2015 Minutes

Meeting held Carmarthen Golf Club 7.30pm held on 90th. November 2015

Committee present:- President; Wayne Cooper Milford Haven Golf Club, Chairman; Kerry Rise Garnant Golf Club, Secretary; William Beynon Tenby Golf Club.

Clubs present:- Aberystwyth, Ashburnham, Carmarthen, Cwmrhydneuadd, Garnant,Glyn Abbey, Glynhir, Haverfordwest, Milford Haven, Penrhos, Priskilly Forrest, South Pembs, Tenby.

1. Presidents welcoming address:- The President Mr. Wayne Cooper opened his address by thanking Carmarthen Golf Club for the use of the Club Premises and continued by praising Kerry Rise and Garnant Golf Club for a very successful Three Counties Summer League Rabbit’s open day, The weather was poor but remarked that a good time was had by many and hoped for better weather in 2016. Wayne mentioned that there were many games in both pool A and B that were close run with Tenby Rabbit’s ending up as Pool A Champions. He gave his commiserations to Haverfordwest and Aberystwyth who will be playing in Pool B next season. His congratulation then extended to Glynhir and Glyn Abbey who will be playing in Pool A next season. He stated that some confusion arose between the Milford Haven and Haverfordwest fixture which wasn’t helped by the rugby world cup and hence this match was never played. He finally wished the new chairman Mr. Richard Evans of South Pembs Rabbit’s Society every success for 2016’s Rabbit’s Open and encouraged all clubs to support him and South Pembs as there is a huge amount of work and effort required my the host Club.

2. Apologies for Absentee Clubs or Individuals: None received.

3. The minutes of the last Meeting:- The minutes of the last AGM were read and accepted as a true record.

4. Matters arising:-  There were some matters arising from last minutes however they will be discussed under any other business.

5. Chairman’s Address:- The Chairman Mr. Kerry Rise started his address by stating Garnant Golf Club were delighted to host the Rabbit’s Open Day 2015 especially considering that 18 months earlier the club almost ceased to exist and a lot of the club’s material assets were removed overnight. He continued by stating that this prestigious event showed the best of what Garnant have to offer – teamwork, good food, a true test of golf and a warm welcome to all players. He thanked all the sponsors and other Captains who proved a great source of advice and support. The day itself was excellent attended with 95 players from 10 clubs taking part with the poor weather staying away for most of the day. Course knowledge seemed very important on the day as Garnant’s Wayne Fowler was the overall winner with a respectable 38 points, which contributed to Garnant picking up the team award as he was joined by Bleddyn Williams 37 points, Anthony Bissick and Steve Williams both 35 points. Andrew Loveridge from Haverfordwest was the top visitor with 37 points with Robin Bradbury and Mark Edwards both from Tenby, Richard Neil Evans Glynhir, and Christopher L Thomas Ashburnham all scoring 34 points runners up.
Kerry couldn’t emphasis enough the importance of a day like this to Garnant and he wished South Pembs all the best for 2016. He continued to thank all the clubs who supported the raffle prizes and that it was very much appreciated. He thanked William Beynon for his secretarial duties and congratulated Tenby on wining Pool A and Glynhir wining Pool B. Finally he concluded his address by handing over the chairmanship to the new Chairman for 2016 Mr. Richard Evans of South Pembs along with all our support.

6. Secretaries report: –  The secretary started by congratulation the winners and runners up of each pool. He continued by encouraging the captains of both competing teams to report the results and again to report the result with the home team first and the away team second with the corresponding bonus points directly linked to those teams. He commented that some of the result reporting was confusing and needed additional correspondence to clarify who hade won and how many bonus points should be awarded to each team. He informed he would look to see if an interactive page could be provided on the web site for clear result reporting.
He then informed the members present as requested in last years AGM he had sent out letters of invitation to Cilgwyn, Derlyis, Machynys and Trefloyne, to join the Three Counties Summer League. The secretary sadly announced that he had received no responses other than an e-mail from Derylis Golf Club thanking but declining the invitation due to an already busy and full summer schedule.

7. Appointment of Executive Committee:-
President: Wayne Cooper Milford Haven Golf Club.
Vice President: Kerry Rise, Garnant Golf Club.
Chairman: Richard Evans, South Pembs Golf Club.
Secretary: William Beynon Tenby Golf Club.

8. New Chairman’s Report:- The new chairman Richard Evans opened his address by thanking Kerry Rise for the open day at Garnant, and continued to state that it has always been his desire to represent South Pembs as Captain especially during the Three Counties Summer League open and promised to make it as an enjoyable day as possible. He stated that it is his intention to lower the cost of entry to the open at South Pembs to a figure of around £18.00 in a bid to attract as many members to attend as possible. He continued by encouraging those members present to support South Pembs and make it pay and get it back to the affordable days wee use to enjoy in the earlier days of the Summer League, which will be held on the 18th. June 2016. He concluded his address by stating that he will guarantee a good day assuming that the weather is good.

9. Member Proposals:- Proposed Ashburnham and seconded by Tenby…

PROPOSITION NUMBER 1 : This proposal is to replace Rule 2.b Eligibility and Conditions of Selection.

“All team players eligible to play shall have playing Handicaps from 13 to 28 inclusive. Maximum allowance for matches will be 28 with 9/10s of the handicap difference from the lowest handicapped player in each case, with no maximum limit. Each Captain shall  combine the handicaps of each of his pairings and thereafter these pairings must tee off in ascending order (lowest combined handicap total to tee off first, second combined handicap total to tee off second etc.). Each Captain will present his pairings with their handicaps to the opposing Captain prior to the match commencing. Once this has been done, the pairings can only be changed with the permission of the opposing Captain (to cater for late arrivals, illness etc.).”

The above proposal was discussed with members concerns being raised fore and against its implementation and the possible consequences of such a change to rule 2.b. The members then voted on the inclusion of the new ruling which was carried by 7 votes fore to 6 votes against.

10. Any other business:- 

As was requested during last years AGM that a report be provided by the Secretary to look into what would be the implication if the 2014 AGM – 1st. proposal was successful…

1.       To double points for away win or draw (8pts away win, 6pts home win, 4pts away half, 2 pts home half) this rewards the result and lessens the effect of the bonus points without scrapping them altogether.

Although nothing was available to examine at the time the following has now been prepared for examination. As can be seen from the tables below this would in effect make no change to the outcome of the league positions…The table following is our current point system where we have 4pts away win, 3pts home win, 2pts away half, 1 pts home half…

The table following is that where we have 8pts away win, 6pts home win, 4pts away, half, 2 pts home half.

As can been seen if this 2014 proposal was implemented then all it would have achieved is a bigger points difference between the teams and would have no affect on the final outcome.

11. Presentation of trophies. The trophies for the respective Pools were presented by the President Mr. Wayne Cooper to Mr. Steve Watkins 2015 Captain of Tenby Rabbit’s Society the Pool B trophy although not present was awarded to Mr. Mark Richards of Glynhir Rabbits Society.

12. Close of meeting. The meeting closed at 8.25pm with the 2016 AGM to be arranged…