Meeting Minutes
Minutes of the meeting held on 10th May at 1.00pm at Caddington Golf Club can be found below.
Next Meeting Dates:
| AGM | NEXT BLCGA MEETING | NEXT BLCGA JUNIOR MEETING |
| Monday 1st November 2010 at 2:00pm at John O'Gaunt |
Monday 19th July 2010 at 1:00pm at Tilsworth |
Tuesday 1st July 2010 at Bedfordshire |
Minutes from Previous Meetings:
| Previous AGMs | Previous Meetings | Junior Meetings |
| 2nd November 2009 at Leighton Buzzard |
Monday 10th May 2010 at Caddington |
Tuesday 20th April 2010 at c/o Sharon Allen |
| 3rd November 2008 at Bedfordshire Golf Club |
Monday 8th March 2010 at Bedford and County |
Tuesday 10th March 2010 at Bedfordshire |
| Monday 7th September 2009 at Dunstable Downs |
Tuesday 30th September 2009 at Leighton Buzzard |
|
| Monday 13th July 2009 at The Millbrook |
Tuesday 12th August 2009 at Bedfordshire |
|
| Monday 9th March 2009 at The Millbrook |
Tuesday 17th June 2009 at Leighton Buzzard |
|
| Monday 1st December 2008 at John O'Gaunt |
Tuesday 14th January 2009 at Bedfordshire |
|
| Monday 8th September 2008 at South Beds |
Regional CJO Meeting 12th April 2010 at Newmarket |
BEDFORDSHIRE LADIES COUNTY GOLF ASSOCIATION
www.blcga.co.uk
www.bedsgolfpartnership.com
MINUTES OF THE COMMITTEE MEETING
held at
CADDINGTON GOLF CLUB
on
Monday 10th May 2010 at 1.00pm
The County Captain welcomed everyone and thanked Caddington Golf Club for hosting the meeting. Before the meeting continued Audrey explained that Claudine Tate (DD) had agreed to be co-opted onto the Committee to assist with the role of Competitions Secretary. Shirley has been unwell and Audrey was grateful to Claudine for stepping into the position. The meeting sent their best wishes to Shirley for a speedy recovery.
THOSE PRESENT
E Bruce (County Captain), L May (Immediate Past Captain), A Shuter (President), M Watchorn (Vice President), K Harris (Secretary), J Levinson (Treasurer), E James (Course Assessor Officer), M Seabrook (East Region Representative), S Turnbull (Seniors Captain), H Molloy (Handicap Adviser), M Dawson (CJO), J Cocksedge (Ass Handicap Advisor), C Tate (DD), E Mackirdy (Mow), L McCartney (BM), H Nolan (Beds &Co), A Shirville (LB), G Walpole (PP), L Pearce (WL), A Kavanagh (TheB), J Barton (Til), B Lee (AV), P Aubigne (JOG) and C Goode (Ca).
1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies received from S Cormack (Vice Captain), S Cleaver (Competitions Secretary), G Smith (Past Captains' Captain), C Holden (Beds Golf Partnership), J Garratt (AG&WS), C Taylor (MP), J Monico (B'shire) and J Martin (Colw).
2. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING (8th March 2010)
Eleanor Mackirdy proposed and Margaret Watchorn seconded that these were a true record of the meeting and they were signed by the County Captain.
3. MATTERS ARISING
There were no matters arising.
4. CORRESPONDENCE
4a. Jocelyn Binks had written to the County Captain concerning the slow play at the County Championship. This will be discussed further with Elaine B, Shelagh and Claudine and a ‘Conditions of Competition' will be drawn up for all future competitions with the hope that this will not occur in the future. Elaine will respond to Jocelyn.
4b. Beadlow Manor County Delegate had written to the Committee with the concerns of the four ladies who entered the Bronze Spring Meeting. This has been discussed by the Executive Committee and the Secretary will reply.
4c. A reminder of the 2011 EWGA/LGU subscriptions - £8.50 & £2.50.
4d. Risebridge Golf Club is a new club affiliated in Essex.
4e. Information concerning the La Manga Golf Challenge has been sent to all clubs.
4f. Dave Sweetnam, Secretary of the Bedfordshire Schools Golf Association has written to Audrey to ask for a donation. Audrey will ask for more expenditure details before a decision is made.
5. GOLF PARTNERSHIP REPORT (Cecilia Holden)
It has been a quiet couple of months since the last report, but the partnership has been busy completing (hopefully the last of) all the required paperwork. We have now completed and submitted on time the biannual report required by the England Golf Partnership to ensure continued funding.
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Heather Nolan as BCGP Welfare Officer, combining this with her role as BLCGA Welfare Officer.
Our County Sports Partnership, team BEDS&LUTON has been actively marketing our sport, with the current Get Back Into programme already underway at 3 of the county's golf marked clubs. Sessions are running at John O'Gaunt, Tilsworth and Stockwood Park, with the latter being oversubscribed with a waiting list - unheard of in golf at the current time!
We have been working closely with the Junior committee recently and have received the funding application form. We are currently processing the adult funding part before being able to access £955 worth of development funding. This replaces the previous EWGA grants.
Our County Development Officer, Steve Bigrave has been in office for 3 months now and has been out and about visiting all of our county's 23 clubs. One particular success story is The Bedford, whose membership has grown encouragingly from 120 to 440 in the last 2 years. This includes 82 under 14s which is excellent news for the future of golf in our county.
The Golf Foundation, which has recently re-launched itself with a new look (see www.golf-foundation.org), will now be delivering all their national development projects that incorporate community activity in both schools and clubs and special projects that target inner city and urban areas under the "Golf Roots" banner.
Recent figures from the DCSF School Sports Survey indicated that Bedfordshire is already ahead of the national average within the 8 School Sports Partnerships in the County. 52% of schools are already delivering golf (cf 42% nationally) and 35% of schools (26% nationally) have already created a link with a golf facility. This is a great base to work from.
The County Golf Partnership, via its Schools & Colleges sub-group, will be working closely with the Golf Foundation to build on these figures during the next three years and, as a starting point, any golf club within the County that would like to establish formal links with schools, colleges or community groups within their area should contact Katie Cooper, the Golf Foundation Eastern Region Development Officer (Katie@golf-foundation.org).
The EGU/EWGA Biennial Questionnaire has now been completed by 14 of the clubs in Bedfordshire, which is 3 shy of our target figure, so if your club hasn't yet completed the questionnaire, please urge your secretary to do so. The information gathered is vital for setting the Whole Sport Plan and development strategy for the next few years.
And finally, on a personal note: due to time constraints, I have decided to stand down as the Secretary of BCGP. I undertook the role in order to help get things established, and it now requires someone with more time and better skills than me to be able to take the partnership forward. Everything is in place for some really exciting developments, and I hope that there is someone who is willing to undertake the really exciting job to help grow our sport in the county. I will remain in post until a replacement can be found.
6. EAST REGION DELEGATE'S REPORT (Margaret Seabrook)
Inactive Handicaps. The completion of 13 holes of a competition will make a card eligible for handicap purposes. All clubs should be encouraging players with inactive handicaps to regain their active handicap.
The Norfolk representative advised that their county insurance did not cover the under 12's and the over 65's. Also a gratuity does not validate the clubs insurance, a facility fee has to be paid for competitors to be covered by the Club's insurance. Margaret has spoken to Jacky and they are looking into our insurance.
An agreement has been set up with La Manga Club in Spain. The La Manga Challenge is already being advertised on the EWGA website. There are 4 days of competitive golf with 5 night's accommodation in October. It looks as if it is worth keeping an eye on the website for further deals.
The EWGA is looking to run more events for single figure golfers (not elite players). This could involve overseas finals in conjunction with the new companies wishing to be involved with amateur ladies golf. Our meeting agreed that more competitions were need for ladies within the 8 - 15 handicap brackets. This is being reported back to the Operations Board.
Update on Merger - The EWGA have said there should be a decision by October which means relevant information must be available for clubs as soon as possible. The County Delegates will need to arrange meetings in September to vote on the proposed AGM.
The Chairman congratulated Sally Shayler and Bridie Quinn (2 of our county 1st team players) who won the East Region Foursomes at Hintlesham Hall in Suffolk.
Additional clarification was asked for regarding the completion of 13 holes to reactivate a handicap.
7. TREASURER'S REPORT (Jacky Levinson)
Jacky also welcomed everyone to Caddington, her home club.
All clubs have now paid their County subscriptions with the exception of Stockwood Park. Jacky is in conversation with them to resolve this.
A few more County Cards have been sold but as there is stiff competition from the other county card, funds are depleted from this source this year.
Two clubs, Dunstable Downs and Mt Pleasant have claimed their £50 coaching grant for 2010.
There will be no refunds to ladies who entered but did not play in the Bronze Spring Meeting at the Bedfordshire GC, as the club charged us for all meals as originally ordered.
As mentioned by Margaret S, Jacky is looking into the Insurance requirements for the Association and is waiting costings from 2 sources.
John O'Gaunt GC have asked to pay their 2011 subscriptions in 2 parts but this request has been refused by the Executive Committee.
The Association's bank balances are similar to those reported at the last meeting but Jacky did not have the latest actual figures at the meeting.
8. COUNTY CAPTAIN'S REPORT (Elaine Bruce)
Once again Elaine has been mainly concentrating on coaching with Rob Cheney. He has stressed the importance of ‘practising play NOT practising practice'.
An evening with Jamie Edwards a sports psychologist with the 1st team, 2nd team and Juniors was very well received.
The Championship at John O'Gaunt has been a great success with amazing golf. Many of the junior girls took part and they too are showing an exceptional standard of play with great enthusiasm. Laura Collin is the 2010 County Champion.
The match played at Woburn GC against Bucks resulted in a draw 2-2. The team was Laura Collin, Katie Burman, Sally Shayler, Bridie Quinn, Sophie Hillier, Debbie Pollard-Barnes, Kate Wright and Pippa Willis.
County Match Week will be at West Herts GC beginning on 14th June. The team will be picked from Megan Birdsey (DD), Elaine Bruce, Katie Burman, Laura Collin, Sophie Hillier & Cecilia Holden (JOG) Bridie Quinn (SB), Sally Shayler (B'shire), Lizi Sweetnam, Kate Wright (LB) 1st reserve Pippa Willis 2nd reserve Fiona Cooper (B&Co).
Elaine asked the County Delegates if any ladies who are able to caddy during County Match Week to contact her.
9. VICE CAPTAIN'S REPORT (Shelagh Cormack)
No Report
10. COMPETITION SECRETARY'S REPORT (Claudine Tate)
Claudine thanked Audrey for asking her to assist Shirley Cleaver as Competitions Secretary. She has had a slight baptism of fire in the job but with the help and support of almost all of the County Officers, everything has so far gone smoothly.
The County Knockout Foursomes attracted 43 pairs representing 12 Clubs. The 2nd round of this competition ends on 17th May.
Claudine asked that all results and indeed all competition entries now be sent through directly to her at Little Redcote, West Common, Harpenden, Herts AL5 2JW. My telephone number and e-mail address are on the BLCGA web site.
The first meeting of the year was the 2nd Division Spring Meeting at Bedfordshire Golf Club. Due to lack of entries the competition was changed to an 18 Hole Stableford which 28 ladies entered. On arrival we were told that due to heavy overnight rain, no trollies were allowed on the course. 15 ladies eventually played valiantly in very cold, windy conditions - but at least they stayed dry.
Best Gross was Lyn Allen from Bedfordshire Golf Club with a Gross 101
1st Nett was Heather Nolan from Bedford & County with a Net 81
2nd Nett was Tina Pollard from Bedfordshire with a Net 83
The four qualifiers for the County Cup were:
Lyn Allen from Bedfordshire with a Gross 101
Jill Brown from Pavenham Park with a Gross 109
Heather Nolan from Bedford & County with a Gross 109
Sheila Fairey from Bedfordshire with a Gross 111 (on countback from Anne Coates (Bedford & County) and Ann Taylor (Aspley Guise & Woburn)
31 Ladies entered the Championship at John O'Gaunt Golf Club starting on 6th May, 36 ladies entered the 1st Division Spring Meeting and 7 ladies played 18 holes making 74 ladies representing 12 clubs.
The weather varied but it stayed dry and John O'Gaunt did us proud with a very enjoyable day followed by a delicious meal.
Winner of the Best Gross over 36 holes Laura Collin (JOG) 148 gross
Second Gross over 36 holes Sally Shayler (BFDSHR) 160 gross
Morning Round: Best Gross Katie Burman (JOG) 76 gross
1st Nett Penny Fletcher (JOG) 70 nett
2nd Nett Nikki Jackson (JOG) 74 nett
3rd Nett Juliette Withey (B&C) 74 nett
Afternoon Round: Best Gross Sophie Hillier (JOG) 83 gross
1st Net Fiona Cooper (B&C) 76 nett
2nd Nett Dawn Glennie (JOG) 76 C/B
Dalton Salver - best nett from 1st/2nd Div Meetings: Penny Fletcher (JOG) 70
Afternoon Foursomes
1st Nett Dorothy Blackburn & Margot Norris (AG) 35
2nd Nett Nikki Jackson (JOG) & Sam Turnbull (BDFSHR) 34
3rd Nett Lucinda Holden & Gina Rigby (B&C) 33
The Semi Final of the County Cup was played in the morning on Saturday 8th May with the final in the afternoon between Lynn Allen (BDFSHR) and Heather Nolan (B&C). The Winner of the County Cup for 2010 was Lynn Allen from Bedfordshire Golf Club.
The 16 Qualifiers for the Championship who played matchplay on Friday 7th May were :
Laura Collin, Sally Shayler, Katie Burman, Sophie Hillier, Bridie Quinn, Fiona Cooper, Juliette Withey, Elaine Bruce, Cecilia Holden, Yvette Bunker, Gill Westgate, Kate Wright, Pippa Willis, Christine Jones, Dawn Glennie and Vanessa Jay.
The Quarterfinals followed in the afternoon with the Semi-Final on Saturday morning. The Final on Saturday afternoon was between Laura Collin (JOG) and Sally Shayler (BDFSHR). The winner of the 2010 Ladies Championship was Laura Collin from JOG.
The next meeting is the 36 Hole Stableford (4BBB am, Foursomes pm) to be held at Beadlow Manor on Monday 5th July. To date we only have 22 entries so please could the County Delegates please promote this competition, which has a closing date of 22nd May.
This is followed by the Autumn Meetings to be held at The Bedford on 8th September for which we so far have only 5 ladies entered in 1st Division and only 2 for the 2nd Div. The 18 hole 4BBB Stableford at Chalgrave Manor on 27th September so far has 12 entries. These numbers will not be viable and again, could the County Delegates please promote.
EM asked if both handicap certificates and the CDH identifier number were required for County competitions - YES for 2010.
EM asked if the Spring Meeting could be organised later, as many higher handicap ladies do not play during the winter. Claudine said it would be later in 2011.
11. HANDICAP ADVISER'S REPORT (Heddwen Molloy)
On the whole there do not appear to be many problems concerning the Handicap System and there is, therefore, little to report.
The CDH is now up and running and appears to be operating reasonably well. However, Heddwen mentioned a couple of things connected with this. First, the County 2nd Division Spring Meeting results brought to light a glitch in one of the computer programmes - Club Systems. The Spring Meeting produced a Reduction Only round and the other computer programmes treated it as such but Club Systems did not and increased ladies handicaps by 0.1. The error in the programme has been corrected and Handicap Secretaries have been advised on the action to take. As we said earlier in the year, the CDH is new and there could very well be slight hitches but please bear with us and help us to sort out any problems. Hopefully, there will not be many.
It seems that not all Handicap Secretaries are synchronizing with the CDH on a frequent, regular basis. If this is not carried out any scores lodged on the CDH will not be transferred to the players' handicap records and this rather defeats the object of the setting up the CDH.
As said at the Handicap Secretaries' Meeting in March, it has proved important that ladies produce current Handicap Certificates when playing in away qualifying competitions, at least for the time being, to help make everything run smoothly.
With regard to DMDs Heddwen has e-mailed everyone with regard to the use of built in DMDs in power trolleys. In County competitions (including Shield and Scratch matches) DMDs are prohibited completely including i-phones and GPS. If clubs allow their use, then ones that measure distance only are allowed but those that measure wind speed, etc. are not allowed even if they are not used. Heddwen reminded ladies that the penalty is Disqualification. It is not sufficient for a player to say "I don't know how to use it anyway"! If DMDs are allowed the devices should be put into Competition Mode, if they are not allowed they should be covered and it is strongly suggested that masking tape be made available for just such an eventuality.
For your information, all counties in the Eastern Region prohibit the use of DMD with the exception of Hertfordshire who generally allow them except for County Week.
Heddwen explained that the 2 different SSS - for home and away players - was as a result of the high number of entries - see page 53 in the CONGU book for a further explanation.
12. JUNIOR ORGANISER'S REPORT (Maureen Dawson)
At the start of the year we had a get-together with girls and their parents to outline our plans for training and competitions that would be available through the year. Holly Aitchison came along and spoke very well to the meeting about her county days and how they led to where she is now - enjoying her professional career. Georgia Testa was introduced as the new Captain.
We have a total of 38 girls involved now in county training. The Elite Group train with the County 2nd team; the ‘Birdies' have 5 sessions of whole day training at Bedfordshire Golf Club; and 11 girls have been selected as the Development Group to have training with Paul Simpson at Stockwood Park. There is the Elite Passport Group who have a ½ day programme running monthly from Feb to June, and the Passport Group of under 10s that will run through the summer months - both at Bedfordshire Golf Club. All this training is having a very positive effect on the enthusiasm and the commitment to improve their skills of these young girls.
It also has an impact on our funding! Although the parents pay a contribution to the costs, the junior section pays the rest. We have some grants from EWGA and, hopefully, the Partnership, and that is why we asked all Ladies' Sections within the county if they could support us as well. We have had an incredible response from some clubs, but silence from others. Maureen asked all County Delegates to go back to their committees and find out what their club has done for the Juniors' Section.
We have played one match so far - against Hertfordshire at Knebworth. The first team lost 5 - 1 and the second team lost 2 - 1. The girls played really well against a strong team and were not disheartened.
The first competition played was the Past Captains' Salver at The Bedford Golf Club. Fiona Cooper of Bedford and County won, with two girls from Leighton Buzzard - Louise Eddy and Elena Tizzard - coming second and third.
At the last meeting there was a query about caddies for young girls. Heather Nolan has made enquiries about this and the advice from EWGA is that the girls do NOT have caddies. It is felt that girls should have a bag and trolley suitable for their age, which they should be quite capable of using. The committee will follow this advice for all County Junior events.
13. SENIORS' CAPTAIN'S REPORT (Sam Turnbull)
The season has begun quite quietly and we have played only one match so far. This was the practice match against the County 2nds at Caddington and the youthful opposition proved too much for us and they won comfortably 6 matches to 2.
Our next match is against Cambs and Hunts at Wyboston on June 7th.
May sees the qualifying round for the Senior 2000 and some clubs have already played this. Sam looks forward to receiving the names of all the qualifiers and getting the knockout part of the competition under way. The knockout rounds are played over the summer and the final will be in September.
The Seniors Championship is at Dunstable Downs this year on Thursday 26th August. Sam has had some entries already and is hoping for a similar size field to last year when 62 ladies took part. The closing date is the 24th July.
There is still some discussion within the EWGA East Region regarding the Seniors matches, the format and also the varying age qualifications, but this is ongoing and no decisions are likely to be made this year.
14. PAST CAPTAINS' CAPTAIN'S REPORT (Gill Smith)
Most of the subscriptions appear to be in now, although Gill still has not heard from all of the Clubs, but must assume they have no Past Captains who wish to join the society!
We had the usual "Needle Match" with the County Past Captains' Male Team. Again a Texas Scramble was played at Bedfordshire Golf Club, and appeared to be enjoyed by most of the participants. Bedfordshire provided us with an excellent meal, and from the banter that was evident in the club house afterwards, a good time was had by all. Gill has already put her name down for next year's match, and hopes she gets picked!
Our next match was against Northants, who we entertained at Pavenham Park Golf Club. Their new clubhouse is very impressive, and thanks go to Gwen for her help in organizing the finer details, and also for being there in case anyone did not turn up from either team, complete with golf clubs ready to fill in if necessary. We lost the match 4/3.
Our next outing is to Abbotsley, against our old adversaries Cambs/Hunts, when we hope to do better. The team have been notified, and is also on the website.
14A MERGER
Four Executive Committee members had attended a meeting with four members from the Bedfordshire Golf Union to discuss the merger of the 2 National Governing bodies. It was a positive meeting that recognised the differences in the two organisations but also the many overlapping areas. One main difference being that the Union has some paid Committee officials.
County Delegates were asked to encourage their Ladies Committee members to meet with their Gentlemen Committee members to discuss the merger of the National Governing Bodies.
15. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Elaine James reported that there had been a software error at the Championship and had new 2nd round sheets for those County Delegates with participating members.
EM reported that one of the Coronation Foursomes qualifiers from Mowsbury required a buggy as she is registered disabled. It was explained that she must write to EWGA for permission to use a buggy in the next round as it is a National competition. The minutes from the September Meeting (section 6, 3rd para) reiterate this.
16. DATE & VENUE OF NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING
The next County Meeting is on Monday 19th July 2010 at Tilsworth Golf Club with a 1.00pm start. Other dates:- Monday 6th September 2010 Aylesbury Vale Golf Club, commencing at 1.00pm
Annual General Meeting Monday 1st November 2010 - John O'Gaunt Golf Club Commencing at 2.00pm
Elaine thanked Caddington Golf Club for their hospitality and closed the meeting at 2.20pm.
Signed ___________________ Date _________________