TAYMOUTH CASTLE GOLF CLUB NOTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Held on 6 February 2017 at 7:00pm in the Kenmore Hotel, Kenmore

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1 TAYMOUTH CASTLE GOLF CLUB NOTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Held on 6 February 2017 at 7:00pm in the Kenmore Hotel, Kenmore PRESENT Gil Orr the Club Captain welcomed the following 14 members to the meeting and thanked them for turning out on a wet and windy night: Anne Beeson, John Cowan (Past Club Captain & Gents Team Captain), Ramsay Fraser (Committee Member), Ian Harbit, Bob Hewines, Ian Jones, Susie Lumsden (Juniors Convenor), Cath McGregor (Trophies Convenor), Wes McGregor (Secretary), Judy Proudfoot (Match & Competitions Convenor & Ladies Team Captain), Sue Robertson, Alistair Robinson (Handicap Convenor), Jim Russell (Treasurer) and Graeme Taylor. APOLOGIES Apologies have been received from Ian Addison, Janet Blümli, Seraina Blümli, Tristan Blümli, Urs Blümli, Richard Bowden, Ruth Campbell, Michael Campbell, Allan Darling, Charlie Forbes, Simon Gray, Jim McGuinness, Keith Moncrieff, Donald Paterson and Hew Watt. 1.0 NOTES OF 2016 AGM Copies of the Notes of the Annual General Meeting held on 1 February 2016 were issued and approved; their adoption was proposed by Bob Hewines and seconded by Ian Harbit. 2.0 MATTERS ARISING FROM 2016 AGM 2.1 There were no matters arising. 3.0 REPORTS ON 2016 SEASON 3.1 The Club Captain s Report Gil Orr: In 2014 when I was invited to accept nomination to become Captain of Taymouth Castle Golf Club, despite the fact that back problems prevented me from playing golf, I was naturally surprised and only accepted the possible honour after some careful thought. Three things principally influenced me to accept the nomination: Firstly, I did not give up on the aim and hope that I would become able to return to being a fully active member of the golf club. Secondly, there was the appearance of a real prospect that we were about to enter negotiations that would enable our return to Taymouth Castle Golf Course an attractive challenge that would include the opportunity to re-build our Club. Thirdly, my lack of shared activities with the Club s playing membership would be effectively covered by working with and within an experienced and dedicated Committee. Now two years on, my reign comes to an end and when I look back on the foregoing three influences, I have to acknowledge that firstly, I have not become able to return to active golf and secondly, the Club s return to Taymouth Castle Golf Course has been no more than the subject of a series of false dawns. Thankfully my confidence in and anticipated support of the Club s Committee has been a positive constant and not only I but the whole club membership owes much to one and all, as will be evident from their various reports that follow at this AGM. Sadly, in late 2016, we had to say farewell to Ian Addison who as Vice-captain was destined to take over from me at this AGM but instead has returned to the West of Scotland. Ian served not only as

2 Vice-captain but nobly applied himself to the difficult task of Seniors Convenor. At the Committee s most recent meeting, aware of an ongoing vacancy for an Ordinary Committee Member, it was decided to further strengthen the Committee by co-opting Susie Lumsden as a second lady committee member after only one year s absence from the Committee. Ratification of this co-option will be proposed later at this AGM. I leave the office of Captain to serve, (God willing), for a further two years as Past Captain and fervently hope that my successor will have the privilege of leading the Club back to its true home at an affordable cost. Meantime we remain grateful for the understanding and accommodating relationship we have enjoyed with Robin Menzies that has facilitated our Club s survival at Kenmore. 3.2 Match & Competitions Convenor s Report Judy Proudfoot: Winter League The Duncan Trophy for the Ladies was won by J Proudfoot. The Gleneagles Bell for the best six nett scores was won by W McGregor and the Howard Shield for the eclectic was won by A Robinson. Mixed Competitions - The Mixed Matchplay and the Kenmore Trophy were not played due to insufficient numbers. The Toerags Tour was won by W McGregor. The MacMillan Cancer Support Quaich was won by Susie Lumsden, Ramsay Fraser, Josh Dolzanski and Graeme Taylor. The Helvetia Cup was won by Keith Moncreiff, Isla Moncreiff, Ian Harbit and John McConnachie. The Hutcheson Cup was won by J Proudfoot and R Fraser. In the Ladies v Gents match the Gents defeated the Ladies. The Captain s Prize played in singles strokeplay format was won by W McGregor. The Charlie Campbell Memorial Trophy was won by W McGregor. Ladies Club Competitions The Ladies Championship was won by S Robertson and the Haggart Rosebowl was won by S Lumsden. Gents Club Competitions The Gents Championship was won by JR Cowan who beat S Gray in the final. The Handicap Championship was won by R Hewines who beat D Paterson. The McAinsh Cup was won by R Hewines who beat R Fraser. The Watt Trophy was won by G Taylor who beat JR Cowan. The Howard Seniors was won by D Paterson who beat R Hewines. The Order of Merit was won by W McGregor The Ladies Team Captain s Report Judy Proudfoot: Some competitions were not played due to insufficient numbers. Inter Club Matches - These were not played due to insufficient numbers. Ladies Outing - 6 ladies had an enjoyable day at Kirriemuir. National Competitions - Scottish Matchplay Foursomes and the Mail on Sunday Classic, we were not able to raise a team for these competitions Gents Team Captain s Report John R Cowan Inter Club Matches - All four matches were cancelled due to insufficient numbers on our part with the exception of Blair Atholl who did not reply to us. Gents Outing Was held at Strathmore and won by A Robinson. County Competitions In the Bell Trophy competition we were defeated away to King James VI GC 3 & 2 in the second round. In the Cowan Cup held at Dunkeld we finished down the list this year.

3 National Competitions In the Mail on Sunday Classic we were defeated away to Muthill in the first round. In the Daily Mail Foursomes A Robinson and W McGregor were our representatives and were beaten in the third round at Pitlochry. In the Belhaven Best Scottish Handicap Championship R Hewines and W McGregor represented us and finished in the middle of the pack at Pitlochry. In the Belhaven Best Captains & Secretaries A Robinson and W McGregor were our representatives and finished mid table at Auchterarder. 3.3 The Seniors Convenor s Report Ramsay Fraser: The closing season has been a particularly difficult one due to lack of players, not just for our own club but for the other clubs we have been competing against for many years in the past. This has resulted in three of the opposition clubs cancelling matches and the committee have agreed that for the immediate future our fixtures will be restricted to Lenzie, who have been particularly understanding, King James, and Blair Atholl. We played a total of six matches all of which were played in a very friendly spirit and which resulted in 1 win, 1 draw and 4 losses. It is anticipated that will be another struggle and in the interest of the Club it would be appreciated if all senior members who currently have a handicap would make themselves available for match selection and I can assure them that they will have some thoroughly pleasant days out, regardless of the golf. 3.4 The Juniors Convenor s Report Susie Lumsden: Coaching has gone well at Aberfeldy GC and our Juniors have made huge progress. They all now have their handicaps and are working to reduce them. They play very regularly during holidays and at weekends during term time. It was challenging to find a day to play the Lenzie Trophy due to poor weather and other commitments but we finally got it played on 21 October. It was played as a Stableford competition over 18 holes and there were also different challenges, (bunker work, longest drive, nearest the pin, putting) which could add strokes to the players handicap. It was a very close match, with Padraig Cowan just winning over Josh Dolzanski, while Cameron Shaw was third. I was grateful to John Cowan who joined the group and helped to keep the juniors motivated while advising on etiquette and course management. Some juniors also joined the season closing scramble competition and were a great asset to their respective teams. Pre-season coaching has been arranged at Kirriemuir GC with the pro Karyn Dallas and we have invited some of their juniors for a match at Kenmore GC during the February holiday. It is hoped to organise many more such matches over the season with the aim of introducing our very keen juniors to other junior golfers. 3.5 The Handicap Convenor s Report Alistair Robinson: Unfortunately, we continue to have decreasing numbers playing in competitions. The number of Category 1 home players is now just one with John Cowan being the only one. He is still our only single figure handicap home player in the Club. In the Club as a whole we have 29 members with competition handicaps but only 13 of these have Taymouth Castle as their home club which is a very worrying situation. Listed members with handicaps both home and away, Home 5 ladies and 8 gents, Away, 2 ladies and 12 gents. We have 11 members with non-competition handicaps and 19 members with no handicap at all. We have to do something very soon to encourage our non-competition handicap members and the others with no handicap to involve themselves in the Club or the Club will no longer be viable. A total of 23 ladies and gents played in at least one medal.

4 There were 14 different members who won prizes, down one on last year. Analysis of holes played since March 2016 including Winter League: Out of a total of 8,804 holes played by our members, (down 1,046 from last year), there have been, 0 eagles (-3), 127 birdies (+1), 1,518 pars (-138), 2,926 bogeys (-549), 3,002 double bogeys or worse (-380) and 185 holes with no return (+23) We managed to score to par or better on 21.21% of the holes we played up 2.08%. The average outward 9 was strokes and the average inward 9 was 47.01, a total score of 94.71, an average better score of.05 or 1/20 th of a stroke huge improvement. We averaged 4.69 members per medal up 0.73 surprising! Comparing hole difficulty at Kenmore between 2015 and 2016 we find the following: rd 9 th 9 th th 18 th 1 st th 1 st 18 th 4. 7 th 8 th 4 th 5. 9 th 4 th 13 th th 17 th 8 th th 10 th 17 th 8. 5 th 13 th 10 th 9. 2 nd 2 nd 2 nd th 11 th 5 th th 15 th 11 th th 6 th 15 th th 14 th 3 rd th 3 rd 6 th th 12 th 14 th th 5 th 16 th th 16 th 7 th st 7 th 12 th I am afraid the only conclusion I can draw from these figures is that the holes, like our golfers, apart from the 9 th hole on the outward nine, are completely indecipherable. That concludes the Handicap Convenor s report. 3.6 The Secretary s Report Wes McGregor: I am pleased to present my report on various aspects of the administration of the Club during the 2016/17 season. Yet again the Club s exile from Taymouth Castle continued for another year. Through February and March discussions with the Estate owners appointed Operator, Barrasford & Bird, about the Club s return to the golf course, progressed albeit slowly that is until they were halted abruptly when the owners terminated their agreement with the Operator. Shortly after, the Estate owners indicated they were planning on opening the course in June, however summer passed without any opening. The alterations to the course are maturing and it continues to be well maintained, although working on a shoestring must be a great frustration to Donny Meldrum and his team of green-keepers. Through informal arrangements it was possible to play the course which some members and others were able to take advantage of, but the course remained closed to the Club and public alike. Consequently, once again the Club extended its interim arrangements to play on the Mains of Taymouth course, and I wish to record the Club s thanks and appreciation for the support it has received from Robin Menzies and his team at Mains of Taymouth. Given the continuing uncertainties surrounding the Club s return to the Taymouth Castle course we will once again base membership subscriptions on the Club playing at Mains of Taymouth with the caveat that if/when we return to Taymouth Castle it is likely subscriptions will need to be increased. Continuing the practice introduced last year, Members who pay their subscriptions on or before 1 April will benefit from a discount on their subscriptions, the amount of which will be determined by the Committee when setting subscription rates. Membership renewal letters will be ed to members on 1 March.

5 At last year s AGM I was pleased to report a small increase in the Club s membership numbers. That reversal of the declining trend of previous years was, I regret to say, short-lived as 2016 saw a very significant reduction in our membership. There were 21 non-renewals or resignations during the year and no new members being admitted to the Club. The current membership comprises 43 Ordinary (down from 59 in 2015), 1 Intermediate, 4 Junior, 0 Life, and 12 Non-Playing making a total of 60 members. I continue to receive enquiries about Club membership, although far fewer than in previous years. The Committee held 11 meetings throughout the year to deal with the Club s business, with an average attendance of just over 6 members. For the fourth consecutive year the Committee has not had a full complement of members with only one of the two Ordinary Committee member posts being filled. I would like to encourage members to participate in the running of their Club by putting themselves forward for election to the Committee. With the decline in membership numbers and the corresponding reduction in business, it is proposed to reduce the number of Committee meetings to seven spread across the forthcoming year. During the year three e-newsletters were published in June, September and January of this year. The positive feedback received from members means we will continue to publish newsletters throughout the coming year. The sixth Taymouth Toerags Tour was held in April when 12 members made the trip to Northumberland to play on the Longhirst Dawson, Longhirst Lakes and Linden Hall courses, and I am delighted to say the tour was a great success. The 2017 Tour is to Moray from 30 March to 1 April when we will play the Moray Old, Moray New and Elgin courses. There are two places still available so if any members wish to participate in the Tour they need to let me know as soon as possible and definitely by 27 February at the latest. Other successful events held in 2016 included the Season Opening event which raised 140 for the Sports Relief charity; a cheese fondue dinner following the Helvetia Cup competition in July, once again thanks to the very generous hospitality of the Blümli family; the Annual Dinner in October albeit with a smaller gathering than in previous years; and the MacMillan Cancer Support Quaich competition as part of the Season Closing event which raised 130 for the Charity. The rules and formats of Club competitions have exercised the Committee extensively over the past few months. In particular, the Committee has grappled with clarifying and changing the format of some competitions and also determining how to deal with the much reduced number of players participating in Club competitions. The Committee would welcome hearing from members their suggestions for attracting more participants to Club competitions and events. The schedule of rules is nearing completion and will be sent to all members hopefully ahead of the start of the 2017 season. Continuing the practice of the past few years of progressively repairing or replacing damaged trophies, this year we have replaced the damaged base of the McAinsh Cup and provided a new base for the Gleneagles Bell. For the first time in several years traffic to the Club s website has reduced, down by almost 14% with a monthly average of 1,104 hits. Unsurprisingly given the reduction in membership numbers, traffic to the members area of the website was down by 22% to an average of 181 per month. More surprising and encouraging is the average of 158 hits per month we receive on the how to join page. As members will be aware the past year has seen widespread accusations of child abuse in sport especially football. Scottish Golf has encouraged its affiliated clubs to review their procedures for Child and Adult Protection. Consequently, the Club s Child and Adult Protection Officer, Susie Lumsden, is currently reviewing our policy and procedures to ensure they are adequate for the task in order that members and their families can be assured of a safe environment when playing golf with the Club.

6 To close I wish to say it has once again been an honour and a privilege to serve as your Secretary for the past season and I would like to thank the Captain, Committee and Members for their continuing support and encouragement which is much appreciated. This concludes my report and I am happy to take any questions members may have on its contents. 3.7 The Treasurer s Report Jim Russell: The result for the Club s year to 31 October 2016 was a deficit of 497 following 4 years of surpluses. The principal reason for the swing from surplus to deficit is the drop in membership from over 100 in 2012 to 60 in 2016, the drop of 21 in 2016 being the greatest in absolute and relative terms. Subscription Income dropped from 15,171 to 10,485 which, after deducting the little changed greenfee, left 3,379 to meet the Club s expenses compared to 7,820 in While income fell, expenses rose to 3,876 from 3,469. The principal reasons were that the Committee decided to take out insurance cover for its extensive collection of trophies at a cost of 207 and, secondly, that the cost of matches increased by 479 reflecting an increase in the number of matches over However, expenses excluding these headings were down by 333. As a result of the deficit, the Club s surplus carried forward has fallen to 33,316. The Greenfee Reserve, which makes up the bulk of the Accruals, remains constant at 15,172. The bank balances at 49,043 are down by 629 over the year. Finally, a word of thanks to Graeme Taylor for acting as the Club s Independent Examiner /16 ACCOUNTS The 2015/16 Accounts which were circulated to members prior to the AGM were approved, and their adoption proposed by Ramsay Fraser and seconded by Ian Harbit. 5.0 ELECTION OF OFFICE BEARERS 5.1 The following nominations were received by the closing date: Position Nominee Proposed by Seconded by Club Captain Alistair Robinson Wes McGregor Gil Orr Club Vice-Captain Ramsay Fraser Alistair Robinson John Cowan Match/Competitions Convenor Judy Proudfoot John Cowan Ramsay Fraser Treasurer Jim Russell Judy Proudfoot Ramsay Fraser Secretary Wes McGregor Gil Orr Alistair Robinson Ordinary Member John Cowan Wes McGregor Judy Proudfoot As there were no other nominations all of the aforementioned are unopposed and hence elected to serve on the Committee. 5.2 The Club Captain referred to his earlier report in which he informed the meeting of the Committee s decision to co-opt Susie Lumsden as a second lady committee member, and under the terms of the Club s Constitution sought ratification from the meeting of this appointment. The meeting unanimously approved the co-option of Susie Lumsden. 5.3 Alistair Robinson responded to his appointment as Club Captain as follows: Thank you for the great honour of being appointed Captain of Taymouth Castle Golf Club for I feel it is perhaps a poisoned chalice but at least it gives me the opportunity of reversing the situation when I demitted office last time, namely regaining the Taymouth Castle Golf Course as our playing venue. However, if this proves to be once again not possible, I fear it will leave us in an unenviable position

7 similar to many other clubs in the UK suffering from the demographics currently pertaining an ageing membership and insufficient young golfers coming on. What can we do in the meantime to secure our future as a Club? First we have to persuade some more of our members to play in the competitions and matches and hopefully secure themselves a handicap. Second, we have to make things more interesting and inviting for members to come along. Third, we must encourage more juniors into our Club and competitions. How do we encourage more people to play? As a starting point, we should have a lot more 9 hole competitions. One of the stumbling blocks for encouraging new members to join is the time taken for a round. I know from my own family members that taking 4 of 5 hours out of a day to play golf is too much whereas a couple of hours would be acceptable especially if the 9 hole competition counted for handicap which it can now do. A number of our members would, I m sure, be delighted, to be guaranteed 18 points for the back 9 of a Stableford competition. I shall be bringing this possibility forward at the earliest opportunity and I hope that we will have a reasonable number of 9 hole competitions in the coming year. The other that I will be putting forward is to remind members of medals coming up by the week before and then again couple of days before the action. We have an extremely hard working and imaginative committee whom I am sure will come up with many more ideas and suggestions for the year ahead and I look forward with great enthusiasm to making the coming year a great success. 6.0 APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT EXAMINER Graeme Taylor having agreed to continue in the role of Independent Examiner, his appointment was nominated by the Club Captain, and proposed by Gil Orr and seconded by Cath McGregor. 7.0 A.O.C.B. 7.1 Ian Jones asked if the Club knew who the current owners of Taymouth Castle Estate are. The Secretary replied that the ownership of the Estate in recent years has been complex and frequently changing, as a consequence of which he could not say with any degree of certainty what the current position is definitively. However, a significant although small in size, portion of the Estate has been consistently owned either directly or via trusts, by Clynt Wellington and John French. The Secretary also said that researches in the past had indicated ownership of the Estate and/or its operating company may be held offshore. It was noted that communication with the Estate owners in recent months had become fractured possibly reflecting the difficulties the owners have been having following the ending of their agreement with Barrasford & Bird. 7.2 Ian Jones suggested that the time may be right to bring the plight of the Club (i.e. its exile from the Taymouth Castle golf course) to the attention of the public with a view to stirring the Estate owners into action. The Club Captain replied that the Committee had taken the view it was better to wotrk with the Estate owners rather than doing anything that might alienate them as the Club was reliant on having the owners support for a successful outcome to negotiations on the Club s return to the Taymouth Castle course. He also said he could not understand why the Estate owners had continued to keep the golf course closed as they could have had over 0.5m in income from the Club over the years. The Secretary added, he was aware that the new equipment which the greenkeepers received last Spring has been taken off lease and returned.

8 7.3 Graeme Taylor enquired if there was any prospect that Scottish Golf could assist the Club in its dealings with the Estate owners. The Secretary said the matter had been raised in his dealings with Scottish Golf and in particular its Regional Development Officer, and he has said they would be willing to do whatever they could to assist the Club. 7.4 Ian Harbit informed the meeting he had been told some sales in the Castle totalling around 1m were recorded in The Treasurer noted that one constant throughout the years was the Estate owners desire not to operate the golf course separately from the Castle. The speculation is that by not having the course in a condition to open to the public the Estate owners were avoiding any Rates being levied by the Council. 7.6 Bob Hewines enquired what work the green-keepers were doing on the course. The Secretary said he did not know exactly however general maintenance work was being carried out within the limitations of the equipment and resources available. 7.7 The Past Captain wished to put on record his thanks and appreciation to Susie Lumsden for organising the Club s annual dinner. 7.8 The Club Captain said he was appreciative of Ramsay Fraser agreeing to his nomination as Club Vice-captain and was looking forward to their Captain v Vice-captain matches with relish. 8.0 DATE OF NEXT AGM The next AGM will be held on Monday 5 February 2018 at 7pm, at a venue to be advised. 9.0 MEETING CLOSED As there was no further business the meeting closed at 7:56pm.