Annual General meeting

held on Tuesday 27 February 2024

Our Chairman, Richard Hone, welcomed everyone to the meeting.  There were 62  members present and 50 of them braved the cold, wet conditions to play the back nine competition. 

AGM Report 2023

The 2023 AGM Report had been posted on the Par 3 club web-site and no issues were arising from them.  Maurice Tomlinson, seconded by Richard Wild ratified the report was a true and accurate record of last year’s AGM.

Ramsdale Park Golf Club Update

RPGC’s General manager – Theresa Plimmer gave an overview of the previous year from a wider club perspective.

Since September 2023 the course staff have been battling to keep the course open in the face of unprecedented amounts of rain. Last year, the course experienced 1200mm of rain – beating the previous record of 900mm in 2015.  More than 600mm of rain fell between Sep & Dec causing havoc especially on holes 5 & 6 on the Seely course which have been out of play for some time.  The arrival of drainage experts will investigate the possibility that an underground spring has opened up on the 5th hole, which may be due to underlying mine workings and heavy rain.  Much credit goes to the work of Johnny and his greenkeeping team, without whom, the course would have been closed more often than it actually has.  Theresa thanked members for their on-going patience and understanding.

Work on the new kitchen is now complete, at a cost of ~£240k.  It replaces the original kitchen which was 30+ years old.  It is all-electric and easier to clean, which should help maintain its position as the No 1 kitchen for cleanliness and hygiene standards within the BGL group.

Plans for the forthcoming year include :

  • Provision of practice nets
  • Over £300k of new equipment for green keepers’ sheds including a leaf collector

Renewal membership fees for 5-day membership is expected to increase by £40 to £50 this year.  7-day membership will not increase by an excessive amount and has been operating on a 1-in 1-out basis since 2021.

The major unforeseen cost to the club this year has been the increase to the National Living Wage by 10% compared to an anticipated rise of 5%.  There are currently 60 members of staff employed at the club.

Theresa outlined a recent change to the main club booking system (on the EliteLive App) for both courses.  The system now shows whether anyone else is booked into a particular slot, together with the identity of the other players who are booked in.  For the change to work effectively, members will need to access their system profile and ‘tick’ the box indicating they agree with other players seeing their identity on the booking sheet.     

Richard led an appreciation of gratitude on behalf of the Par 3 club to all the staff at Ramsdale for the work they do in maintaining the club and course for us all to enjoy.

Treasurer’s Report  

Peter Wilson gave his annual treasurer’s report detailing the :

  • position of the club’s finances at the beginning of 2023
  • income received during 2023
  • expenditure during 2023
  • position of the club’s finances at the end of 2023

Objective of maintaining Par 3 club balance at ~£500 has been achieved over the past year.

Annual membership of the Par 3 Club will kept at £12 for the coming year. 

Competitions Review

Weekly comp schedule for 2024 will follow similar pattern to previous years.  Singles Medal, Stableford & Bogey comps each month – with team/fun games on remaining weeks.  A couple of new formats are proposed for the coming year :

  • 1 club and a putter combined with a team Stableford
  • Three-6’s – similar to cha-cha-cha

Entries for single and pairs KO comps have opened on Master Scoreboard on 27th Feb

The recurring theme of slow play was raised – and members were reminded to ensure they keep up with the group in front.

Changes to WHS handicaps scheduled for Apr 1st will not impact the Par 3 club.  Those members with handicaps on the main course will see changes to their course handicap compared to their current handicap.

Richard gave an update on the current scores in each of the 3 winter eclectic competitions.  There is 1 round still to play in each of these comps 

Richard gave his analysis on the results of last year’s comps.  Highlights were :

  • 46 standard weekly comps in 2023
  • Average of 70 players each week
  • Value of vouchers issued for these comps equates to 89% of competition entry fees
  • Average payout per player ~ £41 (based on playing all 46 comps)
  • Spread of handicaps of members playing in comps equates approximately to spread of handicaps of prize winners

Monthly Events Report

Terry Crofts announced the calendar of monthly special events that have been planned for this summer.  It is hoped there is sufficient appetite for these events as numbers of members signing up has declined in recent years. 

The calendar for all the 2024 monthly events is currently advertised on the Par 3 club web-site, and members will be able to book their places online nearer the date of each event.

Each event relies on the generosity of members to sponsor individual prizes.  As a departure from past practice, any member who wishes to sponsor an event is encouraged to do so by posting it (cash) in an envelope into the green box marking the envelope with their name and the event they wish to sponsor.

Charity 2024

The charity the Par 3 club is going to support is once again, the main club charity.  This year’s club captain – Dene Parsons, has decided to continue support for:

  • Emmanuel House, which supports people who are homeless, and
  • Base 51 which is based in Nottingham and supports young people to build their life skills and relationships to facilitate their transition into adulthood

Dene will be invited to the Par 3 club charity day, where he will give further information on the above.

In 2023, the Par 3 Club raised £1,000 towards the main club’s 2 charities.  This contributed to the overall total of £30,000 that the main club raised over the course of last year.

Voucher Winnings

The Par 3 club will be changing the method of allocating prize winnings from the current system.  At present, vouchers are issued which can be spent in the Pro Shop or used to top up levy cards at the bar.  In line with other sections of the main club, it is proposed to move to a system, where members’ levy cards are topped up to the equivalent value of the prize ie no voucher will be issued.  An alternative solution will be needed for those members of the Par 3 club who do not have a levy card ie not members of the main club. 

Discussions with the main club to effect this change have commenced, with a view to implementing the new method of allocation from April 2024.    

Par 3 Club Committee for 2024

Sue Baranek has decided to stand down from the Par 3 Club Committee.  Sue was thanked for all her efforts for the time she was on the committee.

Remainder of committee members to continue for the next year.

Proposals

No proposals were submitted this year.,

Any Other Business

Kevin Beswick made a request to members who are pre-booked into the weekly competitions, who find themselves unable to play on a particular day.  He requested that if they could remove their name from the booking system as soon as they know they will be unavailable, this will help those members (who are not in pre-booked slots) find a suitable group they can join for the weekly comp for that day.       

AGM 9 hole challenge

Barry Yates was the winner.