Comittee Minutes
MINUTES OF THE MANNINGS HEATH GOLF CLUB COMMITTEE MEETING
HELD ON THURSDAY 4TH APRIL, 2013
PRESENT: John Harvie (JH), Steve Wild (SW), Joy Reineck (JR), Mel Gunn (MG),
Carl Watts (CW), Geoff Lodge (GL), Pat Griffiths (PG), Steve Slinger (SS),
Ian Henshaw (IH), Ben Chant (BC), Neil Darnell (ND), Gary Collins (GC)
APOLOGIES
• Simon Adams
John Harvie opened the 67th Meeting of the Mannings Heath Golf Club Committee.
MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES
Minutes approved.
The Action Points from the previous minutes were discussed and agreed as completed. The decision has been taken to keep the Self Entry scoring system terminal in its current position on a trial basis.
REPORTS
ESTATE MANAGER: IAN HENSHAW
It is getting rather repetitive, but I am going to have to mention the weather again in my report. No matter what the calendar may be telling us, we are still experiencing winter conditions. That means the soil temperature is way below the 6 that is required for significant grass growth to take place. To get to this to this point, the day time temperatures will need to rise above 10 and there to be no night time frosts. Only when this happens, will any fertiliser put down onto greens and tees start to stimulate growth. The same goes for worn areas around the greens and tees.
With little mowing taking place, the winter projects continue to be completed. There is now also the 11th pedestrian bridge that has been added, and scheduled for completion in April.
ACTION POINTS
• JH – Is the schedule for the Winter Projects being kept to and are you confident that all projects that were displayed throughout the winter going to be completed? IH confirmed that the project list has been completed where possible and that all tasks will be carried out although, due to the weather, some of the work has been delayed. As was always likely, additional projects have arisen which are more important, such as the trenching work on the 8th hole (Kingfisher) bunker, and the drainage trenching in front of the 10th (Waterfall). IH also confirmed that work will begin on the bridge to the rear of the 11th (Waterfall) week commencing 8th April.
• JH – The wire fence to the left hand side of the 13th (Waterfall) marking the course boundary/OOB has been trodden down and is cause for confusion. SS/ND agreed to review this area of the course and will feedback. (ACTION)
• MG – Whilst on the subject of wire fencing, there are sections of the fence along the left hand side of the 4th on Kingfisher that are unsafe as, in places, there is damage to the fence, and height differences making it difficult to see due to the overgrowth of some of the foliage along the boundary. IH to review (ACTION)
• JR – Could the fir trees that cause a blockage from the 5th tee on Waterfall, depending on the location of the Ladies tee, be trimmed. IH (ACTION)
CLUBHOUSE OPERATIONS: BEN CHANT
Nothing to Report
ACTION POINTS
• JH – How is recruitment going for replacements following the departures reported last month? BC confirmed that the recruitment process is ongoing and that he is happy with the current arrangements made to cover front of house with existing Casual Staff. The Supervisor role has seen some interest but, as yet, nobody that is suitable for the role has been identified.
• JH – Is the “Golf to Go” launch still going ahead as planned? BC confirmed that 11th April will see the launch of both “Golf to Go” and the new Great British Menu.
HEAD CHEF: SIMON ADAMS
Nothing to Report
LADIES SECTION: JOY REINECK
Our playing season has not got off to a good start because of the poor weather - the match against the Seniors was cancelled because of snow, the Ping 4bbb because of slippery conditions and snow and the Blunts Cup competition was blighted by the power cut when we arrived back at the club.
There was a poor turnout for the Stableford on 21st March but we raised £47.50 for Break Through for Cancer. We did however have a good turn out and reasonable conditions for the Easter Flag competition won by Janet Bayne and Tricia Robson. Thank you to everyone for the lovely prize donations.
We are now into the 3rd round of the Mail on Sunday and the 2nd round of the Daily Mail competitions .We play the 2nd round of the Morrice 4’s against Nevill on the 22nd April.
Wednesday coaching sessions are going well and I’m sure we will reap the benefits once the weather improves.
The green staff have done a great job over the winter keeping the course open so much of the time and now as the growing season gets under way we will benefit from all of the clearance work that has been done too.
MENS’ & MIXED SECTION: STEVE WILD
Matches/Events/Competitions
MHGC Masters (36 holes Stableford competition)
The first Men’s ‘major’ competition of the season was played on Friday 29th and Sunday 31st March. A large field of over 70 competitiors turned out to play the Kingfisher course on Good Friday. Ray Page led the field after the first round with a splendid 40 points from Steve Wild with 38 points and several others in the chasing pack who had notched up 37 points. On Sunday, Ray maintained his lead and returned a creditable 37 points to win the competition with a combined total of 77 points from Joe Froud with 75 points and Adam Singleton with 72 points in third place.
In keeping with tradition Basil Wright conducted the Starters duties on both days. On Friday Roy Keirstead and Carole Bauckham assisted the pace of play by volunteering for ball spotting duties on the Kingfisher on the 6th& 7th holes respectively. Roy obviously enjoyed himself so much on the Friday that he was unable to keep away and returned to man the 6th hole on the Watefall course on Sunday – an effort that was above and beyond the call of duty. Well done and thank you to all of you for the giving of your time in assisting the smooth running of the competition. It is much appreciated by the competitors.
Thanks must go to Neil and Andy for doing a great job in organising the competition and also to the green-keeping staff for ensuring that both courses were in fine condition despite the recent weather and for ensuring that the various G.U.R. areas on both courses were identified and clearly marked.
Tyrell’s Wood (Away) on Saturday 6th April
A team of 10 players travelled to Tyrrell’s Wood on a bright and sunny morning to engage in a 4-BBB match with the home side. Unfortunately home advantage told on the fast running greens and undulating fairways and several of the Mannings pairings soon found themselves facing an uphill struggle to keep in touch with their opponents who proved to be very quick off the mark. Tyrrell’s Wood eventually ran out winners 4 – 1 with only the pairing of Steve Wild and John Gleaves saving a whitewash.
Upcoming Matches/Events/Competitions
Exclusive Trophy
All players who have signed up for this competition have been asked for their availability for the practice match against Slinfold on Saturday, 13th April and also for the first round match at Willingdon on Saturday, 27th April. From responses received we currently have 23 players available offering us a marvellous opportunity to put out a very strong team.
Kings Hill – (Away) on Saturday, 20th April
A sign-up sheet was placed on the Men’s Notice Board in mid-March and from those names who registered an interest a team of 12 players has been selected and notified.
Final: Men -vs- Fire Brigade -vs- The Police on Sunday, 21st April
The team has been selected from amongst those players who took part in the first two Services matches. In the final, 12 players from each team will be competing in a Stableford competition with the winner within each 3-ball gaining 2 points for their team and each runner up will get 1 point. Having played the 4-BBB format against each other in February and March the standings are Police 8½ points, Fire Brigade 3½ points and MHGC 3 points.
Pyecombe (Home) on Sunday 12th May
A sign-up sheet will be placed on the Men’s notice board over the weekend of 7th/8th April. The closing date for those wishing to be considered for selection is 28th April.
Mixed Section: Steve Wild & Sandra Roberts
Mixed Matches/Events/Competitions
Mixed Winter Knock-Out
Both semi-finals have now been played and the final between Joy Reineck & Cormac Whelan vs Susan Jaggard & Brian Easter is scheduled for 14th April. Sandra and I would both like to thank all the competitors for completing their matches in good time despite the harsh winter conditions experienced since December.
MLSJ Shield on Sunday, 24th March
Unfortunately, this event was cancelled due to the wet underfoot conditions on the Waterfall course. An inspection of the Waterfall course was made by Neil Darnell at 4pm on Saturday, 23rd March and although the course was starting to dry out after the soaking it has received in the previous 24 hours it was still very slippery underfoot and wet in many places.
The decision to cancel the event was made because it was considered that some players, who wouldn't under normal circumstances play golf in these potentially dangerous conditions, may have felt under pressure to do so because they didn't want to be seen to be letting down the rest of their team. This was obviously an unfair position in which to place any member, especially when considering the safety of all players and that we all play golf for enjoyment. Had this been an individual event I would have been happy to have let each member decide for him/herself as to whether they played or not - however that was not the situation in this instance.
The Club Committee have decided that due to the already full diary for the coming year that there isn’t a suitable date on which this competition can be rescheduled and so with regret it has been cancelled for this year.
LJS Cup on Monday, 1st April
18 pairs contested this mixed format competition in cold, windy but latterly sunny conditions. The Waterfall course was in great shape having dried out significantly during the previous week. In keeping with tradition Mr Leslie Stokes presented the prizes to the winners, Joy Reineck and Cormac Whelan, who scored 38 points. The runners up with 37 points were Mina and Richard Burton, 3rd place went to Tina Norris and Paul Holmes with 35 points on count-back from 4th placedWendy Thorley and Stuart Mead.The winners of the Nearest The Pin prizes were for the Ladies Tina Norris(10th hole) and for the Men was Richard Burton (5th Hole). Well done to those pairings who won prizes and thank you to everyone who took part.
Upcoming Mixed Matches/Events/Competitions
Broke Hill (Away) on Sunday 28th April
6 pairs are required for this match and a sign up sheet has been placed on the Mixed Notice Board. Closing date for entry is Friday, 19th April.
Enid’s Urn on Monday 6th May
A sign up sheet has been placed on Mixed notice board. Closing date for entry is Friday, 26th April.
Mixed Summer Knock-out (Foursomes)
A sign–up sheet for the has been placed on the Mixed Notice board. The closing date for entry to this competition is 28th April. The draw for the competition will take place on Monday, 29th April and the draw will be e-mailed to competitors the following day.
SENIORS SECTION: MEL GUNN
The Les Hillman Cup which was due to be played for during March and the keenly anticipated annual match against the Ladies were sadly both casualties of the recent bad weather that we have been experiencing. We eagerly look forward to the 3 planned competitions in April which we hope will take place as scheduled and which start with a Texas Scramble on Monday the 8th, organised by Maurice Eastham.
Winter League
Despite winning our final game of the season against Cranleigh, a couple of earlier narrow away defeats meant that we were just beaten into 3rd place by Wildwood. The winners of the league were Slinfold, mainly through winning all their home games and also 2 of their away games. The winner’s trophy was presented at the league AGM on the 28th March which was attended by Mel Gunn and Roy Keirstead. We are now in the process of setting up the fixtures for our second season in this highly competitive league.
Summer Matches
At the time of writing this report the first of thirty-four summer matches has taken place – a cold but enjoyable fixture at East Brighton. We travel to Cowdray Park Wednesday 3rd April and teams are also prepared for matches against The Dyke and Worthing, which are due to be played in the next two weeks. We look forward to a busy but enjoyable summer.
Sad News
It is with great sadness that we heard of the recent passing of two of our members, Phil Oakley and Reg Williamson, both after a long fight with cancer. They will be greatly missed.
At the upcoming May Medal competition, donations will be encouraged with all proceeds being split between the designated charities of the two former members.
Following discussion amongst the Committee, and an agreement reached by all, it was decided that one of the “Seniors” section competitions will be played each year for the “Memorial Trophy” and that members who have passed during the preceding year will be honoured and remembered.
JUNIORS SECTION: CARL WATTS
ALAN COVEY ROUND 1
Boars Head have had to change the date of the Alan Covey Cup Round 1 Match. Due to existing course bookings it is now on The Kingfisher:
Mannings Heath Juniors v Boars Head Juniors
Date: Sunday 21st April
Course: Kingfisher
Tee Time: 12:50-13:22
Warm Up: Meet at 11:45
Team Selection: Top 4 OOM / 4 picks
JUNIOR CONDUCT
Junior players please note, as ever, we expect any junior representing Mannings Heath in 2013 to behave well, playing in the spirit of the game.
TEAM SELECTIONS
Ron Parsons Memorial Trophy
8th April at Copthorne GC / Team of 4: 36Holes (Foursomes & 4BBB)
Cost: £95 per team of 4 (£12 per junior)
Elliott Hogg & Luke Bennett
Tim Finnerty & Elliot Webster
Andy Beer Memorial Trophy
11th April at Ifield GC / Team of 3 (Individual Stableford Team event)
Cost: £60 per team of 3 (£10 per junior)
Jack Holmwood
James Galvanoni Hawkes
George Atkinson
JUNIOR FUND
The junior fund at present has £85 in which covers the cost of medals for order of merit winners.
HCP Order of Merit
It has been suggested that the handicap order of merit is not a sensible event to run through the year. If we stop running the Hcp oom we would still have the most improved player of the year award but this would be decided by the % that a player has reduced his hcp by not purely the number, so if a player of 8 hcp reduces his hcp to 4 that's a 50% improvement, whilst a 36 hcp player would need to reduce to 18 hcp to reduce by the same 50%. Juniors & parents, can you please let me know your thoughts. I will then make a decision once I have listened to everyone's comments.
Junior Room
The junior room opposite the putting green is not being used. I have suggested we return this room to be used as a storage area by the Club and I am waiting to hear the thoughts of the juniors & parents.
ACTION POINTS
• JH – Why is the entry fee per team at this level for the two competitions so high? CW could not provide an exact answer but explained that this fee is charged to all participating clubs and that the choice is there to play or not to play. As we wish to encourage our Juniors to play competitive golf, and the Juniors wish to do so, the fee has to be paid if we want to further their experience. The Committee discussed and unanimously agreed JH’s proposal that the Men’s Competition Fund would provide 50% of the entry fee to both competitions which CW gratefully accepted on behalf of the Junior section.
• ND suggested that the HCP Order of Merit was a great idea and that feels that it should remain in place. CW/ND to meet and discuss the best way forwards in this regard (ACTION)
• GL asked if CW could provide any reason as to the reduction on Junior members participation in their own OOM events. CW explained that a number of our Junior’s are now receiving additional coaching and representative honours at County level, the majority of which takes place at weekends which is when our events take place. Those members not yet at this level are perhaps a little younger and are likely to be more sensitive to weather conditions. It is felt that these are the two main reasons for the reduction in participation.
• ND suggested that the clubhouse would be a better facility for the Junior members to utilise, rather than the Junior Room. SS/CW agreed that this might be the case in the long run but, at the current time, the Junior Room will remain in use.
HANDICAP & RULES REPORT: PAT GRIFFITHS
Nothing to report.
COMPETITIONS & GOLF RETAIL/OPERATIONS: NEIL DARNELL
Competitions Report
This week saw the first of the men's major events, The Masters. Congratulations to Ray Page on a fantastic win and we'll done to Joe Froud as the runner up. Many thanks to Carol Bauckham for ball spotting on Fridays round and to Roy Keirstead for his ball spotting skills over the two days. As always our reliable Basil was there to start the competitors on both days, our thanks to him also.
With regards to pace of play during this event a couple of individuals were noted as taking longer than necessary. This will be drawn their attention and hopefully stop the trend before it becomes the norm.
The summer knock-out list is still in position on the notice board. The deadline is this week however, so I would urge any player not yet signed up to do so very soon.
All winter knock-outs are now completed.
I am currently seeking advice and quotes to provide a presentation style Trophy Winners book for display, including the cost of a calligrapher compared to the cost of utilising a professional printer.
The “Action Medical Research Trophy” is to be renamed the “Charity Trophy” from this point onwards.
Retail and Golf Operations
The new season is upon us and with it comes my new stock for the shop. I am now in possession of full fitting carts for Mizuno, Ping and Titleist. I am very exited at the prospect of offering a wide selection of clubs to try in order to ensure that you receive the very best suited equipment to improve your game. As members, the fitting of this equipment is free and for the next month with every purchase of ping hardware a free lesson is on offer. This is a Ping promotion but I would like to extend this offer to all brands in my shop so don't delay on those fitting appointments!
New clothing ranges from Under Armour, Cutter and Buck and for the ladies Green Lamb are imminent. I am delighted to say that Ralph Lauren will also be making a welcome return to the shop. Again its delivery is imminent.
Throughout the year I will be promoting various offers to you. This month I have an offer on Foot Joy shoes. The popular shoe trade in of last year is on offer as is a discount on any spikeless shoe if bought in conjunction with a spiked version.
I would also like to draw your attention to the Festival of Golf green fee promotion at the end of this month. From the 26th of April to the 6th of May you are welcome to invite your guests to the club for a green fee of £16 including a homemade pie and mash to enjoy post round.
Finally I would like to congratulate Andy Hailes on being voted the Clubs’ employee of the year. Andy has worked tirelessly over the year and I am delighted to see him win this accolade. I have worked with Andy for nearly 9 years now and seeing him develop over the years has been a real pleasure. He is a credit to himself and the club - Well done Andy!
ACTION POINTS
• Participation by certain members of the Juniors in the Men's main knockout competitions was discussed by the Committee. It was agreed that this was something to be encouraged as it helped to develop players for the Club's representative teams.
REPRESENTATIVE TEAMS: JOHN HARVIE
An internal practice match has been arranged on Sunday 7th April by team captains Trevor Loftus and Kevin Dixon for those single figure handicapper players wishing to be considered for the Optimus Trophy (formerly the PAV IT) and the Pyecombe Pitcher campaigns. The draw for the Optimus Trophy is scheduled to take place on April 9th at Worthing Golf Club, with first round matches taking place on 27th April. The first Pyecombe Pitcher match is away at Bognor on May 4th.
The Cyril Blake (over 55's) campaign led by John Wills, kicks off with a home match against The Dyke on 22nd April. An update on the Exclusive Trophy is included in the Vice-captain's report above.
GENERAL MANAGER: STEVE SLINGER
Following his meeting with James Crampton of England Golf on Tuesday 12th March, each member of the Committee was provided with the notes from the meeting.
SS discussed the key points of the notes (attached at the end of these minutes) and invited comments. All were in agreement that the notes appeared very thorough and that it would be best to return with comment and questions at a later date, if necessary.
SS confirmed that he will be managing this event on behalf of the Club and that he will be co-ordinating the volunteers. Initially, those members of the Committee wishing to assist should let SS know of their availability, following on from which the wider membership will be canvassed.
Please note that member’s buggy price featured within the England Golf report is incorrect and that they will be charged at the current £14.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS:
None
ITEM ACTION POINTS ACTION BY
1 Status of the wire fence along the left side of 13 on WF to be discussed. SS/ND
2 Wire fence to be repaired along left side of 4th on KF. IH
3 Fir Trees interfering with tee shots for Ladies on 5th on WF to be trimmed. IH
4 Discussion to take place regarding best way forwards for Junior Handicap OOM CW/ND
MEETING CLOSED AT 20.35
DATE OF NEXT MEETING: THURSDAY, 2ND MAY 2013 IN FULLERS AT 19.00
APOLOGIES: NONE