign your score cards!

If anyone has to withdraw from an event, please can you make every effort to do this before the draw is done. I understand that some situations cannot be foreseen or controlled but please ensure that every competition you enter is clearly marked in your diaries or calendars to avoid clashing with other events that you have to attend. If you must withdraw, please can you contact me – not Gordon, Michael or Richard Westergreen-Thorne. Text or email is preferred as I then have a record of the withdrawal and can act on it when I am next at my computer. Phone calls are OK provided they are confirmed by text or email. Some of you have contacted me through the IG messaging system. This is OK but a bit cumbersome so if you can text or email please do so.

With a 2 tee start there is a later start time of 9am with only 2 zones – early and late. If any of you have inflexible tee time requirements in order to allow doctors, dentists appointments etc. please let me know before the draw is done. It is much more difficult to do this after the draw when everyone has been advised of their tee time.

There has been some discussion about the playing format of the Scramble competitions regarding whether or not the player whose previous shot is chosen should be allowed to take the next shot. We have discussed this in the Seniors committee, and we would prefer to leave it as it is with only the players whose shot is NOT selected being allowed to take the next shot until the ball is on the green. This is primarily to avoid one low handicap player dominating the group and also to speed up the play in what is typically a slow format.

Finally, as previously mentioned, the main objective is for everyone to enjoy the competitions no matter how well your performance in the events. I will continue to do all I can to ensure that this happens and all constructive and helpful comments as to how to improve will be carefully considered before being rejected!!

 

15.              Address by the Match Secretary

 

Firstly thanks to Richard Westergreen-Thorne for comprehensive and detailed handover of the role.

 

We will shortly be sending an email with the full details of matches and sign up arrangements so please look out for that email from Richard in the next week and get onto the web-site to sign-up.  In lieu of that email a few headlines for your attention:

 

·       We have a full fixture list of 13 clubs home and away so 26 matches in total.  The only change to previous years is Knebworth being replaced by Millbrook.

·       In 2021 we had more withdrawals than historically we have experienced which led to some match organisers scratching around for players.  This may well have been exceptional to do with the pandemic impacting availability and holidays etc.  But to mitigate the impact of withdrawals we are going to increase the number of reserves to 4 for each game.

·       We will also be reintroducing the JOKER where players can choose one away game that they want to be involved in.  This will be managed through a sign-up sheet on the notice board.

·       Historically we have paired home and away selections against the same club fixture but following last year’s ballot of members we now just ask you to make yourselves available for the same number of home and away fixtures.

·       We are not yet sure of the match costs as we are still waiting for final confirmation of costs from the club but it is likely to be between £20 and £25.  This still represents good value and is the first increase since 2019.

·       I’ll be looking to do as much as I can digitally this year and will provide support to anyone that needs help to do so.  Of course if you cannot work digitally I will support traditional methods.

 

I look forward to an exciting season of club matches

 

 

 

16.              Other Agenda Items – none were received in advance from members

 

None

 

17.              Close of Meeting

 

At the close of the meeting there was a question and answer session and points raised by members were taken to the Committee Meeting that followed the AGM and the notes of which will be published shortly.

 

 

 

 

 

Look the part for the new golfing season

 

Derek Young has kindly taken on the role of Senior Section clothing organiser following the sad death of John Ellary. So if you would like a Senior Section polo shirt, jumper or tie to look the part this year he's your man.

Meanwhile one lucky golfer could grab a bargain... but you must be size small! Derek has two polo shirts and one sweater to go as one lot for the rock bottom price of £30.

Derek also has two Slipovers, size small, for £10 each and a v-neck sweater, size medium, also £10. All items carry the John O'Gaunt badge and are embroidered with "Senior Section".

Derek's contact details are:

07731 605867

01767 651374

derekryoung@yahoo.co.uk

Belated honour for Clive Thompson February 1 2022

 

One last job for Seniors Captain Bill Walker before standing down at the AGM. Here he presents Clive Thompson with the Rex Cleaver Trophy which Clive won in 2021 but was unable to receive until now

Meet your new Senior Section Committee February 1 2022

 

Introducing your new Senior Section Committee, clockwise from top left: Seniors Captain Algy Grimes; Vice-Captain and Competitions Secretary Jonathan Lean; Immediate Past Captain Bill Walker; Match Secretary Andy Shilton; Honorary Secretary Richard Westergreen-Thorne; Honorary Treasurer Richard Coventry

The Committee was elected at the Seniors AGM at which reports were presented by all the officers, including retiring Honorary Treasurer Les Bolland, who was thanked for his past service.

Retiring Seniors Captain Bill Walker presents Algy Grimes with his Captain's jumper

Algy presents Bill with a gift from members following his two-year captaincy

 Algy presents retiring Honorary Treasurer Les Bolland with a thank you gift

Algy introduces his charity of choice: The UK Sepsis Trust

Senior Section Committee Meeting January 18 2022

 Attendance: Bill Walker (BW), Algy Grimes (AG), David Gauge (DG), Les Bolland (LB), Jonathan Lean (JL), Richard Westergreen – Thorne (RWT)

Dave Wood (DW) (Item 3)

Tom Simm and Club Vice Captain Rob Bage were both absent on the recommendation of BW as the meeting was largely focussed on preparing for the AGM.

Minutes of meeting

1/ Minutes previous – it was agreed to correct reference to Wendy Ashdown to Wendy Ashcroft.

2/ Matters arising – action points from the previous meeting:

There were no items not covered elsewhere in the agenda.

3/ Review of Annual Dinner and Trophy arrangements 

DW attended for this item and was thanked for his efforts in tracking down trophies, getting them engraved and organising both the Annual Dinner, Presentation Event and the awarding of trophies to 2020 and 2021 winners at various other times. The final presentation of the year took place just prior to the meeting.

Discussions covered the various aspects of the role undertaken by DW and any ‘lessons learned’ from 2021.

The key issue was the length of the Annual Dinner and the lateness of the hour when it finished. It was agreed that the dinner should be shortened and DW would look at:

• Starting earlier than 6.45 for 7.15

• Having large print copies of the seating plan available around the clubhouse to speed entry into the Burgoyne Suite

• Discussions with the club for suggestions as to how the proceedings could be speeded up

DW agreed to continue with the role for 2022 and will return to a committee meeting later in the year to discuss plans for the Annual Dinner for 2022. DW will also undertake to ensure that the trophies are returned in time to be presented to their 2022 winners on the day of the competition and will liaise with JL, He will make use of the trophy space being given to the seniors by the club to store trophies and make it easier to keep track of them and get them engraved.

4/ Captains Report

The significant strategic development to note since our last committee meeting is the

agreement of a new financial structure for the Seniors’ Section agreed by the General

Management Committee meeting on 1st December 2021. This development was

communicated to the Section members on 9 December 2021. Despite drafting the

background to the proposal and the proposal itself, I continue to chase the record in the

minutes to determine precisely what was agreed.

The fundamentals are as follows:

1. The agreement ensures:

a. Continued Section financial viability.

b. Retention of Section financial autonomy.

c. Adequate control mechanisms would be put in place to ensure the

manageability of the Section.

2. The agreement with the Club covers:

a. Removal of Section annual subscriptions.

b. Alignment of Section competition entry fees with that of the Club (currently

£4 

c. Club to provide annual honorarium in line with Ladies’ Section.

Matters to be agreed internally at this meeting: 

What control measures are required to ensure Section events remain

Manageable if extra numbers come forward?

 It was agreed at the meeting that we would need to be flexible depending upon sign up numbers. We would advertise our early events as two tee starts but if numbers were large then we may revert to a one tee start.

Do we retain a competition entry fee of £5? However, this would constitute

£4 entry fee £1 charity raffle. (All monies retained by the Section with

Section paying all competition costs.) 

It was agreed at the meeting that we would keep to the club agreed £4 entry per competition and £1 charity raffle for competitions. It was noted that members did not have to pay a £10 membership fee in 2022.

Do we instigate a match entry fee on the basis of equanimity? If so, how

much?

It was agreed at the meeting that we would add a small match fee element to match costs and we hope that the match fees will not exceed £25 per match but this will be dependent on food costs.

RWT to follow up.

How do we maintain an adequate level of charitable giving? 

It was agreed that AG would consider the various options and return to them at the next meeting.

Do we have sufficient safeguards to ensure continued liquidity? 

LB confirmed that there was sufficient liquidity within the seniors' accounts for the transition to the new arrangements.

Do we need to draw up parameters for the use of the honorarium?

For example, expenditure confined to entertainment of Section guests and Section

event subsidies, drawn down onto Section card per requirement for club

house expenditure plus any expenditure outside club backed up with

receipts. All endorsed by Section Captain only or Vice Captain.

It was agreed that AG would devise some draft parameters for discussion at the next meeting.

Other Topics Ongoing

Annual Handicap Review. On Monday 10 January I participated in the Club’s annual

handicap review. This is a newly created procedure under the new WHI rules. These

rules flag up members whose handicap has varied during the year by amounts that

exceed pre-designated thresholds. The review was carried out by a subset of the Golf

Sub Committee. Namely, Golf Sub Committee chairman, the 3 Section Heads and

Michael Grace. 

My main purpose was to provide input recommendations regarding Seniors’ Section members that had been flagged by the system. My input was expected to be based on any background information such as illness or injuries etc or with respect to members’ performance in non-qualifying events such as matches and roll ups. This latter input needed to be evidence based and not merely subjective. Given the late notice of this (14 December) evidence was limited and therefore so was my input.

For the future I have initiated a roll up record book to record the names of

members who take winnings and their score. Match performance we already have.

Hopefully this will allow more meaningful input next year. I also asked for more precision

regarding what constitutes evidence and what constitutes a non-qualifying event. 

Greater control of trophies for Trophy Custodian (Dave Wood).

 I have agreed with the General Manager that a lockable display cabinet will be allocated to the Trophy Custodian to enable him to take full control of all Seniors’ Section trophies. 

Club Website – Seniors’ Section News Area. Our Blog Editor (Tony Lloyd (TL)) has

agreed to take charge of content within the Senior’s Section news area of the Club

website. A discussion is needed between TL and RWT to agree coherence rules

between Blog, Club website and newsletter if all 3 are to be continued. 

Golf Sub Committee Meeting = Feedback

Lots of discussion regarding course format and impact on etiquette and members’ behaviour/conflict will be a significant point of discussion for next meeting. A proposal of allocating holes to members by surname for special attention when playing to: look for unrepaired divots, pitch marks, unraked bunkers with rewards for best holes on each course. The new website is to include webcams on first tees. 

It was agreed that for the Prostate Project Day non-members of

Club will be required to pay a member’s guest green fee. This is not a change from

previous arrangements. 

My report to the meeting covered the new Section financial structure. I was asked whether the new membership eligibility included Ladies. I responded that our eligibility criteria were not gender specific. This is in line with Club and national trends. My successor will be invited to the next meeting at 5pm on 15 February 2022. 

Section Membership.  

Clarity is required on the information published to all Club

members defining eligibility of Seniors’ Section membership and the process for

indicating members’ wish to participate in Seniors’ Section events. The General

Manager has agreed to announce the revised eligibility rules in a future round up 

newsletter to members. However, he has counselled that, despite this newsletter being

sent to all members, only approximately 10% of members read it. 

My view is that as long as we have done all we can to ensure that all Club members can “reasonably be expected to know” the eligibility criteria, we have met our remit. 

Action: A reminder in the Newsletter to ensure that they are not ex-directory and upload a photo to help the Section Captain put as many names to faces as possible, would also be helpful.

It was agreed that we would use the mailing list for the Newsletter as the effective ‘membership list’ of those interested in taking part in seniors’ events. People would be on this list if they rolled over from 2021, contact RWT to express and interest in taking part, sign up for events and are then contacted by RWT.

5/ Treasurer's Report

LB reported that the books are with William Skelding for the audit in preparation for the AGM.

There is £2134.30 in the bank to carry over to start next year.

 

The balance sheet will be circulated once it is complete nearer the AGM

 

6/ Vice Captains Report

AG outlined his recent contacts with senior section members about their health and welfare.

The biggest challenge to the role is finding out about members who have health and other issues and It was agreed that a note would go in the Newsletter asking members to let the Vice Captain know if they hear of any member that we should contact.

7/ Hon. Sec Report

Since the last meeting I have been progressing several related items as we ready ourselves for 2022. These include:

- publishing the 2022 calendar of events to members and dealing with members queries and questions

- setting up the matches for 2022 on the IG system and revising the paperwork that will go out to match organisers and participants ready for launching the sign-up arrangements after the AGM

- inviting 2021 Match organisers to take the same responsibilities in 2022 before opening out to the membership

- starting the process of responding to and contacting fellow secretaries at other clubs ready to send out our contact and officer details to them after the AGM and begin calendar planning for 2023 (we have already received one offer of dates for 2023)

Next steps include inducting and supporting the new Match Secretary into their role and publishing the sign-up arrangements for matches. I also am awaiting from Michael Grace a copy of the 2022 menu so that we can agree a charge to participants in matches – it will need to go up from the current £20 a match but how much?

The arrangements for the AGM are in hand and the Agenda will be confirmed at the Committee Meeting on 18th January and published to members after the Committee Meeting.

We need to agree the ‘membership’ arrangements for 2022 and the information sent to club members about participation in our events during the year.

8/ Comp. Sec. Report

Since the last meeting we have had the following competitions.

The Arthur Lucas Bring and Win on 16th November was won by Andy Shilton with 40 points, a clear winner over Paul Life in 2nd place with 38 points and Ralph Black in 3rd , also with 38 points. There were 60 entrants. A few ‘prizes’ left over which can be added to the pot for raffles or other Charity raising efforts.

The Christmas Fayre was a Shotgun start attracting the maximum of 75 entrants. Congratulations to Richard Westergreen-Thorne who won with 37 points just edging out Greg Whitecross and Steve Cooper who also had 37 points.

I have now entered all the 2022 competitions on the system. As agreed, all will be 2-tee starts at 9 minute intervals with a start time of 9am to allow for course preparation. There will now be only 2 zones – early and late. The exceptions to this will be the Arthur Lucas Bring and Win and the Christmas Fayre which will both be Shotgun starts at 10am.

This new arrangement does limit the numbers of entrants slightly as follows:-

JOG – 84 players in groups of 3 with 14 groups off each tee.

CAR – 81 players in groups of 3 with 15 groups off the 1st tee and 12 off the 9th tee.

Shotgun – 75 players in groups of 3 with 7 groups starting 5 minutes early off seven selected tees.

The following issues need to be decided:-

• Do we continue with the £5 entry fee consisting of £2 entry and £3 raffle? Does this need to change to bring us into line with other club competitions? I do not think that we should revert to selling raffle tickets on the day to raise money for the charity raffle as there have been no objections that I am aware of to the current system. We can easily revert to bottles of wine as prizes if this is preferred with just names of the winners on the bottles but I like the idea of supporting the pro shop with winning vouchers. These can be purchased in advance if preferred so that prizes can be awarded on the day.

It was agreed at the meeting that the entry fee would be £5 for all competitions with £1 going to the Captains Charity.

• There has been some discussion about the format of the scramble competitions. At the moment, after the tee shots, only the players whose drive was not taken will take the next shot until the ball is on the green. It has been pointed out to me that this is not the way that the Ken Robinson was designed, and we should revert to all players playing each shot.

It was agreed at the meeting that we would continue with the current rules as this allowed all four team members more opportunity to be involved.

9/ Immediate Past Captains Report

DG had no matters to report.

10/ AGM

The meeting reviewed the draft agenda for the AGM prior to it being circulated to members. It was confirmed that the reports to members by officers will refer to 2021 matters and thoughts regarding 2022 would be covered in the agenda items after the Officers are elected for 2022.

It was confirmed that questions for the Q&A session after the AGM could be sent to RWT in advance of the meeting as well as raised from the floor.

After the AGM the Minutes will be circulated, and this will include Officers Reports. RWT asked that he is sent copies of the notes used by Officers when making their reports soon after the meeting so that they can be circulated with the minutes.

Prostate Day

 

After discussion it was agreed that BW would seek a meeting for the Committee with the organisers Tony Goodson and Jim Kerr to confirm what help was required and how the seniors could assist with the arrangements.

 

Administrators for Clothing and Invitations from other clubs

 

Derek Young has come forward to take on the role of Clothing Administrator.

 

Ken Doggrell has stood down as the Administrator for those invitations from other clubs and it was agreed that RWT would take over the roll as part of his duties as Hon. Sec.

AOB

 

Club Website – RWT outlined the discussions he had held with Tony Lloyd who is taking on the responsibility for content in the senior’s element of the News section on the club website alongside that of the blog.

 

The website has the potential to be very useful once the club moves to a new website. In its current format its use is limited to the publication of brief articles of which only the last six are easily visible to members at any one time and entries for other club events and activities also find their way into this section.

 

It was agreed that a ‘Meet the Committee’ piece would be placed on the news section and the blog soon after the AGM. Tony Lloyd has requested photographs, and these will be supplied by committee members at the AGM.

 

Swap Day – it was agreed that BW would investigate with the club whether it would be feasible to have a swap day in 2023. If that were the case then we would look to find an interested club.

 

 Paul Marshall asked a question about getting more competition boards on display in the clubhouse and BW agreed to write to Paul updating him on progress.

 

Rafe Bateson raised a concern about the quality of the scorecards and this will be passed on to the General manager.

 

Andy Shilton asked about the lower age for senior membership being 55. He had been  informed that the traditional age for membership was 60 and this was similar to most of the clubs we play in matches. However, lowering the age has been informally discussed with the club and the decision was made to limit changes at the moment to the changes associated with the membership fee but could be returned to at a later date.

Date and time of next meeting – 1st Feb immediately after the AGM

Action – AG to bring proposed dates for 2022 Committee Meetings to the meeting on 1st Feb. 

 

Better late than never Alan

 

Just one more presentation Captain Bill before you step down! Alan Kirkham receives a certificate and pro shop voucher for his runner-up place in the Senior Section Golfer of the Year competition. Alan scored 79 points throughout the season, the winner, Paul Hammond, having collected 93.