To bring together existing and former employees of MellWood Construction, plus friends and colleagues, for the purpose of enjoying the game of golf via arranged outings to golf courses. For convenience and continuity the Society shall be known as The MellWood Golf Society.
All those described above shall, on payment of an annual fee, become members of the MellWood Golf Society. Temporary (guest) membership shall be granted to those not paying an annual fee but who wish to participate in individual events and have paid any deposit in advance. Guests will be expected to abide by the rules of the society and therefore by implication to comply with the dress code and etiquette expected by clubs at which the society is playing. The member inviting the guest is responsible for ensuring the standards are explained. Member not attending a minimum 3 events could be in jeopardy of losing their membership. These members cases would be looked at individually by the committee, taking into account their reasons, regularity and future commitment to the society. The member would be informed of their decision before membership renewing closing date. If it is agreed he was not allowed to rejoin the society, his place would go to the next person waiting on a first come first served bases.
The annual membership Fee for new and existing members is £25, to be reviewed at each AGM. This will be used to cover such items as course booking deposits, any committee expenditure, end of year prizes, etc. In certain circumstances the deposit required from a temporary member may be met in advance from a bank account set up in the name of the Society. But this deposit will fall to be met by the temporary member if that member cannot, subsequently, attend the outing and the Golf Club concerned does not return that deposit.
In the event of the Society ceasing to function and a majority decision of members being taken to give effect to its winding up any funds in the Society account after the Society has met all outstanding obligations and payments will be donated to a Charity nominated by the Captain of the Society at the time of its winding up.
The management of the Society shall rest with a Committee chosen at each Annual General Meeting. It will comprise a minimum of 3, for the purposes of a quorum, and a maximum of 5 members. The Committee will meet as and when required and will appoint a Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and other members as necessary. These posts will be filled following nominations received by, and elected at, the AGM which will be held on the second Thursday in November each year. The Committee will appoint a Handicap sub committee to determine individual handicaps in accordance with the arrangements described below.
Each year the Captain will choose his own vice Captain, who in turn becomes the new Captain the following year and so on.
A competition will be held at each outing and points awarded to each participant on the stableford system of scoring. A player’s four best scores will count towards his end of season total. The player with the highest aggregate score will be declared the winner of the MellWood Golf Society Championship for that year. (In the event of a tie the winner will be determined on the basis of, firstly, the aggregate of the five best scores and, if still tied, on the aggregate of all six scores. If either one or more of the tied players attends only four events the winner will be the player with the lowest aggregate position over their best four events).
At the end of each season the 3 lowest scoring members in Division 1 will play in Division 2 the following season, and the 3 highest scoring members in Division 2 will play in Division 1 the following season.
New Members are not permitted to win an event /competition other than nearest the pin until his handicap as been assessed /agreed.
Each full and temporary member will be given a handicap on their first outing in the year. This will, normally, be based on their final handicap for the previous year. In the case of new members the handicap will be 2 shots less than their official club handicap or their ability. Thereafter the following handicap system will apply:-
a. The society use HandicapMaster handicapping software to manage members handicaps.
b. if a member fails to complete his round his card should be marked ’No Return’ with the reason given for withdrawal eg injury. Such a card will not be taken into account in calculating the player’s average score or the average score for the event. If no mitigating circumstances are given for a ‘no return’ by the handicap committee under the following paragraph.
c. new members’ handicaps will be reviewed after two games have been played and adjusted (up or down) in the interests of fairness and competition. New members shall not be allowed to win any meeting prize until their handicap has been reviewed and adjusted.
d. scores on the Captain’s day and Memorial Weekend will count as qualifying scores for handicap purposes, effective immediately after the relevant game
In addition the Handicap sub committee will if necessary meet after each outing to consider whether, under the general play principle, any player’s handicap should be reduced or increased (maximum 28). All handicaps will count in full for scoring purposes.
In the event of a tie at any event the winner will be the player with the highest score on the last 9 holes and if still a tie, the last 6 holes, then the last 3 holes, the last hole, then hole by hole from 1 to 18 then if still a tie, by lots.
The society will aim to hold six events spread between March and September.
The groupings for the competition round at an event will be determined by a random draw to take place approximately one hour before play is due to commence. The draw will be organised by one of the participants present (to be known as the Groupings Organiser) who may volunteer or will be selected on a random basis by a member of the committee.
The Groupings Organiser (GO) will be given a list of current handicaps. New guests without a club handicap will play off 21. The GO will then be responsible for obtaining sufficient score cards, from the club professional, for those expected to take part in the competition and entering their names and handicaps on the cards. The playing groups will be selected by a random draw of the cards taking into account of the following factors:-
a. Any reasonable prior requests made to him for an early start. These cards will be excluded from the draw and form part of the first group(s). The presumption is against such requests – there must be clear and unavoidable reasons such as work/family commitments. If it transpires that this facility is abused future requests may be denied by the committee who will retain overall responsibility for managing the outing.
b. Member and guest pairings, their cards will be placed together for the purposes of the draw. Buggy users should go out as a four with 2 buggies or if only one buggy with 2 walking players rather than just one.
c. Those who have said they will attend but who have not arrived by the time of the draw will, because their attendance cannot be guaranteed, be placed in the last group(s)
d. Committee members required to be back in the clubhouse early for official duties particularly at the final event of the season may be placed in the front group.
The GO will then, with any committee member assistance, list all tee times on a sheet and the numbers in each group bearing in mind the total slot available and any requirements of the club (eg as to the total numbers in each group). He will then ask others present to pick out individual cards to form groups of 2-4 depending on the tee times available and announce the results as the draw be written out for the benefit of late arrivals.
It is not expected that the results of this method of determining groups will be challenged on the day. Any such complaints will be regarded as a serious breach of the disciplinary standards established by the Society and will be treated as such by the Committee.
Members may invite guest players to events, subject to availability of places at the event members having priority, and subject to each individual guest attending a maximum of 2 events in each season. A member may invite a maximum of two guests to any event but can accompany only one during the competition and must choose which of the guests should be placed in the random draw for the other groupings (see above).
At each event players attending will be asked to contribute to a Nearest the Pin competition and a Mini Competition for the competition round. The following rules will apply:-
If a member has a Complaint concerning any issues relating to a Committee member in the carrying out of his/her duties, he/she must in the first instance contact the Secretary who, if required, will arrange an extraordinary meeting of the Committee, comprising of the Treasurer, the Secretary, the Captain and Heads of Handicap and Competition Committees, excluding the complainant and Committee member involved.
Following on from the Meeting, the Secretary will inform the complainant and the Committee member involved of the findings and inform all parties of any proposed actions.
To be Reviewed at AGM