Comments from the Chair - November 2016

Comments from the Chair : Comments from the Chair - November 2016

The autumn season is well and truly with us now and our annual battle with the leaves continues. The greens-staff are out most weekdays with the leaf collector (with the exception of mechanical breakdowns) in an attempt to control the leaves on the course, it is very frustrating at times but we will continue with this task for as long as it takes.

It was disappointing that we were unable to hold the `125` celebration evening to lack of support. The `125` group and Keith Pearson in particular have worked tirelessly throughout the year with various fundraising events and raised over £3,500 towards the project chosen by the members – replacement floor covering in the bar area. It was also disappointing that our club captain Michael Thompson was unable to hold his captains day prize giving on the same evening again due to lack of support. I have also received comments about lack of support for our gentleman’s club championship.

As interim chair I would like to ask a question of all members: What would you like from the social side of the golf club. We have tried quiz nights, 25 turned up for the last one. There was to be live music at the `125` and captain’s day celebration, less than 30 confirmed attendance. Should you have any other ideas please forward them to any member of the board for discussion.

It is our annual presentation night at the golf club this Saturday the 19th   November at 7 – 7 15pm, all members and their family and friends are more than welcome. This event is not just for the competition winners and a 3 course meal is available for those who wish to dine on the evening, please confirm your attendance.

The club finances are not in a strong position, our income is down for the year just ended but so is our expenditure. Our year end accounts are now with the accountants and we await their final confirmation of our performance over the year. A number of members have approached me in respect of membership subscriptions for next year; I have been told that we are increasing subscription by £30 - £50 and even £70 - I do not know where these figures are coming from, as a board; we have made no recommendations of what we do next year. Members are asking about a possible VAT return from HMRC for our club in line with what other golf clubs have received. To date we have not received a penny and any monies received would be used to reduce our overdraft in the short term.

We have finally made a decision to support a professional golf shop at our club, this will be owned and stocked by our club manager, we are still to work out exact figures for the running of the shop but it will require financial support from the club. This will not be from sweep or 2s monies or from buggy hire, it may be from additional opens or competitions. This venture will require support from all the members of the club for it to succeed. The `shop` will be monitored on a monthly basis by both parties to review any impact on our club.

To finish I would like to thank you all for your support, we have a number of challenges ahead of us and we all need to work together to get us through this period.


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