MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING  14^th OCTOBER 2010

PRESENT.       

16 members:- Les Coulson, Paul Dubois, David Durrant, Dave Edwards,  Tim Fletcher, Gordon Gillespie, Jamie Hayward, Paul Lo, John McCoy, Mick Mann, Steve New, Brian Nix, Dig Partridge, Jeff Rowe, Michael Starr and Michael Wroe.

APOLOGIES.   

David Black.

MINUTES OF THE LAST AGM.

Agreed.

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE LAST AGM.    

Nil.

CAPTAIN’S REVIEW OF THE YEAR.    

The 2010 captain, Gordon Gillespie, gave a brief review of the 2010 season summarizing all of the events and thanked all those who had organized an event and helped in any way whatsoever to make his year as captain an enjoyable one.  Once again the good weather had helped and the details of performances for each event can be seen on the attached player of the year sheet.  The average turnout of players over the season as a whole was 17 for each event with the usual presence of guests often helping top up the numbers.  This "average" figure matched our turn out figure for last year and was pleasing to see this stable considering the decline in numbers attending for previous years and long may it continue.  There were also some guests who had only played one or two events this year but it was hoped that they would be present at more events next year.

Once again it was noted that the Society was looking to get the best deals that it could for each event and also on courses where it was felt that people would be prepared to play, be it private or public courses, at a reasonable cost, as well as trying to re - visit previous courses that members had commented upon favorably.

Gordon ended by presenting the end of season trophies to third placed Jamie Hayward and second placed, (again), Les Coulson, and then presented the player of the year trophy to this years champion Steve New.  Last year's champ Jamie was unable to maintain last years form, whilst Les continued on an even keel and surely his persistence will be rewarded?  Meanwhile Steve reclaimed his champions crown with some superbly consistent golf over the course of the season and I think that all those who played in his company will agree that he deserved to come out on top.

The meeting then thanked Gordon for his efforts this year, (especially for the plethora of prizes he provided at the last event!), and looked forward to the new incumbent taking over, see details later.

TREASURER’S REPORT.        

John McCoy reviewed the current financial situation of the Society, (full details can be seen on the attached finance report), and highlighted that the Society would break even on the year as a whole and in fact finish with a profit and surplus of just under £40.  He highlighted those events where the Society had subsidized the costs quite heavily and also listed other outgoings, i.e. prizes, trophies, etc.  He also explained that some of those members who had money in the account but had not played for a few months, were now requesting their advance money back and this would be reflected in the overall balance of account.  But stressed that the Society was in a healthy situation and as always the best deals for events were brokered in order to try and keep costs per event down.

The usual full discussion then took place about "monies" in general, i.e. prizes, subsidies, golf meals before / after / not at all, membership fees to remain / scrapped / increase?  All points were talked through for and against with probably the most important point being that it would be left to the individual organizers of each event to try and get the best deal in terms of golf and /or food, that they could. 

He finished by reiterating the point of the Society losing out when members did not inform the organizers if they could / could not make events.  A simple return phone call / email in advance saves a lot of hassle and lost revenue on the day.

The Society then thanked John for his excellent work and sterling efforts acting as the Treasurer, especially as this had been a difficult year for him personally and also with the lack of volunteers from last year to take on this important role within the Society.

REVIEW OF HANDICAPS & PLAYER OF THE YEAR.

Once again Mick Mann gave a brief explanation of the “dark arts” of his role as handicap secretary and how handicaps were formulated, worked out and adjusted after each event and the awarding of points for each event.  (The details of performances for each event can be seen on the attached player of the year report). Despite the usual moans and groans it was felt that the system was fair and it worked.  Mick was thanked for all his hard work and effort in maintaining this system and for his monthly updates of the player of the year spreadsheets.  As usual, the maximum handicap would start at 28 from the first event in Feb. 2011 and players would then go down, (and up!), after each event. 

VENUES & EVENTS FOR 2011.

The various venues for next year's events were looked at and after much discussion, some of it quite heated over the preference for private or public courses and the pros / cons for each, a list of courses was chosen and volunteers then kindly stepped forward to undertake the role of organizer for each event.  It was hoped that the new choice of date for each event, i.e. now to be the second Thursday of the month, could be adhered to and would keep us away from clashing with other Societies, for whom several of our members also play.  Again the emphasis was on looking at where we "thought" we could get good value for money deals.  The usual flyers would be distributed about a month in advance and again the point of replying to these was emphasized by John McCoy.  As such the venues and the relevant organizers for each event were as follows:-

Date                                                                             Location                       Organizer

10th Feb           (Winter / John Mitchell Trophy)               The Ridge GC               Mick Mann

10th March                                                                    High Elms GC               Gordon Gillespie

14^th April                                                                       Cray Valley GC              Brian Nix

12^th May                                                                        Boughton GC                Mick Mann

09^th June           (27 holes)                                              Weald of Kent GC         John McCoy

14^th July            (5 club challenge)                                  Deangate Ridge GC      Steve New       

11th Aug                                                                       Red Libbets GC                        Mike Wroe       

08^th Sept                                                                       Darenth Valley               Dig Partridge   

13^th Oct             (Golf / Meal / Presentations / AGM)        Broke Hill GC                Brian Nix

Upchurch GC and Cobtree GC were also mentioned as two possible fall back courses if any of the above were unavailable.

It was felt that people would like to play in March each year so an additional fixture has been added to the schedule.  And who knows at this rate we may soon have fixtures every month?  The topic of location for each venue i.e. miles that people had to travel and preference to one particular area , north, east, south or west was discussed but as usual we will never be able to please all of the people.

The first event of 2010, the Winter / John Mitchell Trophy has already been booked by organizer Mick Mann for February 2010 at the Ridge Golf Club and flyers will be sent out in the near future.

ELECTION OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS FOR 2011.

Gordon Gillespie then stood down as Captain, handing over to Jamie Hayward, (the 2010 Vice-Captain). Jamie then proposed Steve New for Vice-Captain (which means he will be the 2012  Captain), which was approved.  John McCoy again said that he would like to stand down from the post of Treasurer, but with no volunteers again, he agreed to continue in his role.  All the other positions remained the same and it was felt that there was no need to bring on any extra playing members to the committee this year.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS.         

Steve New said that he would try and organize an event for November, (possibly Thursday 18th Nov 2010), at Pedham Place GC based on their excellent "winter warmer" deals and once full details were known a flyer would be sent out to all.

Jamie Hayward explained the possibility of setting up and establishing a website for the Society.  He said that he was to look into this more and hopefully would report back as soon as any progress had been made.  All agreed that this would be a good idea but obviously the costs of setting this up and maintaining it, as well as things like access to it and security of it would also need to be addressed.  But it was hoped that if this was established then things like results, future events, pictures, reports, etc., could be accessed by all, easily at the touch of a button.  Jeff Rowe advised Jamie to have a look at the website "topgolfspain.com" which is used by one of the societies that Jeff plays for out in Spain.

Jamie also said  that he was looking into getting some golf shirts / caps for the Society and was currently looking at various suppliers to see what deals he could get.  Again once more details are known then these will be passed on to all.

The idea of a knock out cup was raised but it was decided to let the new Captain look into this and take it on board to see if it was viable or not.  Because we only play once a month it might prove too difficult to implement / run in a specific format and interest may have to be garnered at the first event next season and then first matches could be played from the March event onwards?  In order to allow for the organization that will be involved to ensure that people can play against each other on the day.

There being no other business, the meeting was then brought to a close.