January 2023 Web Notes

Captain Christine proposed that President Doreen and Nora Dunne be co-opted onto the Women’s Golf Committee. Mary Stapleton and Una Doyle seconded the proposals and all present were in favour. 

Condolences were extended to the family and friends of Damien Bain, Mick Merrigan, Maura McCoy and Mary Lalor on their recent deaths. 

Emails were received from Golf Ireland; 

· Inter-Club Pre-season Questionnaire - forwarded to M. Stapleton and to the Secretary of the CoM. The Competitions subcommittee reviewed the questionnaire and forwarded the responses. The questionnaire covers all inter-club golf (women, men and juniors). 

· Club Contacts form – this was forwarded to the Secretary of the CoM as it covers all contacts within the Club 

· Leinster A.G.M. notice – Captains Christine and Pat Stapleton along with M. Small and M. Stapleton will represent the Club at this on 16th January. 

· Golf Ireland 2023 Schedule – forwarded to Ladies Committee 

· New reports available on the Clubhouse – forwarded to M. Stapleton 

· Weekly Club Updates – forwarded to Women’s Golf Committee 

· Inter-Club Entries now open – forwarded to Women’s Golf Committee

Course Closure WhatsApp group - N. Dunne, M. Stapleton and T. Porter. 

Sponsors subcommittee - Clodagh Doyle 

Competitions Subcommittee – M. Stapelton, R. Kavanagh, T. Porter, A. Reynolds and P. Long 

A suggestion was made that a sub-committee be formed to look after decorating the Clubhouse for special events throughout the year – Christmas, Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, etc. All agreed this was a good idea and that women who are not already on committees should be asked. Captain Christine will look after this. 

The following team managers have been appointed. 

Junior Cup – Maria Kerr and Bernie O’Donoghue 

Intermediate Cup – Clair Higgins and Therese Porter 

Minor Cup – TBC 

Challenge Cup – Ann Nichols and Joanne Logan 

Senior Foursomes – Clodagh Doyle and Gillian Kilkenny 

Junior Foursomes – TBC 

Revive Active All Ireland Fourball – Una Doyle and Maureen O’Dea 

Flogas Irish Mixed Foursomes – Mary Stapleton and Aidan Doyle 

Cullen Cup – Ilona Madden 

Boyne Trophy – Anne Hollingsworth and Tricia Shannon 

Courtown Interclub Shield – Therese Porter

N. Dunne agreed to take on the role of Team Liaison. She will speak to the lower handicap women to see if they are interested in entering the Senior Cup. A suggestion was made that the lower handicap ladies be asked first to be on the Senior Foursomes team as they have very few opportunities to play on teams. All agreed and the team managers will be informed.

Meeting will be held on the first Monday of each month, except during the summer months where the first Monday is a Bank Holiday when the meeting will take place on the first Tuesday in May, June and August. 

The competitions calendar has been done for the year. There will be more Foursomes, Fourballs and Open competitions during the main season which means that there will be less competitions for GOY. We will try it this year and review it at the end of the season. 

Following feedback from last year we will not run qualifying competitions for our matchplay events this year. Notice will be sent out to ladies to put their names down for each matchplay competition and pay the relevant fee before an agreed date. If numbers are low this year it will probably revert to qualifying competitions next year. 

The dates are still being finalised for the major competitions during the year. The Men’s President’s prize will take place a month earlier this year and we are not sure when his prize to the women will take place. The Men’s Captain’s prize to the Women may have to change as Golf Ireland has asked the Club to host some regional finals. 

This year we will celebrate International Women’s Day on Wednesday, 8th March. The competition format is yet to be decided. It should be a fun event and as many as possible should be encouraged to play.

The Competitions Committee put together a Competitions Results report for 2022. It shows that the higher handicap members did not feature very much in the main prizes last year. Our G.I. Advisor recommends that we do not limit handicaps in our weekly or major prizes. We already have limits on our Tuesday Opens, Team events and Matchplay competitions. 

The Gross prize will be removed from Medal competitions this year. In four out of six Medal competitions last year the best gross on the day was in the main prizes. 

One lady asked if we can keep a track of the winning stableford points on the Results report so we can see if anyone wins by a large amount. If they do, is their handicap reduced accordingly? It was explained that the new system is all about consistency. Any reductions depend on the counting scores on their handicap record. As can be seen from social media too many golfers are concerned about prizes and winning when it should be about the players ability and improving themselves.

A document will be put together this year for the Presidents and Captains with guidelines on the prize structure for major competitions and the overall prize fund (the Officer will buy the first prize). The breakdown is as follows: 

Women’s Presidents prize 

1st, 2nd, Gross, 3rd , Past President, Best 36+ 

Women’s Captains prize 

1st, 2nd, Gross, 3rd, Past Captain, Best 36+, 1st Day, 2nd Day 

Men’s Presidents Prize to Women 

1st, 2nd, Gross, 3rd, Best 36+ 

Men’s Captains Prize to Women 

1st, 2nd, Gross, 3rd, Best 36+

The Junior Policy as discussed at the AGM in December was raised. The GI Junior policy says that all girls with a Handicap Index of 39.9 must be allowed play in women’s competitions. The Junior Committee has reduced the HI for girls but the Competitions Subcommittee would like to know what competitions the Junior Committee want the girls to play in. Three girls are approved to play in Wednesday competitions. A discussion was held on the matter. During the summer approved Juniors can play in 18-hole competitions on Mondays (Junior competition), Open competitions on Tuesdays, girls can play on Wednesdays, boys on Thursdays and Junior competition on Fridays. Junior Girls can play in the women’s major competitions and they also have their own competitions sponsored by the officers. Some members have expressed the opinion that due to Child Protection issues they would not be comfortable playing with juniors. It was agreed that we need to know what the Junior Committee are looking for from the Women’s and Men’s Golf Committees and what their draft policy is. It was suggested that a member of the Junior Committee could attend our next meeting to discuss this. 

The extra selection boxes from the children’s Christmas party were given to the Special Olympics group in the town and they were delighted with them. 

Some ladies would like the paper towel dispenser to be put back in the women’s locker room. It was pointed out that this will not happen. The new dryer was expensive to buy and install. Paper towels work out expensive and they are more labour intensive.

Captain Christine said that A. Noone suggested the Club runs a golf clothes/equipment exchange. It would be a fund raiser. It was agreed that this could be a good event and maybe some ladies on the decorating committee might like to help with this also. 

The Spring League presentation evening is scheduled for Wednesday, 5th April and the Women’s Christmas Dinner and Presentation night is booked for Friday, 8th December. The major competition and social event dates will be emailed to all women and a notice will be posted in the locker room.