County Ladies’ Golf Association

Minutes of a County Delegates Meeting held at Calcot Golf Club at 10.00am on Wednesday, 4th March 2020

Present: County Executive: Margaret Berriman (MB) President Muriel Quinsac (MQ) County Representative/Voting Member Sheila Hayes (SMH) Honorary Secretary Gill Myers (GM) Joint County Competition Secretary Deidre Cuthbert (DC) Joint County Competition Secretary Sharron Hargreaves (SH) County Junior Organiser

Clubs Represented: Bearwood Lakes Bradfield College Calcot Park Castle Royle Caversham Heath Donnington Grove East Berks Ladies Hennerton Maidenhead Newbury & Crookham Sand Martins West Berkshire Windsor Great Park

Apologies Eton College Goring & Streatley Maidenhead Mill Ride Reading & Caversham Heath Royal Ascot Temple Theale The Berkshire

The following clubs did not sign the register Billingbear Birds Hill Donnington Valley Deanwood Mapledurham Wokefield Park

Action 1. Welcome - MB Margaret opened the meeting; she welcomed the delegates and introduced the members of the Executive Committee who were present.

2. Apologies – Apologies were received from nine clubs.

3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting dated 18th September 2019 The Minutes of the last meeting were approved. They were proposed by Maria Thorpe (Easthampstead Ladies) and seconded by Mary Lush (Sand Martins GC).

4. Matters Arising None.

5. Introduction of New County Delegates - MQ Muriel introduced herself to the meeting and asked the new County Delegates to introduce themselves.

6 Role of the County Delegate - MQ Muriel outlined the critical role of the County Delegate. She highlighted the importance of attending the delegates’ meeting, being a two-way conduit for communication between 1

Berkshire County Ladies’ Golf Association

Minutes of a County Delegates Meeting held at Calcot Golf Club at 10.00am on Wednesday, 4th March 2020

the County and Clubs, and informing both high handicappers and new golfers what was going on in the County. Delegates were encouraged to send a proxy if they could not make the meeting personally. Muriel also emphasised that the County was a great way to meet women from other Clubs, to network and make new friends, play together at each other’s clubs or in county competitions, realise that there are plenty of golf for ALL handicappers in the County.

A County Delegate job description is on the BCLGA web site and Muriel asked for any comments on the JD to be sent to her at [email protected] as she was revising it. MQ/All The draft new JD would come to the next meeting.

Muriel asked the attendees to share some of the ways they communicated within their clubs. Some excellent suggestions included: ▪ posting items on Club notice boards. ▪ discussion over lunch/coffee after the women had played. ▪ folders with information in the ladies’ changing room. ▪ Intelligent Golf computer system having a link to the BCLGA website for information and competitions etc. ▪ ad hoc emails. ▪ laminated notices in WC cubicles. ▪ feedback at Ladies’ Committee meetings. ▪ using Facebook. ▪ having a past Lady Captain as the delegate as she might have a greater understanding of the County role.

Margaret added that a leaflet on the role of the BCLGA had been produced and would be circulated with the minutes for delegates to email to their current members and ideally SMH/All hand to new members or add to the Club’s welcome pack so new women know about the opportunities county golf provides for all.

7. Update from Golf Voting Member /Regional Representative – MQ Muriel reported that 2019 had been a busy year for England Golf. o Nick Pink the Chief Executive of EG left in October and Jeremy Tomlinson started in January 2020. o The priorities for EG remain: ▪ growing and retaining members through various initiatives such as ‘Get into Golf’. ▪ increasing the participation of women and girls which still only represent 15% of club members e.g. GirlsGolfRocks. ▪ being more inclusive with people with disabilities ▪ trying to attract the Independent golfers into Clubs o World Handicapping System (WHS): EG is ready for the WHS 2020. Workshops have been advertised and BCLGA has been very pro-active within the County. o Insurance has been introduced in 2019 with Bluefin sport. o Affiliation Fee: At the General Meeting in April 2019 Voting Members voted by a majority of 113 to 47 that the affiliation fee should be increased to £9.50 for the 2020 affiliation year. This would allow the funding for the County Under 14 programme to continue as in previous years. 2

Berkshire County Ladies’ Golf Association

Minutes of a County Delegates Meeting held at Calcot Golf Club at 10.00am on Wednesday, 4th March 2020

o Safeguarding remains a top priority within the game. In July 2019 England Golf had 16 open safeguarding cases which were being overseen by the SafeGolf Case Management Group. In 12 of those cases individuals had a temporary suspension imposed due to significant safeguarding issues. Safeguarding is a major concern. Delegates were asked to check their Clubs have a Safeguarding Officer. o Voting Members: work is in hand to increase communications between the Voting Members’ and EG. o Club Support: excellent club support is available at EG on their web site over a wide range of topics including: ▪ membership issues ▪ financial issues ▪ governance ▪ workshops are available ▪ policies, procedures and guidance and many more o Local Golfers’ Performance: - Muriel updated on a few local golfers playing for the EG teams some of whom had now turned professional. The EG coaching and nurturing of talented golfers works well and hopefully will continue to do so. o England Golf Centenary is to take place in 2024. This will be looking to the future as well as celebrating past achievements. EG is to set up a subcommittee to recommend how to celebrate the Centenary. Muriel has been invited on the subcommittee and will keep the delegates posted of any development.

8. Report from the County -MB Website Margaret reported that the new website had been launched and was now mobile friendly. Competition entry online will be available, but payment would need to be by BACS or cheque. Better resolution photos are needed for the site and delegates were asked to ensure any photos they submitted were high resolution. At the AGM it had been announced that Nicky Jones (webmaster) had resigned and it was now proposed to appoint Charlie Keenan to replace her as Charlie had worked with Nicky in developing the new website. Nicky was thanked for her work and the appointment of Charlie was welcomed and positive comments were received on the new website. The historic information on the website was discussed and it was agreed; delegates’ minutes should be kept for one year, news items for one year and County Week results for NJ/CK two years.

Seniors Tracy Crew had been unable to attend the meeting and sent her apologies. Delegates were asked to check if they had senior women aged over 50 with handicaps of 7-15 who All were willing to play in seniors’ matches. Names of those willing should be sent to the Seniors’ Captain (Tracy Crew) – email via the County website.

Revised Budget Margaret reminded delegates that at the AGM there had been discussion on the precarious state of the budget which was overstretched. It had been reviewed by the Executive Committee with some changes being introduced in 2020 such as players in senior friendly matches being charged a catering fee, on-line payment for County competitions being abandoned because of cost, the miscellaneous budget being reduced 3

Berkshire County Ladies’ Golf Association

Minutes of a County Delegates Meeting held at Calcot Golf Club at 10.00am on Wednesday, 4th March 2020

and a commitment to reduce spend on County Week in 2021 (as it was not possible to do so in 2020 due to prior commitments). However even with this the County was not going to break even in 2020.

Affiliation Fee 2021 Margaret reported that given the financial difficulties it was proposed to increase the affiliation fees from £5.50 to £8 with effect from November 2020. It was noted fees were set at £5 in 2005 and since then had risen by only 50p in the last 15 years and in 2019 the £2.50 payment to the LGU had ceased. The proposed level was comparable with (or slightly cheaper than) other local Counties. It was suggested by some delegates that it MB would be better to raise the fee to £10 and include online payment. This was supported on a show of hands by delegates and Margaret agreed to take this back to the Executive Committee.

9. World Handicapping System – MH Marion Hitchcock, Handicap Adviser, had sent her apologies so Margaret read her report. She confirmed that the UK would be going live with the Worldwide Handicapping System from 2nd November 2020. By late summer women should be able to see what their new handicap would most likely be under WHS when it comes into force, the system is based on the best 8 of the last 20 scores. Initial handicap for the World Handicap System will collect qualifying scores from July 2018 to July 2020.To have a fully developed handicap players will need to have submitted 20 qualifying scores. Delegates were asked to encourage their members to submit as many scores as they can, including supplementary scores. Further updates will be posted on the BCLGA and England Golf websites as they are released. In the first instance delegates should approach their Club Handicap Secretaries for information on the World Handicap System as they should all have attended the World Handicap System Workshops recently held and be able to answer questions on the new system. Marion indicated she was happy to help clubs and members during this transition time; she can be contacted via the BCLGA website. 10. County Junior Organiser - SH Sharon advised delegates the junior season of events would begin soon and the junior committee did not have a competition secretary to run the events. She would be grateful if any women who were members of the following clubs were available to come along, help out e.g. running the registration desk, walking the course to ensure the girls are keeping to good speed of play, ball spotting and assisting with entering cards into the computer at the end of the competition.

The dates and courses are as follows: ▪ Sunday 29th March – Mapledurham ▪ Sunday 5th July – Newbury and Crookham ▪ Sunday 9th August – Winter Hill ▪ Sunday 11th October – Mill Ride

There are 3 county matches being played where no help is required but it would be good to see either the Lady Captain, Vice-Captain or delegate to welcome the girls. ▪ Tuesday 26th May – at Donnington Valley vs Oxford ▪ Sunday 31st May – at Royal Ascot vs Bucks 4

Berkshire County Ladies’ Golf Association

Minutes of a County Delegates Meeting held at Calcot Golf Club at 10.00am on Wednesday, 4th March 2020

▪ Sunday 27th September – at Temple vs M’sex vs Herts

If anyone is interested in becoming part of the junior committee then please contact All Sharon on [email protected]

11 Update on County Competitions – GM/DC Gill highlighted that a variety of formats of County Competitions were available and they were intended for all levels of golfers. They provided a great opportunity to meet women from across the County and were a good day out. Delegates were asked to encourage their members to support them by entering. Entry forms were available on the web. All/MB Margaret said she would award a prize to the delegate whose club had most entries as a proportion of her ladies’ section. A full list of the 2020 competitions will be circulated with SMH the minutes.

12 Australian Spoons – MQ Muriel said she was organising the Regional final of the Australian Spoons on behalf of England Golf in Berkshire. It was for a Foursomes competition, handicaps of 15-40. All Women could enter as many times as they wished with different partners at £2 per entry. The final was scheduled for 6th July at Mill Ride. Delegates were asked to encourage their members to fully participate as the Regional final won’t be on a Berkshire course for another 6 years. After the meeting the closing date for entries was confirmed as 4th June.

13 County Executive Vacancies o Competition Secretary – Gill Myers was stepping down from the Joint Competition Secretary post. Deidre would continue in post but needed a job share partner. It was noted that a volunteer may have come forward for the role. o County Captain – Laura Webb is due to stand down this year and nominations were invited from Clubs. Anyone is eligible not just gold standard players. Nominations should be sent to Sheila Hayes at [email protected] before 9th April prior to the All Nominations Committee meeting.

14. Any Other Business Website Photos – it was noted there was a photo on the website, which was from a Fun Day at Sand Martins, but it had no acknowledgement/ accreditation and was not a ‘golfing photo’ as players were in collarless shirts. It was asked that photos on the website should be rotated regularly, accredited where possible and of high resolution.

9. Date of next meetings: o Wednesday 20th May 2020 – 10.30am at Hennerton Golf Club o Wednesday 28th October 2020 – 10.30am at Newbury & Crookham Golf Club o AGM – Wednesday 13th January 2021 Reading Golf Club

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