Sparta golf society

Annual General Meeting: 8 October 2010

The Game

The Annual General Meeting returned to Birchwood Park GC this year with 15 members attending - lower than normal but still a good number.

As usual the meeting was preceded by a round of golf competing for the Secretary's Cup. Although misty to start, the sun soon shone through and by the end a stiff headwind made the going tough.

The day coincided with Mark Hitchen's birthday - happy birthday Mark - and he was hoping for a good round to mark the occasion. With a tremendous drive down the first, it looked as though his wish may come true. But a wayward second shot and a poor third put paid to his aspirations. Nevertheless he saw the funny side and enjoyed his game.

In another group, Mike Armey started poorly with two blobs, a 7 and three 6's in his outward nine. It was not until the 14th he put his game together when he recorded two net birdies and a net eagle in three holes. However, it was too little too late to put him in the frame.

In contrast, Phil Alker, who had missed most of 2009 with a broken leg, got his game together early, recording 21 points on the first nine. His game however stuttered at the 11th and again at the 15th with no points scored on either hole. But with a total of 39 points though it looked good enough for at least a prize.

Pete Frost, winner of the Secretary's Cup in the last two years with 43 points on both occasions, managed to recorded the same numbers again this year - albeit in reverse order, 34 points.

It was therefore left to local Vince Rossiter to put his best competition game of the year together. Despite a 6 and 7 at the first two holes he was able to record no higher than a 5 on the remaining 16 holes. With a total of 39 points, 21 of which scored on the back nine, Vince was able to sneak in to win the Cup.

The Meeting

The main discussion at the meeting was a motion to increase the number of entrants into the Mond Cup from 8 to 12. It was hoped that this would make the competition much more competitive and allow members to visit more courses during the year.

The proposal was that the top 4 from the previous year's Golfer of the Year table would have byes and be drawn into the second round of the competition. In recognition of their achievement in the GOTY competition, they would have choice of venue in the second round.

The remaining 8 competitors (positions 5 to 12 in the GOTY) would have a straight draw into the first round.

A concession was made to the holder of the Mond Cup to enter the competition even if he/she was not in the top 12 of the GOTY table. This would mean that the player in 12th place would drop out. Subsequently the Committee agreed that tied places in the GOTY table would sorted out by the scores at the Autumn Meeting, or previous meeting if still tied. The new Mond Cup rules can be viewed here.

The meeting also decided to support the Association for the Support of the Kibili Community Project (ASKCoP) again - the same charity we supported in 2008. This was proposed by David Cooper who hopes to raise more funds for his school project in Uganda.

With regard to nominations, Alan Rowland graciously accepted the Captaincy for 2011 and with no other changes, the Committee remained the same.

Whilst President Owen Hydes was happy to stand again, he did comment that members might consider a change after 2011. If any member knows of a suitable person who is willing to take over the role of Presidency, then please let the Secretary know.