MINUTES OF THE BRACKNELL CAVALIERS GOLF SOCIETY

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD AT DOWNSHIRE ON

THURSDAY 12th OCTOBER 2023

Those present:

Graham Pearce, Ray Penfold, Colin Staunton-Lambert, Richard Faulkner, Nigel Jackson, Trevor Harvey, Andy North, Nick Aitken, Steve Adams and Trevor Rockett

The Meeting opened at 19.30

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE:

Stephen Nower, Philip Faulkner, Terry Harmsworth (Jnr), John Murphy, Alan Papps. Ian Begg, Barrie Smith, Tim Houghton, Mike Clothier and Kevin England

2. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

Passed

3. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

None

4. CAPTAINS REPORT – Andy North

Last season was an enjoyable one for me – but rather short. Much like this report …

Illness, work and being away meant I missed more than half of the outings and I am very grateful to Alan (and others) for stepping up and taking my place as often as they did.

Congratulations to all who won prizes on a good range of courses. I obviously can’t comment on the condition of many, but I think generally the courses were good.

Special mention to Steve Faulkner for winning the individual Grand Prix with a margin of 11 points, which is very good golf.

Thank yous all round to the committee for their efforts behind the scenes – Tim, Ray and Graham do lots of stuff the rest of us don’t have to deal with.

Looking back at last year’s meeting I remember the shirt debate and personally I think the new blue shirts have been a success, so thanks to Mike for his efforts in organising these.

So, that’s it from me, thank you to everyone I played with I enjoyed your company.

5. SECRETARYS REPORT

My changed Secretary’s roll, with Colin dealing with the month to month entries, seems to have worked well despite a couple of teething troubles early on, so I’d like to thank you all for your support in this..

We had an average attendance of 18 this year, which is down on previous years. Not sure if there is a particular reason for this, but if anybody has any input on that, please let me know. We have had a couple of very low turnouts in that number - Huntswood in April with 13 and last month at Chiddingfold, where we had the grand total of just 11. This was very disappointing as so many had said last year that they would like to play the course again. If it is the course selection, we need to remind everybody that we discuss our choices at some length, and Graham works very hard in trying to keep the costs at a reasonable level, but prices are rising a lot, so it becomes very difficult to find courses that meet the budget. We had just the one new course again this year which was Hurtmore. Our Membership this year stood at 32- which included 1 new member, The weekend break this year was at Old Thorns with 16 members making the trip. Next years outing is already booked for Whittlebury, with again 16 members making the trip. Thanks again to Steve Zsibrita, who continues to organise this very popular event.

Many, many thanks to Colin for taking on the month to month entries from me and for continuing to organise the wine/trophies. Also for keeping the web-site up to date. Thanks also to Graham who continues to keep us all solvent whilst juggling with subsidies and credits. And finally to Tim for continuing to organise our running orders, the sometimes very strange team games and for publishing the results promptly afterwards. Finally, thanks to most of you for getting your replies and your payments in to Graham and Colin on time.

Finally, again, as last year, on a personal note - as you all know, I am still looking to stand down as secretary at some point, so if anybody has a change of heart, then please let me know. In the meantime, Colin & I will carry on as we have this year if needs be.

6. TREASURERS REPORT October 13th 2023

We have a balance of £1614.09 to carry forward into the coming golf year. This is a reduction of £207.27 on the previous year. We had an income of £600.00 from members annual subscriptions.

The main expenditures were as follows.

Subsidies on outings including wine and golf balls totalled £ 480.00

We purchased new society polo shirts which members paid for, but we are holding a stock which accounts for a deficit of £160.00 but should hopefully come back into the funds.

We did have problems with Barclays to secure our account and after many forms, phone calls and a cost to the Society of £67.00 in Accountants letters this is now resolved. Very few banks will open small club accounts so it was important to keep with Barclays.

Many golf clubs are now asking for payment a week before the outing and in many cases will not refund a no show.

Please remember to copy both Colin and myself in on emails related to outings.

Many thanks to Colin, Tim and Ray for another good year.

7. HANDICAP SECRETARY’S REPORT

A copy of the Competition and Handicap report for 2023 is attached to these minutes.

8. ELECTION OF OFFICERS

As the present Captain, Andy North, had been unable to attend a number of outings it was agreed that he would continue as Captain for the forthcoming season. Also as Vice Captain Alan had carried out a number of presentations it was agreed that he would not be required to stand as Vice Captain again this season.

Captain: Andy North No nomination required, continuation from last season

Vice Captain: Steve Faulkner (Nominated Colin Staunton-Lambert, Seconded Andy North)

Secretary: Ray Penfold Agreed by all

Treasurer: Graham Pearce Agreed by all

Handicap Secretary: Tim Houghton Agreed by all

Competitions Secretary: Tim Houghton Agreed by all

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

A. Outing numbers. Ray gave an average number attending outings. Steve explained that the three that couldn’t go to Chiddingfold had already arranged to play in a charity tournament, which they had done for the last few years, it was just that the dates clashed. However, he did say that he had enjoyed playing the course and would go there again. Ray said that the number of guests attending outings has decreased and the courses that we can afford are getting limited.

B. Courses. A discussion was had about some of the courses we play and have stopped playing. Cranleigh has been mentioned but Ray have not been able to obtain a reply from the course. Ascot was also raised but we were not sure if they would be able to give us a suitable deal.

C. Weekend/evening outings. Graham asked whether members were happy to keep weekend outing, the majority agreed although Sundays could be a bit hit and miss. He suggested that evening outings could be a possibility and we could look into it. However, some of the courses that we played prior to the pandemic have dropped off with some closing.

D New shirts. It was mentioned, although the new shirts were thought to be an improvement, that they were a bit cozy sizewise!

There being no other business, the Meeting closed at 20.00.