SHANKLIN AND SANDOWN GOLF CLUB
Minutes of the Management Committee held in the
Clubhouse on Wednesday 7th February 2018at 3.00pm.
Present :
- Mike Fisher [MF] - Chairman,Tony Mears [TM] – Head Greenkeeper, Steve Clifton [SC] – Head of Course Maintenance, Brian Harley [BH] – Head of Finance, Gary Meszynski [GM] – Club Captain, Sarah Hammond [SH] – Secretary, Will Nicholls [WN] – Committee Member, Gwynn White [GW] – Committee Member,
- APOLOGIES:Des Mander [DM] – Committee Member, Peter Hammond [PH] – Professional,Lillian Bushby [LB] – Head of House,
- MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING: The minutes of the meeting held on 3rd January 2018 were approved.
- MATTERS ARISING:
- Website –SH reported that the new website had now been commissioned and an initial site map was awaited shortly. Existing photos will be used for ‘placement’ purposes but will be replaced with new photos once these have been taken, hopefully April or May depending upon weather/course appearance etc. Once new photos are in place the website will then be launched.
- BRS Tee Booking software – Following an online demonstration of this booking system, to SH, PH, LB, SC & BH, SH suggested that it would be extremely useful to get the system up and running as soon as possible, prior to offering a ‘live’ booking system, so that the office and Pro Shop can get all bookings entered and start using the system ‘in house’. A number of additional bookings had been taken so far this year which are not listed in the club diary, so, to be able to offer maximum information to all staff taking enquiries, this cloud based system would be an asset. The Committee agreed that this should be implemented as soon as possible.
For One Tee Time per day (for BRS use but at a time agreed by us) -
- No licence costs, training costs, on ongoing costs for any BRS modules
- Exposure on Golfnow.com where tee times are sold
- Up to 6 hours remote training
- Business Plan – MF/BH to report progress on this at the next meeting.
- CHAIRMAN’S REPORT:
- Proposed Land Sale – a letter had been received from Hugh Boynton in relation to this, suggesting that a second valuation of the land be commissioned to corroborate the current valuation which has been carried out. The cost was likely to be up to £1000, however, the Committee agreed that this would be prudent and MF would make arrangements for this to be done.
- Spring Membership Offer – as in previous years SH proposed that a similar offer be launched for spring as follows:
This would be for full membership with full playing and voting rights. Cost for Full Membership would be £1020 – Subscription (to be reduced accordingly for Intermediate Age Categories)plus £50 Levy plus a Reduced Joining Fee of £100, which would go on their swipe card. Total to Pay for Full Membership - £1170.
This was agreed by Committee – promotion to start immediately for maximum impact.
- Pro-Am Earlybird Incentive - At a recent Pro-Am planning meeting, it was suggested that, to encourage earlier ‘member’ entries into the Pro-Am, an ‘earlybird’ incentive of threeguesttickets (one per team member) is offered. Not only would this encourage early entry but it may also soften the cost of a home team paying the same as an away home. This would cost the club nothing but would offer a ‘value added’ incentive. The Committee approved this suggestion with a cut-off date of 30th April. SH would commence marketing the event shortly.
- MARKETING:MF had approached Immediate Past Captain, Andy Buxton, with regard to taking on this role. AB had agreed and the Committee was happy with this appointment. AB would look at the current Marketing Plan and update as appropriate in due course.
- FINANCE:BH was waiting for the second quarter’s accounts from Bright Brown and would report next month once these were received. BH reported that he was looking into the CASC (Community Amateur Sports Club) requirements to see if the club met the conditions of membership, as there may be significant financial benefits to be gained.
- GREENS:
-4th RHS banking/RHS trees
-LHS 4th,
-LHS/RHS 2nd and remove stumps to enable mowing
-Pull-saw work overhanging branches on 14th ladies
-LHS 14th rough up bank from ladies tee
-Front 8th tee
-Heather planting on 5th bank
-New 5th path under construction
-17TH tee nearly complete
-9th bunker alteration
TM reported that, further to issues with vehicles using the bridleway to the allotments by the 11th green, the Council had decided to put in a new gate just past the entrance to the Green Sheds. They also suggested reinstating the gate at the entrance to the rear of the club, at night, to further prevent vehicular access. They would arrange these works and provide enough keys for staff plus the flat.
Interviews were taking place for a new Apprentice – TM hoped to appoint someone in the next week or so.
SC reported that he was in the process of re-establishing the Greens Sub-Committee and was hoping to arrange a meeting in due course and hoped to meet bi-monthly.
The Working Parties on Friday were continuing and TM said that the tidying up works carried out were extremely helpful to him as he struggled to find time to carry out these additional tasks. A further email to seek additional volunteers would be sent out in due course.
SC had been informed that Mark Larter was our new contact at Natural England – he was in the process of completing claim forms for works already carried out.
- HOUSE:N/A
- CAPTAINS REPORT:The Captain provided his report at the meeting as follows:
Diamond jubilee foursomesDerek Brown & Joe Brown.
Monthly Medal scratch Andy Westhorpe.
Div 1 Kevin Liquorish.
Div 2 Neil Bishop.
Matches on Trophy Dave Mc Toldridge.
Cook Greensome Clint Bingham & Kevin Liquorish.
Monthly Stableford Mo Ismail.
Congratulations to all the winners for good start of the new year.
The course is holding up well as we have had so much rain and the greens are in great condition for so early in the year my thanks Tony and his staff, If this is just the start I cannot wait till the better whether gets here so we can get the greens even better.”
- CORRESPONDENCE:An email had been received from Boundary Lakes Golf Club, which is situated by the Ageas Bowl Cricket Ground, requesting a reciprocal arrangement. The Committee agreed that adding a further reciprocal club was a good membership benefit. SH would respond and set this up.
- SUGGESTION BOOK:There were two items as follows:
RESPONSE: We are currently in a programme of re-building several tees on the course completing the ‘worst’ tees first. The ladies 6th tee is not at present on this programme but can be added once several of the others are completed.
b)“The tee at number 6 looks very nice with it’s new turf but why does it have to be flat from front to back? Why can’t it be four feet high at the back, two feet high in the middle and flat at the front? When it rains it will at the moment become waterlogged and we won’t be able to use it – just a thought”. Roy Kelly
RESPONSE: Thank you for your comment regarding the 6th tee. The main aim when re-building tees is to create as much playing area as possible to spread the inevitable wear and tear which occurs. Once tees are broken down into several ‘tiers’ a large amount of playing surface becomes unusable due to the area taken up with the banks in between ( the 13th tee is a prime example of this). The new tee at the 6th is well drained and will drain freely.
- STAFFING MATTER: this was considered in the absence of the Head Green Keeper and is recorded in a private minute.
- DATE OF NEXT MEETING: Thursday 22nd March (amended) 2018, @ 3.00 pm
Thursday 26th April, 30th May,
27th June, 25th July, 29th August, 26th September / SH/GW
SH
MF/BH
MF
SH
SH
AB
BH
SC/SH
SH