Dear Members, 

As this is my first report back to members, I’d like to start by acknowledging the work done by the previous committee, who have left our club in excellent shape. 

The attendance at last night’s AGM is, I believe, the highest ever and shows the commitment of members to our club.  

The new committee is a good blend of experience and those members who have put their hands up for the first time and I look forward to working with them all as we manage our Club’s affairs for the next year. 

Brian Cox, a foundation member of the club and our auditor since the club’s inception, was, by a unanimous vote, recognized by the granting of Life Membership. We will invite Brian to our clubhouse, where we will be making a small presentation to him. 

Also by unanimous vote, the Club’s Constitution was replaced by new Association Rules, ensuring that the club complies with the Act that governs such associations. Thank you to John Fletcher for his work and advice in preparing this document. 

The committee have a number of priorities to attend to; 

• The By-laws need to be revised so that they conform to the Association Rules and are stated in clear language. 
• The new website went ‘live’ yesterday and we need to update and revise the contents transferred from the old website. 
• We also need to address how we best provide vouchers under the new website – more of this as we progress through the process 

We received good feedback from members during the ‘General Business’ session and we will be addressing those items. Look for announcements on the website. 

Mick Waters inquired about a $964 expense shown under ‘Handbook’ in the Profit and Loss. On further investigation, this expense was for the 2016 annual report and should have been noted as such.  

As a member of the Match Committee for a number of years, it is clear that the pace of play and the bottlenecks on the course are, by far, the major cause of frustration for our members, particularly those at the end of the field who find their round taking five and a half hours, but also those who feel that they are having to rush their round. 

I firmly believe that the application of the new Local Rule Governing Pace of Play should resolve this issue for both of these groups, provided the members take responsibility for ensuring that the Rule is applied. 

It is pleasing that so many group have now embraced this rule, but we need all members to do so to ensure a pleasant round of golf for us all. 

It is no longer a matter of how fast your group is playing – if you are holding up the group behind you, then let them play through and do this early in the round. This is the best way that you can ease the backlog behind you. 

We should not have to rely on Belgravia staff to move on slower groups and if we need to do so (and therefore have to apply penalties), we as members have failed. We should self-regulate this Rule just as we self-regulate all other Rules. 

It is my recent experience that letting a group through adds very little to the time taken for the round and takes the pressure off your group to rush their round. 

Finally, thank you to all those members who offered support in the lead-up to the AGM and the many members who offered their assistance after the meeting. I am sure we will be calling on your skills and assistance during the year. 

Truly, a club is only as strong as the effort put in by the collective membership and it is pleasing that so many members are willing, without any recognition, to contribute. 

 

Gavin Pearce 
Club President 

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