Somerset Golf Captains Executive Committee (Zoom)
Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, the 3rd of February 2021 at 7.00pm
Present Bob Acland (Vice President & Chair), John Beer, Stephen Butterfield, David Andow, Rob Ford, Roy Parmiter, Mike Usher-Clark, David Bate, Iain Robertson
- There were no apologies
2. The minutes of the last meeting were accepted as a true and accurate record
3. Matters arising
(a) item 4(a); this has now been resolved. The sum involved referred to additional clothing.
(b) item 6(a): Treasurer has decided to withdraw this item for the time being.
4. Report from Presidents Committee (20th January 2021)
Mike Usher-Clark reported back on the Presidents Committee held (via Zoom) on 20th January. Mike also looked forward and commented on the AGM and the Spring meeting.
- The President’s Committee agreed that the person to proposed as Vice-President at the next AGM would be Roy Parmiter.
- The President’s Committee agreed that the person should be proposed, and continue, as Captain of Captains at the next AGM would be Stephen Butterfield.
- The President’s Committee agreed that the person to be proposed, and continue, as Captain Elect at the next AGM would Rob Ford.
- The President’s Committee recommended that there should be a physical AGM this year. But, if a physical AGM meeting is not possible, then the AGM should be held by Zoom.
Mike also stressed how pleased and delighted he was to support Roy Parmiter as Vice-President: Roy had always been a popular member of Somerset Golf Captains and wished him well. In his closing remarks, Mike welcomed Iain Robertson to the group as Fixture Secretary and confirmed that he and always been one of our great characters. Mike also reflected on how things have changed since he first joined Somerset Golf Captains, and thanked John Beer for his work on the website. Finally, Mike commented that he had sympathy with Donald Trump‘s point of view that his final year had been screwed by the COVID virus! In response, Bob Acland thanked Mike for his report and thought the Presidents Committee have been very successful
5. Succession Planning & Resilience.
Bob Acland confirmed that he was confident in the arrangements in place for the succession planning of Captain of Captains. Bob also confirmed he was confident in Roy’s position as Vice-President Elect in taking over the running of the Executive Committee. Bob confirmed that we had increased resilience in the admin group with Ian Robertson now joining as Fixture Secretary. The treasurer has now done three years, and is happy to do a fourth year, but feels we should be putting someone in place to work alongside him. Group agreed that we should now go out to try to find a volunteer to shadow the treasurer – possibly from the volunteers who put their names forward previously. With regard to the secretary’s position, Bob felt that we do need some additional resilience and confirmed that Mike Usher-Clark will stay in touch (as backup, in the background, for the website) and will still be there if needed. Nevertheless, we do need resilience and support for the other functions which the secretary undertakes and confirmed that John is going to be looking to find someone to step in and assist.
6. Reports from Sub Groups
(a) Finance Group: David Andow referred to the current financial situation and reminded the group that we have plenty of clothing in stock which should keep us going for a couple of years. David had also decided to separate the £25 membership fee charged to new members; and this is now broken down as £15 towards membership and £10 towards the tie.
(b) Administration Support Group :Secretary drew attention to the fact that the online-registration system was now in place. John has also contacted some of the clubs with regards to invoicing them for new members. Finally, John explained that one part of the website is currently not working and may need to be replaced. This is the plug-in which allows us to send out global emails from the website and John is in conversation with Andy Carter to resolve this.
Fixtures: Iain Robertson updated the group on arrangements for fixtures in 2022 and circulated a paper with regards to travelling distances between different venues. Iain has also experienced the situation whereby some golf clubs are not responding to emails and telephones during the pandemic. We are still waiting for confirmation of the date for the Somerset Ladies Past Captains Association fixture at Wells. Otherwise, the 2022 fixtures are going well with further details to follow.
Roy Parmiter then discussed developments for the Captains Invitation Day which has been the subject of much discussion over the last two or three years. Roy has now had an offer from Oake Manor Golf club to host the event on Tuesday, the 22nd of June, with tee times between 11:00 am and 13:32 pm; i.e. for up to 80 people (40 captains plus their guests). It may well be possible to repeat this exercise at Oake Manor for the next three years. Action: the group unanimously agreed to proceed on this basis.
(c0 Dinner planning 2021: Rob Ford asked Bob Acland to update the group with regard to his contact with the Winter Gardens in Weston-Super-Mare. Bob confirmed that the Winter Gardens had now let their catering contract to a company called “Fosters” and was confident that Fosters would do a good job. Bob has been in contact with the Winter Gardens to confirm they would be happy to host our event in January or February 2022. Bob understood that the Winter Gardens already had a booking on the 1st Friday in February, and that we may have to confirm a date in late January or mid -February. Agreed that Bob Acland and Rob Ford would go in and discuss this further with staff from the Winter Gardens when the venue is open again. This discussion to include review of menus and costs etc. Action: This issue was left with the dinner committee to proceed and to report back at the next meeting.
7. Spring Meeting and AGM 2021
Clearly everything depends on the COVID situation! Stephen Butterfield suggested that the golf course may be open, but the bar and restaurant may not be. Bob Acland felt that if schools were open on the 8th of March, there was a good chance that golf courses would be open soon afterwards. Mike Usher-Clark felt it would be unlikely we could have a clubhouse and therefore we would need to arrange a meeting and AGM meeting by Zoom on the 23rd March. The group agreed that we could go ahead and just play golf (with or without food) but that the AGM should be brought forward to the evening of the 23rd of March and held via Zoom. David Andow asked if we could ask members to confirm if they were interested in taking part in a Zoom meeting, and John confirmed that this could be set up as an event on the website so that people would need to register their interest (so that we could send out the invite and the password). The group felt we could still have a good response to the Spring Meeting even if it was just to play golf. This was proposed by Rob Ford and seconded by Iain Robertson. David Bate suggested that the AGM could be recorded and made available on the website for a while afterwards. Anyone who wished to raise a question would need to notify the Secretary at least seven days in advance. Action Mike Usher-Clark Bob Acland and John Beer to have further discussions with regarding to arrangement and arrangements for the Zoom AGM
8. Any other business.
Stephen Butterfield asked if we were going to have a selection committee? John confirmed that the post on the website explained that a selection committee would take place at the start of April (after registration is closed on the 31st of March).
The meeting closed at 20:51 pm