Merrist Wood Golf Club

Merrist Wood Golf Club

Seniors Section– ‘THE EVERGREENS’

Constitution

(revision AS PASSED BY AGM10 OCTOBER 2012)

1Name

The Section is an informally constituted section of Merrist Wood Golf Club (the Club) and shall be known as the Evergreens.

Members will abide by the Club rules and the Rules of Golf as laid down by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club

2Membership

All male members of the Club aged 55 years or over are,ipso facto, members of the Section and eligible to take part in any of its activities.

3Objectives

The purpose of the Section is to promote social and competitive golfing activities, to develop a friendly environment where members can meet, and to encourage members to take part in events organised by the Section and the Club. New members of the Club will be welcomed to the Section.

To achieve these objectives, the Committee will organise:

Regular Wednesday morning competitions of differing formats where playing partners are drawn at random, thereby ensuring that all members have the opportunity of meeting and playing with other members

Other competitions amongst the members

Competitive matches against the Senior Sections of neighbouring golf clubs

Social and competitive matches with the Ladies Section of the Club

Appropriate social activities

Trips and awaydays to other courses.

4Committee

The affairs of the Section will be ordered by a Committee, whose names will be advised at an annual meeting to be held in mid-October each year.

Notification of the date of that meeting will be posted on the Club and Seniors notice boards at least 21 days prior to the meeting.

The Committee will comprise the following:

Evergreens Captain

Evergreens Vice Captain

Evergreens Treasurer

The Seniors Captainis empowered to co-opt or change other seniors to and on the Committee if extra roles are considered necessary, but see Appendix C.

The members of the Committee will serve for a period of one year from 1stNovember. Their positions will run on to the annual meeting the next year when at the same time the Captain will retire and the Vice Captain will be automatically appointed as Evergreens Captain.

The Captain will co-operate with the Ladies Captain to organise the annual Ladies v Seniors match and other Ladies/Seniors games.

The Vice Captain is responsible for liaising with neighbouring clubs and arranges inter-club matches for the following year. The Vice Captain is responsible for calling a meeting of past Captains to assist in the selection of the next Vice Captain. The procedure for this is described in Appendix C.

The Vice Captain will run the internal Seniors Championship and Knock Out competitions

The Committee and the appropriate co-opted members, chaired by the Captain, will meet quarterly, or more frequently if necessary, to review recent and proposed activities and to ensure a balanced programme of events.

The Treasurer will be responsible for the control of Seniors Funds and provide regular updates, including a breakdown of monies held, to the Seniors Committee.

More detailed allocation of duties is included in Appendix C.

5Matches

The Vice Captain will arrange matches for the following year, on a home and away basis, against the seniors section of neighbouring golf clubs. These matches are intended to be friendly competitive matches and will normally be followed by lunch. A match fee will be charged on the day to cover the cost of the lunch and other associated expenses.

The general rules for selection and playing in these matches are attached as Appendix A.

6Wednesday Roll-up

These games will be organised by the Evergreens Captain, who will prepare monthly lists of events. In general, the games will be a mixture of Stableford and other golf formats to provide a varied programme.

Members will be encouraged to participate in any Club mid-week Stableford or Medal competition that coincides with a Seniors roll-up game. The scores in these competitions will qualify for the eclectic competition and the Order of Merit.

The general rules governing the Wednesday roll-up are attached as Appendix B.

7Seniors Handicaps

Members will commence each eclectic period using their normal Club handicap.

The Evergreens Committee is responsible for keeping a record of all scores for the period of the eclectic competition and referring any they consider necessary to the Club Handicap Committee for revision of the member’s Club handicap under the General Play rules.

8Social Activities

The Committee may organise social events if they consider they would be supported by the members of the Seniors and may co-opt members to assist in the organisation.

9Constitution Changes

Any proposed changes to this Constitution are to be put in writing, clearly stating the proposer and the seconder, and submitted to the committee for inclusion in the Seniors Annual General Meeting. This must be at least twenty-one days before the date of that meeting so that details can be included in the agenda. Any resolutions received in this way will be discussed and voted upon at that Annual General Meeting.

Appendix A

Merrist Wood Golf Club

Seniors INTER-CLUB MATCHES

These will be competitive matches played in a friendly spirit against the senior section of neighbouring golf clubs.

1Matches will be arranged generally in a season from April to October on a home and away basis

2Matches will be six 4 ball, better ball games unless stated otherwise

3The Captain will select the team for each match. The aim will be to give all those members who wish to play in inter-club matches a ‘fair share’ of games during the season, whilst maintaining a reasonable balance of handicaps. Whenever possible, members who make themselves available to play in home matches will be given preference in selection for away matches and, where the away match occurs first, those selected should be available for selection in the home match.

4There will be a match ‘fee’ to cover the cost of lunch and associated expenses. This will be collected on the day of the match.

5The dress code for Evergreen matches will be:

On course – white Club shirts, dark coloured trousers and, when appropriate, long or short sleeved Club jumpers.

Post match – jacket and Evergreens tie.

6Availability sheets will be posted on the Seniors notice board at least one month in advance of each match. Members wishing to be considered for selection should append their names and handicaps. The selected team list will be posted at least one week in advance and those named should add their initials to show they are aware of their selection.

To be selected for matches, members must possess an active handicap.

Whenever possible, three reserves will be named and, in the event of a selected member being unable to play, the Captain will determine the replacement.

7In the event that both the Captain and the Vice Captain are unable to play, a member of the team will be nominated as ‘match captain’ and anyone unable to play should contact that person as soon as possible.

8A list of matches for the year will be posted on the Seniors notice board in January, and included in the Seniors’ and the Club’s diaries. Responsibility for arranging the fixtures for the following year will rest with the Vice Captain.

Appendix B

Merrist Wood Golf Club

Seniors Section

Weekly Competitions

General

Weekly competitions will normally take place on Wednesday mornings and are organised by the Committee. In the event that the Course is not available on a Wednesday, an alternative weekday will be chosen and notified to the Seniors by advance notice on the Club Seniors notice board and any other methods that may be available, e.g. e-mail.

Entry is open to all members of Merrist Wood Golf Club (and their guests) aged 55 and over. Each competitor will be invited to pay a competition fee (currently £3) into a kitty. The event is run as a sweepstake (see R&A Policy on Gambling). R&A Rules of Golf and local rules will be observed.

Playing partners will normally be drawn at random at 0800 on the competition day.

Seniors playing in the Club mid-week competition will need to pay the appropriate Club fee to the Pro Shop.

Scoring

Competitors may not mark their own scores; scorecards must be exchanged within groups of competitors. At the end of the round, the marker and the player must sign the scorecard.

In Stableford competitions, whilst markers are responsible for marking only the gross number of strokes at each hole, they are encouraged to enter Stableford points as the round progresses. Scoring will be as per R&A Rule 32, i.e.

Hole played inPoints

More than one over fixed score or no score returned 0

One over fixed score 1

Fixed score 2

One under fixed score 3

Two under fixed score 4 etc

The fixed score for each hole will be calculated from the competitor’s current Club handicap (see below), using the official par scores and stroke index for the course. The marker should also enter the net score and Stableford points for each hole and calculate the total points.

Competitors must submit completed scorecards to the Seniors Captain, who will determine the winner of the weekly competition. In the event of a tie, then the ‘count back’ rules will apply to determine the winning order.

The Summer Eclectic competition will commence in April and the Winter Eclectic competition will commence in October each year and on specified dates.

Handicap

Competitors’ official Club handicaps will be used as the basis for calculating their scores. Competitors should enter their exact current Club handicap and their strokes allowed on their scorecards.

Competitors without an active Club handicap will receive 28 strokes until such time as three cards have been submitted, ideally within the first two months.

Sweepstake kitties

The Evergreens weekly competition kitties will be shared on approximately the following basis:

The Prize Fund will be at least 50% of competition fees collected and

the balance placed in the Seniors Funds.

Ties for any places will be resolved by count back over the back 9 holes, last 6 holes or last 3 holes until resolved.

Kitties in other types of competition will be divided amongst the winners according to the rules applied to that particular format.

Winners of competitions (including the Eclectic) will normally receive prizes or Pro Shop vouchers.

Results

The result of the previous week’s competition and the current Eclectic status will normally be published weekly.

APPENDIX C

Merrist Wood Golf Club

Seniors Section ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Evergreens Captain

The Seniors Captain actively assumes his role from the completion of the Club’s Captains’ Changeover competition, when the new Captains ‘drive in’, which follows the past Captains’ ‘putt out’.

He will have the use of the Seniors Captain’s parking space during the year on the understanding that he is the only person permitted to use that space. If a car is parked in that space, then the Club Committee will expect the Seniors Captain to be at the Club.

He will announce his chosen charity for his year in office at the Annual General Meeting. At the end of his year, he will be expected to present the chosen charity with the funds collected during the year.

He will chair the Evergreens Committee meetings and will oversee all Seniors events including meals, social functions and the Seniors Open event. He will be expected to attend the Club Committee meetings and represent the Seniors’ interests at those meetings.

He will liaise with the Ladies Section to arrange matches and other fixtures and social events during the year.

As Seniors Captain, it is expected that he will captain the majority of the inter-club matches but in the event he is unable to do so he must find a suitable person to deputise for him. This would normally be the Vice Captain.

The Seniors Captain will select the team for the inter-club matches and is responsible for liaising with the opposition club captain. In the case of away matches, he must provide the team selection in advance and confirm the arrival and tee times. For home matches, he will contact the opposition captain to advise arrival times, issue a reminder on the need for ‘soft’ spikes and obtain the visiting team details so that he can prepare the scorecards.

The team notice is to be posted on the Seniors’ notice board at least one week in advance of the match day. For home matches he will be responsible for ensuring that the course is ready and the catering and dining arrangements are in hand.

The Seniors Captain is expected to hold a number of ‘traditional’ events during his year, including a Christmas meeting and a charity day, when the prime objective is to raise money for his chosen charity.

The Seniors Captain will maintain the Evergreens folders to ensure that they are kept up to date. The results of the Championship and Eclectic competitions spreadsheet need to be added to maintain a complete archive of Seniors’ competitions.

The Seniors Captain is responsible for setting up the Annual General Meeting of Seniors that is to be held in advance of the Club’s Annual General Meeting in October.

He has a responsibility to ensure that all Seniors are treated equally and fairly, and for ensuring that all Seniors are kept fully informed of Evergreen activities.

The Evergreens Vice Captain

The Seniors Vice Captain will agree the Seniors’ fixtures and events for the forthcoming year with the Club Management and the Club’s Committee (i.e. covering the period when he will be the Evergreens Captain.

He will deputise for the Seniors Captain at important events and in the event of illness. He will also attend the Club Committee meetings.

He will be responsible for ensuring that start sheets, where appropriate, are placed on notice boards as soon as possible before the event.

He will ensure that advance notice of inter-club matches is posted on the Seniors' notice board in good time to solicit enough Seniors applications to enable the Seniors Captain to select a team.

He will be responsible for organising and managing the Summer Knock-out competitions and will ensure that these are run on time, with the finals to take place on the Club’s Finals day.

He will also organise and run the Seniors Championship.

Before the Seniors Annual General Meeting, the incumbent Seniors Vice Captain shall convene a meeting of past Seniors Captains in good time to assist in the selection of the Seniors Vice Captain for the following year. The purpose of the meeting is to identify potential suitable candidates.

Once a candidate is selected, his name should be submitted to the Club Committee for approval. The nomination of the preferred candidate will be first announced at the Seniors Annual General Meeting, which precedes the Club’s Annual General Meeting.

The Evergreens Treasurer

The Seniors Treasurer will look after all the Seniors funds and other funds held

pro temby the Seniors and will maintain the accounts and books in a proper manner. The Treasurer should ideally serve/be elected for three years to provide continuity.

The charity money collected at various events must be set aside from Seniors funds. As the charity money accumulates, sums (say in round hundreds above £250) are to be passed on to the Club’s Treasurer from time to time in accordance with the Club Committee directive. These sums will then be seen in the Club’s accounts and reported on at the Club’s Annual General Meeting.

The Treasurer is also required to keep receipts for payments.

The Treasurer is to supply detailed information regarding the Seniors funds to the Evergreens Committee and present his recommendations.