British United Golf Society

Minutes of the 27th Annual General Meeting

Held on Thursday, 13th March 2025, 7.30 pm

Lingdale Golf Club, Woodhouse Eaves

AGENDA

  1. To receive apologies for absence
  2. Minutes of the previous AGM, 14th March 2024
  3. Matters arising from the minutes of 14th March 2024
  4. Chairperson’s report – Peter Brookes
  5. Secretary’s report – Ken Marshall
  6. Treasurer’s report – Chris Bond
  7. Captain’s report – Rob Bacon
  8. Handicaps Report – Bob Kenney
  9. Adoption of rules
  10. Election of officers
    1. Retiring officers
    1. Vice-Captain
  11. Any other business

Present

Aniello Fabbricatore, Dave Rich, Gary Coltman, Dave Hurst, Dave Bell, Mark Mudge, Simon Hargraves, Ian Hunt, Tony Mendes, Andy Tonkin, Nigel Walley, Craig Bemrose, Steve Mudd, Bill Salter, Paul Carvell, Mehbs Kantharia, Ian Randon, Bob Kenney, Ken Marshall, Chris Bond, John Mazuryk.

The Secretary, Ken Marshall, welcomed the attendees and declared the meeting open.

  1. Apologies

David Archer, Rob Bacon, Steve Barnes, Peter Brookes, Alan Brown, Glenn Chapman, Pete Chapman, Rob Chapman, John Crowley, Colin Curson, Andy Griffiths, Waji Hassan, Andrew Hurst, Ian Hurst, David Mazuryk, Mick Mazuryk, Anil Mistry, Phil Mudge, Arthur Penlington, Doug Penlington, Tony Petersen, Steve Smart, Richard Sykes, Simon Wells, Stephen Wells, Tony Whitmore, Steve Williams.

  • Minutes of the AGM of 14th March 2024

Prior to the AGM, the minutes of the AGM held on 14th March 2024, had been forwarded to all who held a valid membership for the 2024 season.

Following a correction to the first line of agenda item 8, Captain’s report, the minutes of this meeting were accepted as a true and correct record of the meeting after being proposed by Gary Coltman and seconded by Nello Fabbricatore.

  • Matters Arising

There were no matters arising from the AGM held on 14th March 2024.

  • Chairperson’s report

This had been previously circulated to all who held a valid membership for the 2024 season.

The chairperson’s report was accepted unanimously, proposed by Dave Bell and seconded by Gary Coltman.

  • Secretary’s report

This had been previously circulated to all who held a valid membership for the 2024 season.

The secretary’s report was accepted unanimously, proposed by Steve Mudd and seconded by Nigel Walley.

  • Treasurer’s report

Chris Bond spoke to his report circulated at the meeting, explaining the particulars of the opening balance, credits, debits and closing balance. Profits and losses across the events varied from a profit of £302.50 [Oakmere] to a loss of £432.75 [Torksey]. He suggested that the positive balance, held in the account, of £3,140, be used, in part, to subsidise events in 2025 as has been the practice to date. It would be likely, therefore, that the bank balance would reduce during 2025. This was agreed by the meeting and, in answering questions, the Treasurer asked members to ensure that they pay at least one week in advance of each event. This would help to enable those on the “waiting list” for an event to secure a place. There are currently 49 paid up members and we should cap the membership at 50. This was agreed and the Treasurer’s report was accepted following a proposal from Tony Mendes, seconded by Andy Tonkin.

  • Captain’s report

This had been previously circulated to all who held a valid membership for the 2024 season.

The Captain’s report was accepted unanimously, proposed by Craig Bemrose and seconded by Bill Salter.

  • Handicap Secretary’s report

This had been previously circulated to all who held a valid membership for the 2024 season.

Bob Kenney spoke to his report, explaining some of the issues outlined in his report, which had arisen. He explained why he was making the proposals shown in his report, particularly the proposed upper handicap index limit of 28.0. He made the point that for most golf courses this index would produce a playing handicap above 28, e.g. for Longcliffe which we shall be playing on 21st March, a 28.0 index produces a playing handicap of 34.

The Society Secretary thanked Bob, on behalf of the society, for all his hard work. The Handicap Secretary’s report was accepted following a proposal to do so from Ian Randon, seconded by Dave Hurst.

Bill Salter spoke to his paper, previously circulated to members, explaining why he felt that there should not be a limit of 28.0 to a WHS index or a BUGS handicap index.

The Society Secretary thanked Bill for his input and invited questions about this proposal. Mehbs Kantharia asked how many of those with a current H/C limit above 28.0 were in the room. Ken Marshall stated that there were 8 with this being a percentage of those present slightly higher than the proportion of such members who are currently society members.

Gary Coltman asked whether it has been the case that some events have seen very long rounds with higher handicap players sometimes playing slowly. There were varied opinions offered on any relationship between high handicaps and slow play.

Mark Mudge asked Bob Kenney whether the focus of his proposal was on fairness. Bob stated that the proposal was in the interests of fairness for all BUGS members. In response to a question from Dave Rich, Bob explained how red tees now operate within British golf and that playing from the red tees would be an option, at the discretion of the Handicap Secretary, for those unable to hit the ball very far.

  • Adoption of Rules

The Society Secretary then called for a vote on the proposal that an upper handicap index limit of 28.0 be set for those playing in BUGS events.

15 votes were cast in favour of the proposal.

4 votes were cast against the proposal.

There were 2 abstentions

Therefore, the proposed change to handicap rule vi was agreed and would henceforth apply.

Ken Marshall then asked whether we could take the other five proposed changes relating to the handicaps section of the society rules en bloc. Simon Hargraves proposed that we do so, seconded by Ian Randon and these proposed changes were all agreed upon.

Ken then asked that the other proposed rule changes be taken en bloc. This was proposed by Tony Mendes, seconded by Chris Bond and the proposed changes were agreed upon by those present.

10. Election of Officers

Ken Marshall informed the meeting that the society Chairperson, Pete Brookes, was stepping down after serving in this role for many years. Nello Fabbricatore proposed Gary Coltman as the BUGS society chairperson going forward. This was seconded by Dave Bell and was agreed upon by all.

Gary Coltman proposed Pete Chapman as the BUGS Vice Captain for 2025. This was seconded by Chris Bond and agreed by all.

11 Any Other Business

The BUGS Captain for 2025, Paul Carvell, told the meeting of the date, time and venue for the Captain’s Meal which he had organised. The Captain provided a golf ball for each member present, inscribed “Property of B.U.G.S”. He said that he was looking forward to seeing us all at this season’s great calendar of events.

Ken Marshall informed the meeting that for most of the 2025 events, the cap on numbers of 27 has been reached as indicated through those signing up via the society’s website. However, he encouraged members to sign up on the waiting lists as some would drop out of some events. He stated that from 2026, he would set a date for each event before which one could not sign up for that event.

In response to a question, Ken stated that going forward, the draws for events would be random, not by handicap categories

Ken informed the meeting that he is working on a blog to supplement the website, giving examples of how he hoped this would provide further information for members and help things to run smoothly. This blog would not be a replacement for the Society Golfing website.

The meeting closed at 20.55.

Following the meeting Dave Rich was presented with the trophy for the BUGS Player of the Year in 2024.