BTRGS Minutes of Committee meeting 15/2/2011

Present
Simon Mahoney, Vice Captain Erik Hansen Jon Hopkins	Richard Wyndham Iain Wright Chris Amor
Apologies
Steve Boswell	Gabriel Martins
Stuart Wyse	David Bell
Stephen Stokes	John Bates
Dave Clark

Minutes of last meeting

Minutes agreed.

 

Winter event, 2nd Feb. - report now on web site.
Proposal for future BTRGS Winter Meetings.

Golf lessons in March (dates TBA).

Spring Meeting at Ely City GC, 3rd May 2011

Winter event

The problem: This meeting is not very well attended. Last year there were 12 playing, and this year just 8. Although the event is enjoyed by all who attend, it is becoming problematical to organise as the numbers are now borderline viable.
Analysis: The invitation for this event goes out in January, often when there is snow on the ground. The event is held in early February, so the weather can often be poor on the named date - 2 out of the last 3 events have had to be postponed to a later date due to course closure. We have been lucky, so far, in that the event has eventually been played in good conditions, and is very popular with those that attend. The smaller numbers do give the event a nice intimate feeling, and it is good to have a competitive, though friendly, early event. So at the 2011 Meeting, there was some discussion on how to go forward. The root cause problem for low sign-up rate was thought to be that people are reluctant to commit themselves to the event, and booking a day's A/L, when the weather could be very bad on the day. Playing in bad conditions, was considered even worse than the event being postponed. But it is difficult to call off the event with the host club, because of less than ideal conditions on a course that is still open - especially as a BTRGS deposit has probably been paid. If the event is postponed to a fall-back date, then the members on the List can be contacted to see whether we have a viable number of if the event is abandoned for that year.

A solution: A date will be fixed for the Winter Meeting, as usual. Members will be invited to attend, and a maximum of 15 will be put on the Contestant List. But no course will be formally booked, and hence no deposit paid. When we get to 4/5 days before the date, weather forecasts will be reviewed. If the outlook looks poor, then the event can be cancelled - or postponed to the previously published alternative date. If the forecast is promising, then the organisor will trawl around the favoured local clubs to agree a deal for 18 holes and a supper. The details can then be sent out to those on the List giving the venue and details. We don't anticipate problems in finding tee-times, at this notice, in February. A likely list of clubs could be: Hintlesham; Ufford Park; Rushmere. And it is anticipated that £30 would be the maximum charge to cover coffee on arrival, 18 holes, supper and a modest prize fund. Looking through the Suffolk/Norfolk Golfer magazine, it is filled with super deals for this time of the year.

Solution assumptions: (1) More members would want to attend if they were confident it would only be played in reasonable conditions. (2) Members will be happy to sign-up not knowing the venue or exact cost, but knowing the maximum cost (£30) and the venue would be from a published list of quality courses.
Way Forward: If the BTRGS Committee are positive about this solution, Richard Wyndham is happy to try out this scheme in 2012, and see how it goes.

Knockouts

A.O.B.

Richard has provisionally fixed the 'mind guru' training for 13th April and is looking for tutors to give fitness training.

New Sharepoint site set at up https://office.bt.com/sites/btrgs/SitePages/Home.aspx (not available outside of the firewall) and set up 2 folders: 2011 and Archive. We need to determine when to perform the migration from Livelink and what information we want to retain. Also, we need to consider how we want the new site to look (can add some features to it and maybe publicise to members?).

Next meeting

AGM Meeting

AGM Topics

A/P	Proposal	Proposed by