Cricket St Thomas Seniors 2: AGM 2024

Seniors AGM 2024

Horizons

Cricket St Thomas Golf Club

Wed 13th November

( Wed 12th Nov 2025 next AGM)

Minutes of AGM for Cricket St Thomas Senior's

Section held at Cricket St Thomas Golf Club..

Wednesday 13" November 2024 at 13.40

in Horizons Bar.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT

,lan Thomas, Chris Gingell, Mark Cording, Barrie Heath, Keith Branchflower, Andy Rowlands,

Keith Hunt, James Siabi

OTHERS PRESENT

Todays start sheet is attached to the minutes and has everyone who played and stayed for lunch

on the sheet. The only person who played and never attended the AGM was Terry Rutherford. lan

Fielder attended as did lan Thomas who were the only 2 not on the start sheet.

Chairmans Welcome..

OPENING REMARKS

Mark Cording opened the meeting welcoming everyone to the new look AGM and saying that

Andy Rowlands idea of a shotgun start and meal seems to have been very popular.

Items for AOB have been given in advance and there are several items to vote upon. As some

agenda items were being talked about by other committee members the agenda may vary slightly.

Mark then welcomed all new members to the seniors section.

Responsibility for trophies are going to be handed to the vice captain in future so they will be

collating and getting the engraving done ready for the presentations.

After previous AGM minutes were agreed Mark then handed over to Andy Rowland who was the

outgoing Captain.

MINUTES OF LAST MEETING.

No matters arising from the last minutes of the AGM. These were proposed by John Pearce and

seconded by Richard Holmes.

FINANCIAL REPORT

Keith Branchflower started his report by explaining why there was an odd £ 5:00 on subscriptions

when we pay £ 10:00 per person. This was due to someone joining late in the year.

The seniors have 105 members at present and 14 of those are over 80. The account shows a

healthy end of year balance of £3,693.62

Keith also thanked Jim Lauchlan for the monthly draw contributions and Clive Fisk for his Raffle

dosh collection on Captains Charity Day.

Chris Gingell was also thanked for his work and time put into working out the payments to go into

the accounts of those winning money.

The financial report is self explanatory and was available at the AGM and available to view if

required, there were no questions from the floor regarding the financial report.

The Financial Report was proposed by Richard Holmes and seconded by David Asquith.

CAPTAINS REPORT

Andy Rowland started his speech by saying that we have lost 2 members of

the seniors this year and they are both in our thoughts, Brian Frost and Alastair Purcell.

Hole in ones this year were 3, Jim Lauchlan on the 8th, Chris Gingell also on the 8th

and John Pearce on 6th at St. Pierre.

The charity day was a great day raising over £ 3,000 pounds for SSAFA and over £6,000 pound in

total. Again, Andy thanked lim Lauchlan for getting you all to open your wallets each month and

Chris Gingell for his behind the scenes help, It’s been a busy year with over 100 seniors in our

section, and within the club as a whole have over 300 members over 55 so the future of the

seniors looks strong

Seniors played 25 friendlies Winning 15 Losing 8 and Drawing 2.

Roll -Ups have been well supported, but sometimes we have struggled to get 12 for friendlies due

to some seniors only wanting to play in away fixtures. More support on the home fixtures would

be appreciated.

Andy then thanked Keith Hunt for all his help and support throughout the year and wished him all

the best for his upcoming year as Captain.

Andy once again thanked everyone for all their help and support over the last 12 months.

No update on the future of the course is forthcoming from the owners and none expected until

next spring at the earliest. Building of the greens will probably be next spring and will probably

be 2 years away before they can be played on. The 6th Tee will most likely Tarmac’d over for extra

car parking, No news on the first hole and the rumours of a house being built at the top of the 14

hole seem to be just that Rumours.

Andy then said Bob Barrow played the most rounds of golf from the seniors. (85 rounds) and Terry

Rutherford had won the most money in competitions.

Andy then thanked everyone for their support during his captaincy and handed back to Mark.

COMPETITIVE TEAM REPORT

Mark Cording as Captain of Knighton Heath said this is a 10 man team played as singles and CST

reached its 3rd semi final in recent years losing to Hockley who made home advantage count.

Dave Mugridge is Somerset Senior Bowl Captain and this is a 10 man team event with 5 pairs.

CST beat Taunton and Pickeridge in the semi final, we narrowly lost to Worlebury in the final at

Mendip

The Avalon League team, Captained by Dave Mugridge Won promotion from the Second Division

to Division One, and also won the Shackleford Trophy for the most points scored by any team

across all Divisions. Well done to all our competitive team players who played so well in all 3

events. Martin Jewell has volunteered to support Dave this year as he has a lot of personal

commitments through the coming season.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Mark said 2 of our most important committee members plan on stepping down at the AGM 2025,

they are Keith Branchflower (Treasurer) and Barrie Heath (Accounts Auditor & Fixtures), we will

miss them both as they both do exceptionally well in there current roles.

The Committee has been streamlined over the last couple of years as it was starting to get too big

The whole committee would like to continue in its current roles and if there is a proposer (Richard

Holmes ) and seconder (Steve Sutcliffe) then we will all continue if no objections from the floor.

This was carried unanimously.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Clive Fisk has asked that more people get involved and help out on charity day especially for the

fund raising. This was passed to the incoming Captain who stated that he would be looking to

form a small working group to assist in Sponsorship and running setting up and running the

Charity day.

Kevin Barry has asked that more competitions are played outside of the Roll-Ups. He suggested

that they should run throughout the day so more people that work can participate. This had quite

a discussion from the floor and voted to leave as it is now club would take 15% and cards would

need to be collected at the end of each day. Not practical.

Dennis Hussey asked about Reciprocals, apparently some clubs have up to 14 but Mark stated

this is a matter for the club owners and not the seniors.

Rob Shelley asked about Soap Dispensers in the showers and a paper towel dispenser, again this

is a matter for the club.

Richard Holmes mentioned that members should play 6 roll-ups before being able to play in a

match play or trophy event as this year trophies were won by 2 members that had only played in 1

roll up between them, this was seen as not being committed members of the seniors section. The

committee say this should be 5 not 6. 2 events would not be included, these are the Past

Captains trophy and the current Winter League as it has already started, after a prolonged debate

this was voted on and agreed that it would be 5 events not including the current Winter League

and past Captains Trophy.

Mark Cording says that anyone needing Club Buggies to be individually entered into club draws

and not paired up with other buggy users. This was quickly met with a lot of objections and voted

out to leave as it is currently.

Andy Rowland feels we should play more team and fun games from the white tees to get people

used to them so they have more confidence when playing Medal qualifiers. This would be a trial

only. In the winter we would play off the Reds and Blues and the summer Yellows and Whites.

This approved by the members

Rod Stevens asked about purchasing matting to allow buggies out in wet weather but this was

agreed as a matter for the owners.

Danny Dowell says to enact the 2 card rule for every competition at roll-up, only one to be handed

in once verified by all players. After a very short debate this was voted in unanimously, and John

Wandless pointed out that the card takes precedence over the computer.

John Evans and Dougie Oliver asked about course information which Any Rowlands has already

explained that the owners aren't very forthcoming with information and even the water supply has

not been sorted and is a long way off yet. Roger Stone mentioned the club needs to keep

members informed but again very little information is forthcoming from the Owners. In addition

Peter Spencer-Farr says we need to be thankful for what we have as not every club has the same

level of recognition as our seniors section.

THE TROPHY PRESENTATIONS

The trophies were presented by Andy Rowlands and Keith Hunt and a full list is attached to the

minutes.

CAPTAINS HANDOVER

Andy Rowland then handed over to Keith Hunt the new 2024/2025 Seniors Captain.

Keith addressed the AGM by saying it was an honour and a privilege to be the new Seniors

Captain, he then thanked his predecessor for his leadership and dedication, saying he wanted to

build on the foundation that Andy had left. He said that our section is about camaraderie and

friendships that create lasting memories and wants to create increased participation across all our

events.

I believe in everyones opinion but believe we must focus on what benefits the majority. I will

always try to include everyone. I want everyone to feel welcome in the seniors section.

I am pleased to announce James Siabi as my Vice Captain .

His charity this year is the Age UK Somerset which provides advice and help to elderly individuals

across South Somerset. Age UK offers services in critical areas such as Financial support, social

care, carer support, dementia care and much more, not all of us have the support of families and

friends, many are isolated. Whatever we are able to raise through the seniors section will be of

great assistance to someone in South Somerset.

Charity day is Wednesday 16th July. During the Cricket st Thomas Open Week.

There are plans to hold a Captains away, date and venue to be arranged.

The Seniors Friendly Matches are great fun and I would like you all to participate, it is a very good

way to meet people and with the increasing cost of golf really presents great value for money.

The Captain will be looking for a commitment to Home games if playing the Away game.

Over the last 2 years we have been dropped by Enmore, Teign Valley, Yeovil, and are currently

awaiting feedback from Taunton & Pickeridge.

A new phantom pro trial will start, this will take the form of one of the team doubling their score

for each hole. The selected person will be the one who is drawn out first. Feedback on how this

works will be gathered in the new year.

Also for qualifying individual games only I will be looking to try and match 3 balls of similar

handicaps to try and allow more concentration to those who are working on handicap reduction,

again this is only a trial and will welcome feedback.

It is planned to have the Cyder Cup in May. This is due to the problems involved with weather.

James Siabi will run the Challenge Cup as usual this year.

CLOSING REMARKS

The Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance and stated the next AGM will be 12th

November 2025.

The meeting was closed at 15:25

Thanks to Captain Andy for donating his body in many of the pictures below, how many can you spot ?

Winter League
William Hilson & Keith Branchmanager ( Retd)

Clear Winners with 308 Points over 6 Rounds
All Scores over 40 including one of 48

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Friendlies W 15, L8, D2

Thanks

March Hare

Gordon Brent & Jeremy Blackburn

Won on Countback with 46 Points

defeating Siabi & Frost who bogeyed 17th versus Jeremy's Birdie.

------------------------------------

Knighton Heath - Lost 3/7 v Hockley

Somerset Bowl - Lost in Final 1-4

Avalon - Promoted to Top Division

Foursomes Trophy

Andy Rowland & Derek Gardener

Narrow win with 38 Points over chasing pack, headed by Cording & Jewell on 37

------------------------------------------------

New Holes- Spring 25 design - 2 years till we play

Canadian Greensomes

It's that man Hilson again with Martin Leigh

Excellent score of 46 points , just 2 ahead of Blackburn & Fisk with 44 - only 2 pairs scoring over 40.

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Seniors Played 3,356 Rounds - £6797 Prize Money.

Most Rounds - Farmer Bob 85.

Most Money Terry Rutherford £222.55

Super Seniors

Keith Segal - Did not attend

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Past Captain's Trophy

Dave Mugridge - apol - in Caribbean

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Keith 11 Years as Treasurer

We have 105 Seniors, 14 Exempt ( over 80YO)

..but another 200 in Golf Club over 55 but not playing as Seniors

Jubilee Salver

Mark Kilpatrick, Terry Rutherford, Nick Gabb

Great Scramble score of 55, Gross 62.

On same Gross but with 2 shots lower handicap were Danny D. John W and John Baker

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Cyder Cup - moved to May as it was devastated this year with rain..

..although technically it was supposed to be played during Cider-Apple harvest.

Challenge Cup

Ian Hildred
Seen here with Sponsor Michael Light

Michael also generously invited 3 past Captains to enjoy the day.

One of whom had the temerity to score a hole-in-one as certified by letter from the Club the following week.

The Challenge Plate

was won by Charles Summers

Charles scored 42 points, warding off strong challenge from John Wandless who had a similar score.

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Vice captain ( James) will look after Trophies

Yellow Ball

Bob Barrow, Bob Dennett & Dougie Oliver

---------------------------------

Memorial Trophy

Charles Summers, Dave Mugridge & Nick Hill

Nick Hill makes Par on 16th for 4 points to separate Trophy winners from chasing pack. Their 79 was just 1 ahead of Danny, Jolly Roger & PP.

But a Day we remembered Alistair Purcell, Bryan Frost, Des Denning, Mike Burt, Ron Sutherland, Vic Gane and so many more.

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Seniors Championship

Gross Nett

Kevin Barry Roger Withers

70 65

..not Withus

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Summer Knockout Singles

Wayne Salter
Fight to the finish with Keith Hunt on finals day.

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Summer Knockout Pairs

Peter Spencer-Farr & Roger Williams

50 entries as Mugridge, Dowell, Hildred, Hunt, Sweet were all brushed aside by this unstoppable pair.

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Eclectic Accordion

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Order of Merit

Martin Leigh

Blog has no knowledgeable comment to make on this no-doubt prestigious award.

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Most Improved Player

They could not split them

John Evans

David Asquith

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AGM 2 from 3 winners

..but worst Photographic Models

=============================

Clubman of The Year
Gingell Bells

Captain's Charity - Age UK ( Somerset)

AGM - Observations - personal from JKP only

Tea & Coffee - excellent
Biscuits would have been nice ( I will donate)
Layout - Poor

Do not have Committee Table 37 Yards down the end, please centralise - half of attendees are deaf.
Stop Jolly Roger photo-bombing every picture

Control of Meeting - stick to Agenda- Good

As a personal observation, felt we as a group had forgotten who we are and attempts & proposals were tabled to alienate older / infirm members - despite having given up to 50 years service to The Club.

EG - Proposal to not allow buggy sharing as they keep getting drawn together - we have members that do not attend now as buggies are too expensive to hire alone and they are often not available.

Preventing winning of Trophies unless you attend regularly at roll up - luckily I think that was watered down at the end - They have paid their £10 and done much service to Seniors in their prime - they have formed their own groups as they do not want to play so much competitive golf and get sworn at by the younger more vocal ones.

There is plenty of Competitive Golf available in Club Competitions, and prestigious events such as Avalon/ Knighton Heath/ Challenge Cup/ County Seniors/ Somerset Bowl. It was the Club that insisted we lower age to 55 - but we must retain our respect for those up to 40 years older and not make Roll-Up so "Life & Death." - but gladly Chris G keeps a good balance.

You are Knocked out you bastard - you only showed up for 3 Roll-Ups

AGM Response from a former Captain

As I was unable to attend the AGM much of the content of the day has come to me second hand. As a very early morning player I was disappointed to hear that we as a group are going to penalised as we don't play with the main group. All of the players who tee off before 8am are members of the Seniors Section of the Golf Club and have paid their membership fee for those who are under 80, the remainder are exempt and the club acknowledges this as we now are categorised as Veterans. Many of us have served the club and the seniors section, I've no idea how many years it all adds up too but it is significant. We have a Club Secretary a Seniors Secretary and a Seniors Fixtures Secretary. We have 5 former Vice-Captains and Captains and 3 who organised charity and open competitions.

Perhaps many of you don't know why we chose to play at these ridiculous hours. Many of us have commitments with our wives/partners who require hospital appointments, younger family members who require transport and other requests that we are able to help with. Starting at sunrise gives us a chance to not only enjoy playing golf with our friends but also completing other tasks during the day however, committing to play regularly in competitions is very difficult. We do have 3 away days a year and try to do regular qualifiers and our cards are kept . We seldom when playing hold up those behind us.

There are few competitions that we would wish to and are eligible to compete in; these include Memorial trophy, Past Captains trophy and Super Seniors Cup.

We are comfortable to be a self contained group. However, I'm saddened to find us being relegated to the has-been group. I am unable to find a good reason for this; could it be that we cheat or disregard competition rules. Clearly, if you serve your club it counts as nothing as one gets older. I would ask to the committee to reconsider this decision; a written response would be appreciated.

By the way, EGGS translates to Elderly Gentlemen's Golf Society with the emphasis on GENTLEMEN.

Alan Davis.

Seniors AGM 2023

Horizons

Cricket St Thomas Golf Club

Good Turnout on Wed 15th November 2023

Freshly sourced and engraved Trophies

But first we had a game of Golf in glorious Autumn Sunshine

Andy Rowland Ian Thomas Keith Branchflower Mark Cording Barrie Heath Chris Gingell John Wandless

Bert Robinson Nick Gabb.......oh forget it.....too many

Treasurer presents his accounts

£7,000.00 will be presented to Air Ambulance on Friday at Dinner
£600.00 expended on replacement Trophies and Engraving
£103 donated to RAFA
Currently Seniors Subs do not cover operational expenses and money raised in charity appeals is diluted as this excess tends to come from reserves.
Subs have remained at £3 for many years.
After much discussion , initial proposal to increase to £5 was doubled to make it £10 per Year .

Subs can be paid by BACS

Cricket St Thomas Seniors Golf

NatWest Bank

Sort 60 03 29

Account 79198791

Ref (Name) Subs 24

Amount £10.00

or cash to Treasurer or in envelope ( with name) in post box by filing cabinet in locker room.

Eclectic

Dennis Hussey

Winter League 2022/23

Peter Spencer-Farr and Martin Bargery

Stunning 47 Points in last round saw them take the title by 5 clear points. At the start of the day, they were only in 3rd place

Summer Knockout Pairs

Norman Markby and Jeremy Blackburn

Tough Final match against Gordon Brent and Steve Southgate which was not finished until the 17th Green, when they went 3 Up after being Dormie 2.

Summer Knockout Individual

Peter Spencer -Farr

encountering

Chris Hiam

John Evans

Barrie Heath

& John Baker in the Final

A debate ensued to change the format to stop High Handicappers winning this Comp, by changing to Medal Stroke-Play so every shot counted and a couple of other devious methods.

A stirring speech from Clubman of the Year proposed that we stick to the rules and spirit of Golf - saying if that was the genuine handicap then that is how it should be played on the day. The Chairman, Mark Cording quickly realised this proposal was going nowhere and did not need to put it to a vote.

Previous Winners

2022 Roger Davis

2021 Gordon Brent

2020 Keith Hunt

2019 Roger Hinds

2018 Roger Hinds

The March Hare