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Notes from AGM: Birchwood Park GC, 13 October 2011

Significant changes agreed

With Owen Hydes stepping down as President after 14 years and a number of motions for discussion, they have been some significant changes within Sparta GS.

Owen Hydes announced at the 2010 AGM that he felt it was time for him to step down as President and asked the Committee to seek a successor. A suitable candidate was found and he agreed to take up the post. Therefore at the AGM it was announced that Geoff Dawe would become Sparta GS President with immediate effect.

As a memento of his time as President, Alan Rowland presented Owen with a digital picture frame on behalf of all members.

In thanking Owen for his work as President, outgoing Captain, Alan Rowland, touched on some of the highlights during his reign. None more so than some of his dubious jokes during his speeches at President's Day. In particular, Alan recalled one which end "Four sprung duck technique" and another medical joke which must have been the longest of all.

Alan also noted that Owen was an expert in many areas including badgers being a member of the Badger Trust. He is also a drinking water expert and perhaps he has message for the rest of us as he normally drinks Guinness!

Motions

An unprecedented number of motions were put forward for discussion and those that were agreed are as follows:

• That the format of the Spring Meeting should changed to foursomes in the morning (with pairs being drawn)and singles in the afternoon. This would be treated as a trial and if successful would be adopted for all future Spring Meetings

 

 

• That the AGM Meeting should be included in the Golfer of the Year competition. For this the meeting will be moved from Birchwood to a more suitable course (The Addington was mentioned). The GOTY will therefore contested on the best 5 rounds from 8.



• That the Hastings Challenge Trophy should annotated in memory of Mike Pauley (Hastings) and John Richards (SPARTA) who both sadly died during 2011.



• That the Mond Cup final should played on neutral course and be subsidised up to £50 per head. The Committee would decide the venue if the two players could not agree.



• That the Charity for 2012 should be the British Heart Foundation in memory of John Richards.

Results

For the record, the results on the day were Vince Rossiter winning the Secretary's Cup for the second time with 42 points, narrowly beating Mike Arney who retuned 41 points.

Mike Arney possibly hit the longest drive on the 18th but ended up a couple of feet of the fairway. The prize therefore went to Peter Gray.

On the 14th, all players had difficulty either hitting the green or getting close to the hole. The best effort and prize for nearest the pin went to Ray Owen whose ball stopped some 25 feet wide of the hole.

With the 2012 Mond Cup draw concluding the meeting all agreed it had been another successful year - here's to 2012.