2021 AGM Minutes

MINUTES OF THE 51ST ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

SAUNTON GOLF CLUB: WEDNESDAY 20th OCTOBER 2021

(The meeting began at 1820)

1. Presentation of Trophies

The trophies were presented to the winners by the President, Bob Small and captain, Adrian Granville-Smith. (See attached list).

2. Apologies for Absence

Apologies were received from 15 members (see attached list).

3. Approval of the Minutes of the 50th On-Line AGM of 22 October 2020.

The minutes were approved unanimously.

4. Matters Arising

There were no matters arising.

5. Captain’s Report

The Captain’s Report is attached.  Here

6 Secretary’s Report

The Secretary’s report is attached.  Here

7. Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer’s report is attached.  Here

The accounts to date were presented to the members present. The Treasurer explained that the account was update up until the 18th of October. Finalised accounts would be audited at the end of the year and copies of these would then be sent to the Representatives. (Note: The accounts as presented were approved unanimously during the Comments/Question session at the end of the meeting).

8. Revised Rules of the Association

A discussion took place about the revisions of the Rules. David Grieve, Our Rules Officer, said that the changes were mainly a tidying up process relating to grammatical changes. The 2 main changes related to para 4a) – allowing the committee to co-opt members during the year to fill vacancies if they arise, which temporary arrangements will be ratified or otherwise at the next GM, and 12c) relating to competition regulations and the requirement that members belonging to more than one Devon Club may only enter a competition from their Home Club. The changes were agreed unanimously.

9. Notification of Revised Emerton-Court Rules

There is a requirement only to advise members of any revisions to the Emerton-Court rules. David Grieve, Our Rules officer, explained that the main changes were agreed by a Working Party consisting of 3 Committee members set up to tidy up the rules. The main changes were Paragraph 11 – Players must be 60 years of age or more when playing qualifying competitions; Paragraph 17 – suggesting a format to aid setting up Emerton-Court matches; Paragraph 23 – allowing buggies to be used (no medical certificate required).

10. Election of Committee for 2022

a). Brian Gliddon – Holsworthy & Harvie Taylor – Stover have resigned from the Committee.

b)  Nominations were received from Geoff Jewell (Dartmouth) & Peter Rogers (Teignmouth) for election to the Committee. The nominations were agreed unanimously.

c)  The current Captain, Adrian Granville-Smith, presented the captain’s jacket and ribbons of office, to the incoming Captain, Tim Douglas-Riley. The incoming Captain will take up his duties on 01 January 2022.

11. Election of Auditors

The Treasurer reported that the current Auditors, David Roberts and Terry Blackler of Sidmouth had been our auditors for several years and had carried out their duties very effectively. The Treasurer proposed that we continue with them for the forthcoming year. This was agreed unanimously.

12. Comments/Queries

The President said that the formal business of the AGM was now completed but asked if anyone had any additional comments or queries, they wished to raise.

1. Query from the floor. The discussion on the account was fine but we did not agree to adopt the account. DB said that the account was not a true reflection on the year. We needed to await the end of the year to see the completed, audited account. The account was subsequently unanimously agreed as a true record.
2.  Geoff Jewell (Dartmouth)l said that we had more than 1,600 members but only a minority of them get to play in the competitions/matches – we need to look at this.
3. Rob Pearce (Libbaton) asked how we managed the entries to competitions. How were they prioritised? Bob Small asked if this could be raised at the Reps meeting on 24 November
4. Rob Pearce (Libbaton) said that the online form limits the entries to the competitions to 9. We should be able to enter more than this. Bob Small said that this should be raised at the Reps meeting.
5. Query from the floor. We used to have fixture cards for every member – why has this been stopped? The Secretary said that Fixture Cards will be available for next season.
6. Charles Wray (Fingle Glen) said that current Data protection means it is more difficult to advertise on notice boards for personal details (telephone numbers) for those entering competitions. This was agreed but other means to obtain the information needed to be explored (i.e., personal emails etc).
7. Peter Stuckey (Tiverton) said that he did not agree with raising the membership fee from £3 to £5. We should not do anything that undermines the membership. This needs to be looked at more carefully.
8. In response to a question from the floor about rising membership fees, Adrian Granville-Smith (Captain) said that many Clubs are losing money. It is becoming more generally accepted that “free golf” is ending and that costs will rise.

Bob Small (President) said that we support the Devon Under 18’s each year by giving them £250 to help with their running costs.

The President, Bob Small, said that it was useful to hear the comments from the floor, but it was not possible to answer any of the questions in detail. He suggested that Reps wanting to raise these and any other questions at the forthcoming Reps meeting, should send them to him in advance of the meeting when time has been allocated after lunch to discuss any questions.


The meeting was closed at 1923

Signed…………………………………………………..(President)

Date………………………………………………………