BURGHAM PARK SENIORS
Notes of committee meeting Sept 27th 2021
Present: Paul Thornton; John Davies; Doug Lyons; John Megoran;
Tony Clarkson; Phil Finegold
Apologies for absence were received from Derek Harrison and Bill Tarbit
Captain’s Report
Paul notified the committee of the resignation of John Davies from the role of Competition Secretary, and from the committee, effective after the Victor Ludorum competition.
The committee, on behalf of all the members, thank John for all the time and effort he has given to the role, and the further developments he has taken it through, making it a continued success. We wish him all the best in his future at Burgham Park.
Paul congratulated the team that played in the Pringle Classic at Rothbury in early September, for winning by a substantial margin and retaining the trophy.
Competition Secretary’s Report –
The numbers playing in our competitions are down slightly.
The draft programme of 2022 competitions was circulated among the committee for comments and will soon be available to all members.
As a result of discussion among the committee the pairs competition on 22nd November will not be a drawn competition.
The number of friendly competitions will be as has been in previous years. Most of the arrangements are already made.
Two away days will be put into the programme.
Survey results – the return level was as expected.
Treasurer’s report –
Funds are in a healthy position to see us through the Xmas lunch and presentation. Full statements will be available at the AGM.
Matters arising
Friendlies – it was agreed, after some discussion, that the number of friendlies should remain the same as we have had in prior years, to be reviewed after next season.
There is some feeling among members that the charge (currently £10) should not be levied for home matches. This charge is to cover the cost of coffee, biscuits and a meal. It is not a charge to play on your own course. It will remain.
The question was raised re the numbers in a team when we sometimes struggle to make up a team. It was agreed to be flexible about numbers making up a team in conjunction with the opposite club, to be reviewed after next season.
Seniors membership – after some discussion it was agreed to have a threshold for entry to our knockout competitions of having taken part in a minimum of 6 seniors’ competitions in the calendar year.
Shirts/sweaters – replacing shirts and sweaters will be put on hold until next season. A list will be displayed shortly after the AGM for members to indicate their requirements.
Xmas arrangements – We have 70 seniors on our Order of Merit list, The capacity of the room we will use is 60. It was agreed that all seniors will be notified of when the list will be posted in the locker room and places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Again, we will exercise the threshold for attendance as being having taken part in a minimum of 6 seniors’ competitions in the year.
NNGL – All arrangements are in pace for the end of season event at Bamburgh in October. Those involved have been notified. We finished 3rd in our group of 6, a very creditable performance. Well done to everyone who took part.
Disciplinary procedure – the Seniors version is prepared and agreed with the management. It will be published to the website once the Club has published it’s version.
Eclectics – There was a discussion around using starting handicaps for the duration of the 5 rounds. It was decided to leave it as it is as there isn’t any provision in V1 to permit the proposed format and changing it would lead to more work for the Competition Secretary. Each round is a competition in its own right and the eclectic is the aggregate of them and this was felt to be reasonable.
Stroke play Championship – It was agreed to introduce a trophy for best gross in addition to the current best nett. Payout will be based on the aggregate of the rounds with a split pot between gross and nett..
AOB
Handicap allowances – The WHS handbook Appendix C refers to fields of more and less than 30 players. It is a recommendation that for field sizes of less than 30 handicap allowance should be increased. Our field sizes often hover around 30. The handicap allowance has to be determined before play commences and recorded in V1. It was felt that the extra burden of trying to determine the field size before a competition was too much and therefore the decision was taken to stay with our current system – qualifying singles competitions 95% allowance.
Captaincy
There isn’t any fixed period of office for our Captain and we don’t have a Vice Captain. It would be much appreciated if someone was willing to join the committee with a view to one day becoming the Captain. Until then the Captain will stand for re-appointment again.
Competition Secretary
Following on from John’s resignation Paul has agreed to take on the role during the winter while we look for ways to segregate the functions in the role so that more members of the committee can assist in maintaining the high standards that the role has achieved.
Notification Of Team Results
Next Season team results will be published on the website.
Communications
It was agreed that all communications to the group as a whole would be via the Secretary.
Date of Next meeting ??