MINUTES OF THE BRACKNELL CAVALIERS GOLF SOCIETY

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD AT DOWNSHIRE ON

THURSDAY 14th OCTOBER 2021

Those present: Graham Pearce, Ray Penfold, Tim Houghton, Philip Faulkner, Richard Faulkner, Derrick Anscomb, Andy North, Nigel Jackson, Warwick Pearce, Terry Harmsworth (J), Terry Harmsworth (S), Trevor Rockett, Trevor Harvey, Michael Clothier, Barrie Smith, Kevin England

The Meeting opened at 19.30

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE:

Bob Jackson, Steve Zsibrita, Colin Staunton-Lambert, Steve Adams

2. CAPTAINS REPORT – Trevor Rockett 2019-2021

The following is a brief report for what was an extended period of time as captain of the society. My tenure actually started as vice captain for the 2018-2019 season when I took on the captains duties due to Richard's ill health so by the time my actual tenure started I was pretty well used to the mickey taking etc. which is all part and parcel of the job. Just as the season 2019-2020 was in full swing so the dreaded lockdown came into being so the season was curtailed. Fortunately all our members seem to have come through the pandemic safely and fingers crossed continue to do so.

So the 2019-2020 season was over and there was no AGM last year so I was asked if I would continue into the 2020-2021 season. This I was only too happy to do as I was very proud to be captain of the society and also it saved all the grief of electing a new captain etc. via email.

The 2020-2021 season just finished has been most enjoyable in my view, played mainly in good weather and on some good courses finishing up at Chobham which I thought was the best of the lot, in superb condition, the only downside being the relatively poor turnout.

I would like to congratulate all the prize winners through the year and as per usual every outing being a thoroughly enjoyable days golf. I would like to add my thanks and gratitude to Ray and Graham for the amazing work they do to ensure we all have a cracking days golf each month.

Also I would like to thank Tim for the sterling work he does on scores, handicaps and competitions ,and especially guiding me through the presentations each month with his extra large writing so I could read the notes and winners etc. because without fail I didn't bring my glasses to the meetings.

Lastly I suppose due to the pandemic I will go down as one of if not the longest serving captains of the golf society, so how cool is that!?

Hopefully see you all at Sherfield and good luck to my successor Trevor Harvey.

3. SECRETARYS REPORT

Thankfully, this year proved to be so much better than the dreadful time we had in 2020. Despite that, we still lost the February & March outings, along with the May weekend getaway again. Fortunately, we managed to add an extra monthly event in May to replace the weekend trip, so overall we held 9 events instead of the planned 10. Steve Zsibrita even managed to arrange a smaller weekend break in August at Gatton Manor for some of our members. Lets hope that 2022 runs even smoother than 2021.

Our Membership this year stood at 35 - 1 more than last year. This included 2 new members, but with the loss of Mike Barton who decided that the time had arrived for him to hang up his clubs. I’m sure we will all miss he little anecdotes - especially when he won the longest drive. If anybody hasn’t heard the story, then please let me know, as he has said that he will attend the Winter Trophy as a guest speaker. The average attendance at the events was slightly down at 22, but considering the year it was, that was pretty good. Being as a number of outings were lost in 2020, we decided to stick with the same courses for this year, and they all appear to have been popular. Next year, we have 20 signed up so far to go to Bicester in May for our weekend break - hopefully this can go ahead as planned after a 2 year break due to Covid.

Thanks to Steve for continuing to organise the weekend event - especially in getting something organised for smaller groups when lockdowns allowed during this time. Thanks also, to Graham for keeping the financial matters sorted - again, especially over the past two years with all the credits and debits flying around due to all the cancellations. Thank you also to Colin for organising the trophies, and for keeping the web-site up and date, and 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 everybody for getting your replies and your payments in to myself and Graham on time, although there are still 2 or 3 of you that I have to chase up. Can I please make the same request again, that you inform me in good time about your attendance at events, even if you will not be attending, and also let Graham know when you pay and what you are paying for.

Finally, on a personal note - I am looking to stand down as Secretary next year (assuming that I get re-elected this). I have been in office for approximately 25 years now, and I feel that the time is right for somebody else to take over. I’m saying it now, so that you all have 12 months to think about whether you would like to take over, or you think that somebody else would be willing to do so.

4. TREASURERS REPORT

October 6th 2021

We will carry forward a balance of £ 1848.70 into the next golfing year, which is a drop on this stage last year of £ 975.35. This brings our cash flow to a reasonable level for our needs.

Most of the drop was the use of subsidised outings which amounted to a total of £590 in subsidies. Also there were no annual subscriptions for existing members. Prizes in the form of golf balls £153, trophies approx £185 and wine £66 covered most of the other extra costs.

There is a suggestion that extra wine could replace the trophy prizes.

We did not collect a subscription last year, but would recommend that this is introduced again at the same level of £20 . This will help to subsidise outings particularly in the Spring and Summer months where costs are rising for Society events.

Most credits are now under control. Having two weekend accounts running at the same time and credits flying between them was a bit messy. I don’t mind adding the odd credit, but would in future just like to have a single deposit followed by a final balance for future weekends.

Cheque book payments on the day are generally not accepted which means Ray or myself pay on our cards and claim back from the Society. If neither are available we may have to pay the day before which would probably mean no refunds for a late cancellation.

Many thanks to Ray, Colin, Tim and Steve for all their hard work.

7. HANDICAP SECRETARYS REPORT

Some good performances from several players this year with more than normal reducing their handicaps over the year – well done.

A big thank you as ever goes to Ray for making my life easy by providing all the names and cards for me to process.

Hopefully people enjoyed the team games and as ever I tried to introduce some new ones alongside the favourites If anyone has something they would like to try then let me know as even if it does not fit the team format we play I can often adapt it.

Final plea is that if you need an early or late tee time, please let me know as early as possible because changing it after I have issued the sheet is a pain, especially when I have to balance handicaps for the team section.

8. ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Captain: Trevor Harvey  (Nominated Ray Penfold Seconded Graham Pearce)

Vice Captain: Andy North  (Nominated Graham Pearce Seconded Ray Penfold)

Secretary: Ray Penfold  (Nominated Michael Clothier Seconded Tim Houghton)

Treasurer: Graham Pearce  (Nominated Ray Penfold Seconded Trevor Rockett )

Handicap Secretary: Tim Houghton  (Nominated Michael Clothier Seconded Terry Harmsworth )

Competitions Secretary: Tim Houghton  (Nominated Michael Clothier Seconded Terry Harmsworth )

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

A. Monthly Medals - A discussion took place as to whether monthly medals were still required. It was eventually decided that these would be dropped except fot the Summer and Winter Trophy events.

B. New Shirts – Michael had suggested that we should look at buying new shirts, as he, and a number of other members felt they were too hot. It was agreed eventually, that Michael would look at sourcing and pricing some shirts (including club motto) and we would put the findings to members to see how they felt.

There being no other business, the Meeting closed at 20.45