DELEGATES MEETING MINUTES
MENTMORE GOLF CLUB
8th FEBRUARY 2012, 2PM WEDNESDAY
PRESENT: / Actium
Carol Ritchie County President
Sue Lee County Captain
Karen Platt County Vice Captain
Pia Davis County Treasurer
Gilly Brewer Junior County Organiser
Anne Bridges Training Officer
Teddy Bevan Seniors Captain
Sally Harborne Acting Joint Competitions Secretary/Leagues and Annual competitions
Christine Bishop Handicap Advisor
Xandra Morley England Golf Regional Representative
Affiliated Club / Delegate / Additional Attendee
Abbey Hill
Aylesbury Golf Centre
Aylesbury Park / Fran Coombs
Beaconsfield / Di Bovey
Buckingham / Mo Dawson
The Buckinghamshire / Debbie Harridge
Burnham Beeches / Sue Woodward
Chartridge Park / Judy Fuller
Chesham & Ley Hill
Chiltern Forest / Margaret Pitman
Datchet / Margaret Gilbert
Denham / Margaret Lindsay
Ellesborough / Sue Clutterbuck
Farnham Park / Maureen Brooker
Flackwell Heath
Gerrards Cross / Sheila Brodie
Harewood Downs
Harleyford / Jane Burns
Hazlemere
Hedsor
Huntswood / Joan Dougan - Captain
Iver
Ivinghoe
Lambourne / Maura Spencer
Magnolia Park / Ann Dite
Mentmore / Glynis Lawrence
Oakland Park / Sue Tame – Vice Capt
Princes Risborough / Valerie Dexter / Janice Binks
Richings Park
Stoke Park / Anne Woolly
Stowe / P. Ellis
Tattenhoe
Thorney Park
Three Locks
Wavendon
Weston Turville / Sheila Cadge / (Elect) Maggie Tweed
Wexham Park
Whiteleaf
Windmill Hill
Woburn / Susanna Mitterer
Wycombe Heights
Action
1 / APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Lynda Hilton County Secretary
Janet Beal Joint Competitions Secretary/K/o’s
Debbie Pollard-Barns / Acting 2nd Team Captain
Kate Saunders Aylesbury
Robyn Finch Iver
Hilary Davies Oakland Park
June Marriott Whiteleaf
Sheila Cadge Weston Turville
Anne Breedon Wexham Park
Julie Cooper Beaconsfield
Liz Vaughan Whiteleaf
Anne Crawley Thorney Park
Wendy Saunders Stoke Park
Linda Harvey Chesham and Ley Hill
Fran Sturrock Flackwell Heath
Sheila Cree Harewood Downs
2 / MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING
Page 4 corrections:
Lady Vice Captain to be changed to County Vice Captain
In red area The Buckinghamshire Golf club seem to be interested in hosting
Page 5 correction:
Forms for the Summer Meeting to be held at Denham and the County Championships to be held at Harewood Downs
3 / MATTERS ARISING
Page 4, red area,
The Buckinghamshire. Sue Lee has written to The Buckinghamshire GC who is happy to host county events. Janet Beal will follow up to consult on their hosting the Bucks Shield in 2013.
Page 6, Executive Vacancies.
These have not yet been sent out to the Delegates or put on the web site. The County Training Officers Job Description needs updating and Sue Lee, Anne Bridges, Karen Platt and Debbie Pollard Barnes would be looking into it. Sue Lee wasn't sure if Lynda had sent the Secretaries Job Description out. Phillipa Cook said that she hadn't received anything and that she hadn't received the Delegates minutes from the 1st December for the web site. Sue Lee said she would sent them
Page 7,
Contact for England Golf is John Petrie, Chief Executive.
4 / COUNTY CAPTAIN – Sue Lee
At the last meeting we had the handicap presentation and my thanks go to Christine again for her very professional presentation that I’m sure was appreciated by you all. I hope it made the Congu changes clearer for you.
On 18th December I had a practice get together at Mentmore for the 3 squads. Unfortunately we didn’t have a great turnout due to the many commitments the girls have and with four last minute pull outs due to illness we only had 11 playing but despite the very cold conditions we managed to do 18 holes and finished with a hot drink and cheesy chips which went down very well. Those that did attend said how much they enjoyed these get togethers. I would like to get another practice in before our match against Middlesex on 18th March.
We had two new girls with us. Michele Lowden from Harleyford and Victoria Bryan from Chartridge Park. Victoria is 19 years old and plays off 10; having reduced her handicap quite quickly the Pro at her club put her name forward. Please do let us know if you have any ladies or girls that are improving and could be eligible for the County teams.
On 4th January I met Lynda at Ellesborough and we distributed the handbooks and trophies to the clubs. My thanks to Lynda for all her hard work in putting the book together and for sorting all the distribution out. You should also have received all the competition entry forms that were emailed out to the clubs.
My thanks also to Lynda for getting the County Lunch poster and application forms out to the clubs. I have written to the clubs Secretaries and Managers to ask for their support of the County Charity by donating a four ball green fee for inclusion in a Blind Auction at the lunch. I hope as many Delegates as possible will be able to attend and hopefully also encourage their ladies to come along. Unfortunately my original guest speaker had to withdraw. She is a paralympian and had also been a Dreamflight child so would have been a great speaker for this Olympic year but unfortunately the Olympic trials are on that week. I have been in touch with a couple of other possible guests but with the date just a month away the availability is limited. However I do have a plan E and whatever happens I know you will have a lovely time at the beautiful Sculpture Gallery.
County Captain urged delegates to encourage members to attendthe County Lunch. To date 58 people have applied, 100 are required. SL had approached clubs for 4ball vouchers for the auction and has received 7 already. Unfortunately the main speaker has had to withdraw because of Olympic training commitments
I went along to the junior training at Mentmore and watched when not only the girls but Anne, Gilly and Carol were put through some quite rigorous warm up routines. Well done to all of them. My thanks to Anne for again arranging such useful and interesting sessions for the girls.
Gilly chaired her first Junior meeting at Ellesborough on the 18th and made a fine job of it. We are very lucky to have such a committed junior committee. Lucy Morris is going to be a huge asset to the juniors and to the exec in her work with the Academy. She is hoping to get round to the clubs and talk with the pros about any pre handicap girls that would benefit by joining in with our pre handicap program.
Carol and I attended the BB&O awards evening at Harleyford on the 26th January and we had a very nice evening which for me personally was special as I was able to accept the Golf Mark award that had been attained by Mentmore. Abbey Hill also now have the Golf Mark accreditation. We both then attended the BB&O steering group progress meeting at Harewood Downs the next morning. The golf Partnership really is doing a huge amount of work for juniors across Berks, Bucks and Oxfordshire and they have several new initiatives for getting more ladies into golf. Please do have a read of their magazines, which you should have in your clubs.
Progress is being made with the preparation for County Match Week that Bucks are hosting at Mentmore in June. Helen Mines who is chief organiser has put together a County Match Week book that will be sent out to all the other County Captains in the Region this week and we have a meeting with the organizing committee some of the Exec and Mentmore personnel on the 2nd March to outline what will be required from Mentmore to make the running of County Match Week as successful as we possibly can. We will of course need the support of the ladies from our County clubs during the week but it is also possible that we will need helpers as well so you will be contacted nearer the time.
I do believe that we are getting a lot more feed back from the clubs so my thanks to you for doing your bit. It is much appreciated.
5 / COUNTY PRESIDENT – Carol Ritchie
I attended my second training session with the County Junior Elite squad early in January at Mentmore. On this occasion the girls were put through their paces in the exercise studio and Gillie and I were invited/ strongly encouraged to take part.
I am most impressed with the scope of training which Ann has organised The girls are encouraged to work on their fitness and course craft as well as improve technique in the golf swing. In addition they have to examine their weaknesses and set themselves realistic goals for the year. Actually all this sounds very serious but I can assure you that there are plenty of laughs. I feel that the County can be proud of the investment, not just financial , being made in the future .
Sue and I attended the BB&O Golf Partnership Awards Evening at Harleyford on 26th January. I am just beginning to understand the concept of this initiative and sincerely hope that by combining the efforts of the Counties, Ladies, Men and Pros golf will grow in popularity as a game to be enjoyed by everyone at every age and every ability.
Sue and I were on parade again the following day at Harewood Downs GC for the BB&O Partnership Presidents’ Meeting. We were given a comprehensive presentation and I was stunned by my ignorance about the efforts being made to give as many people as possible, able-bodied and disabled, an introduction to golf.I would urge you to pick up the copy of “Partnership”which your club receives quarterly and discover more about what is going on in BB&O.
6 / EXECUTIVE OFFICERS’ REPORTS
County Vice Captain – Karen Platt
I have attended a BB&O Golf Partnership meeting – that of the Steering Group which was held at Maidenhead Golf Club on January 11th. The Steering Group consists of the BB&O Chairman John Low, Ladies Representatives from Bucks, Berks and Oxfordshire, the Development Officers Samantha Round and Rajiv Patel, the Treasurer Mervin Foulds, the EGU/EWGA Regional Development Officer Andrew Willems, and then the Golf Foundation and PGA. It is with input from all the Committee, that the Junior Academy work is approved and progressed. Funds come from a variety of sources, primarily the England Golf Partnership, sponsorship and coach development. The logo of the BB&O partnership includes the words “Growing the Game” and golf development is taking place on all levels to all abilities. Any suggestions for your own Clubs to attract new members are always encouraged; there are funds from the partnership available for have a go days, starter group coaching, and Ladies nights – a recent one was successfully held at Chiltern Forest. With so many clubs in Bucks looking for new lady members, there are many opportunities to tackle this issue.
The BB&O now have a transportable inflatable net which is booked to appear at various venues this year. It will be at the Bucks County Show, the first week of September. If anyone knows of any other events which could attract new people to have a go, perhaps they could contact either Lucy Morris or me eg the Reading half marathon, or the Oxford School Games final.
Communication is one of the key topics for all of us. Posters have gone out to all Clubs via the Club Secretary Managers publicizing the Girls activity days. Further posters are available today for your ladies Changing Rooms. Please encourage all your members to bring along daughters, granddaughters, nieces, to these fun events. These young girls could be your future members. One of the dates is a family have a go day at Bisham Abbey on May 13th at 2pm– so fun for all the family!
And another date of interest is the Tri Golf and Super 6’s County Finals which will take place on 26th June at Datchet Golf Club.
County Training Officer - Anne Bridges - / LH has not received a copy of report
County captain thanked Anne for all her work with the juniors
Acting 2nd Team Captain – Debbie Pollard-Barns – No Report
Seniors’ Captain – Teddy Bevan
The seven seniors matches for this year are as shown in the BCLGA website and in the Members Handbook - the first seniors match is away against Hampshire on the 26th April - we already have several players who have shown interest in supporting Buckinghamshire in this first league match. The next match on the 1st May is a friendly - again away - this is a fourball better ball match, so 14 players are needed please.
I have printed a poster for you to put up on your notice boards asking for any senior lady who may be interestedin playing in the seniors matches to contact me - I have put my contact details on this poster.
If any of your senior ladies are interested in playing in the Seniors Championship at Harewood Downs on Friday 11th May, then they should contact Sally Harbonne (or myself and I will notify Sally) - this should be a great day, and would be wonderful to see as many seniors as possible playing in this Championship - handicap limit is 16.4 - age 50 or over, so please try to encourage as many of your ladies as possible to participate.
I also look forward to receiving as many applications as possible for the Autumn Cup to be held at Oakland Park on the 19 September.
I hope the seniors have a wonderful 2012, and I very much look forward to an enjoyable year
Handicap Advisor – Christine Bishop
I have booked in three Rules/Changes session with Bucks Clubs during February and March where I will visit the club and give a short, informal but hopefully informative session to the ladies.
I progressed the query raised at the Delegates Meeting asking how many 9 hole qualifying competitions are required to keep a handicap active with EWGA and they have advised 3 x 9hole qualifying competitions as they are made up to an 18 hole score with the addition on the automatic 18 points. I have advised the county Handicap Secretaries accordingly.
I am not surprised to report that Club 2000 appears to have a problem calculating the CSS for small fields using the new parameters.
Not that I think Club 2000 isn’t a good system but many of the new changes are quite complex and inaccuracies will only appear when a enough clubs use the new software in earnest and with their own peculiarities. I have advised all our Handicap Secretaries of the problem and that there is a fix available.
I continue to be available to Handicap Secretaries to help resolve their issues and have advised on around 7 different matters since the new year.
The new CONGU manual was expected towards the end of January 2012 but it has yet to make an appearance.
Treasurer – Pia Davis
- Balances and Transfers as at 1 January 2012
Account Balances / £
HSBC Current / 2,731.75
Close Bros Deposit / 19,334.39
Close Bros Junior / 5,813.58
Significant Payments
Payment to Juniors / £3,649.15
BB+O GP / £2,500.00
- Payment to Juniors
BCLGA Annual Payment / £1,000.00
Affiliation fees (133 Juniors) / £731.50
Cygnet Trophy Income / £1,717.00
Interest from Savings Accounts / £200.65
Total / £3,649.15
Acting Joint Competitions Secretary – Sally Harborne(Leagues, County Championship & Annual Comps)
The winter League is progressing well. All round 3 matches have been played and results are starting to arrive for round 4.
I have all the entries for the Summer Scratch League. I decided to have a dummy run and sent out the organizers list via e-mail in order that the details could be checked. Whilst I did make one or two typos myself I have been amazed how many of the details on the entry forms were incorrect. However I now have a complete e-mail and phone number list which will be sent out to organisers towards the middle of this month along with the rules and draws. The first match is to be played after 26th March.
It appears to have been a good idea to bring forward the entry date for the Coronation Medals. I have received 11 entries so far. Please note the closing date is 29th February.
If you are planning to play in the County Championship or the summer meeting look on the web site for the application forms and sent them to me soon. The summer meeting is being run on a first come first served basis so book in early to avoid disappointment.
Joint Competitions Secretary– Janet Beal (Knockouts)
Read in her absence. Janet Beal is in Scotland doing her RA rules exam. SL hopes to use her as rules referee at CMD.