| GWGS A.G.M 2008 |
Captain:- J.W.Kelsall Secretary:- M.Rainer Treasurer:- I.W.Smith
Minutes of the AGM of the Great Western Golf Society held at The Boycott Arms on Wednesday 27th February 2008 at 8.00pm
Members Present:- John Kelsall, Rob Orrock, Dave Turner, Kevin Oldfield, Ian Smith, Bob Taylor, Martin Rainer, Keith Watson, Andy Paddock, Terry Janes, Andy McLeod, Dave Williams
Apologies from Richard Gorton, Gary Purchase, Steve Knight
The Minutes of the 2007 AGM were accepted as an accurate record.
Treasurers Report
Ian advised that the Society account had been used in the main, to pay deposits to secure tee times for the Summer and Winter events in 2007/2008. No monies had been lost on deposits for a third consecutive year, and we only had the Shropshire deposit outstanding which would be re-imbursed on the day.
Expenditure was expected for the annual website fee, and to retain the name of the site. £144.60 had been spent for the Presentation Evening awards last year but this included the purchase of the September Classic trophy.
Ian also confirmed that the window for rejoining in 2008/2009 was now open. Any member wishing to rejoin has up to and including the date of the Presentation Evening (11th April 2008) to do so. The cost remains at £15, cheques need to be made payable to I.W.Smith. Any monies received after the Presentation Evening will not be accepted.
Website
Martin mentioned that the hits on the website had now reached 4000. To revamp the Website, Martin is looking to delete the Guest book page and is open to suggestions for alternatives.Golf tips and fantasy golf items were mentioned. If anyone has further ideas – please speak to Martin for further information.
Membership
We currently have 15 members, and hopefully they will all be rejoining in 2008/09. Rob Orrock’s friend Alan is still interested in joining, however Rob mentioned that he has health concerns at the moment.
For the purpose of manageability with regards to tee times, the numbers in the Society were deemed adequate at the moment.
Winter League
Martin mentioned that he was still experiencing difficulties with the booking of courses due to the continuing unreasonable demands from host clubs.
He has built up a database of courses that meet our minimum requirements, i.e. no temporary greens, minimum numbers, deposits being accepted not full payment of green fees and unlikely closures in inclement weather, so he will be choosing from this list for next years Winter League. However, Martin would welcome any alternative courses that members are aware of.
This year’s Winter League has been won overall by Rob Orrock, following his two victories at Cleobury and The West Midlands Golf Club. However, there is still the third leg to play for at The Shropshire in March.
It was suggested that the Handicapping of the Winter League may need to be looked at, to see about the individual event winner being cut by 2 shots and the runner up by 1. This would only be for the duration of the Winter League ONLY. All members would revert back to the handicap they had prior to the Winter League to begin the Summer events.
Action Point:- Martin is going to look back over the Winter League scores over the past three years, before any decision is finalised.
Competitions for 2008
In line with the Winter League, there has been the need to raise the cost threshold of our events due to increasing charges from host Golf Clubs. Martin has always endeavoured to look at courses charging up to £30 with food for Society events. This is proving harder and harder to do over the past 18 months. Therefore, we recognise that we will need to increase that amount to £35.
With food, this is a more realistic expectation, it effectively unties Martin’s hands and maintains that we can still play our events on courses of a reasonable standard – rather than moving to cheaper alternatives.
Over the last 10 Society events, 9 different members have won the tournament. Last year, the Order of Merit was decided by the final putt of the Competition year by Dave Turner.
It was accepted that moving the Premier Strokeplay to Ombersley in June was a great success.
In order to attract greater numbers out of the main holiday season, it was agreed to look to bring the Stableford Plate forward a week to the 6th July.
A suggestion was put forward by Ian and Martin around a revamp of the Par Three Competition in August. It was viewed that due to work commitments it was difficult for members to play on a week day evening.
If the Competition were to be moved to a Sunday, it was also mentioned that some members may not be willing to commit to play at the Ledene on a Sunday in August. There is also the issue of this date being in the main holiday period.
Nailcote Hall has been identified as an alternative venue for the Par Three. It costs £10 to play and it has hosted the National Par Three Championship that has been televised on Sky Sports.
Various suggestions were made to the day, such as playing 9/18 holes – then breaking for lunch and then playing the final 18 – effectively a 36 hole competition. So for this year only – we are going to try it to see what it is like, the response we get and if it is adverse then we can look to returning to the Ledene in 2009.
For the Open in October, Dave Turner mentioned that he had contacts at Walsall Golf Club and may get us in there, and will need to liaise with Martin nearer the date.
The 2008 Competition Dates:-
GWGS Premier Strokeplay:- Sunday 8th June 2008 – Ombersley*
GWGS Stableford Event – Sunday 6th July 2008 – Sapey*
Par 3:- Sunday 10th August 2008 – Nailcote Hall*
September Classic:- Prov date Sunday 14th September 2008 Kington*
GWGS Open 3-2-1 Event:- Thursday 2nd October 2008 – Walsall GC*
* All courses subject to availability on this day.
Invitation Day
Due to heavy work commitments, John was unable to organise an Invitation Day this year. So it was decided to offer a game in May 2008, pending the hopeful return of the Invitation Day in 2009.
The date identified was a weekday in May outside of the Bank Holiday weeks, namely week commencing 12th or 19th May. Please view the website or your e-mail addresses nearer the time for further information.
Golffest 2008
Due to the success of the weekend last year, it was mentioned whether another one could be arranged in 2008. The last two weeks in June were pencilled in as a possibility. It was agreed that the Society events do take precedent, the Golffest is classed as a “bolt-on” within the Calendar year and would be arranged when it could be accommodated.
Presentation Evening
Following three changes of owner at The Horns in the last twelve months, and the warm welcome received at The Boycott Arms, the Presentation evening has been booked for Friday 11th April 2008 at 7.45 for 8.00pm. Smart, casual dress please.
We have booked the larger room to the right of the bar, and a representative from the Boycott will be contacting Ian to discuss meals shortly. Again please keep a close check on your e-mails for further information of the evening. Members are actively encouraged to support the event, especially the ones who have an award to pick up on the night.
AOB
Scorecard Marking
Martin raised a point that in two recent events, namely the September Classic at Wharton Park and the 2nd leg of the Winter League at the West Mids Golf Club, incorrectly marked scorecards had been submitted.
Whilst neither instance had affected the overall result, the concern was that it could happen in the future. It was agreed that we didn’t want to see members being disqualified from tournaments or facing two shot penalties at this stage – but in the interests of fair play – guidelines need to be followed to ensure the competition is decided on the correct score achieved.
Therefore, it is the individual member’s responsibility to mark their own card, as well as their nominated marker.
At the end of the event a winner may be identified on the day, based on the cards submitted. But this will now be subject to official verification by Martin and posting on the website. In the event of an error occurring, the members concerned will be notified prior to the result being confirmed.
Meeting closed at 10.10pm.