Minutes of the GGU Annual General Meeting held at Greenmeadow GC Tuesday 23 rd February 2016

President Chairman Treasurer Hon. Secretary Nigel Collins Graham Rich Robin Jones & Boys Secretary 21 Chestnut Drive, 52 Meadvale Rd. 109 North St. Graham Harris Rogiet St. Mellons Abergavenny, 4 Rolls Walk, Caldicot Cardiff NP7 7EB Mt. Pleasant, NP26 3TH CF3 9UB 01873 858007 Rogerstone, 01291 422741 02920 777275 Newport NP10 0AE 01633 663750 gwentgolfunion.eu Minutes of the GGU Annual General Meeting held at Greenmeadow GC Tuesday 23 rd February 2016 1) IN MEMORIAM: Before commencing the meeting the Chairman asked for the names of those Gwent Golf Club Captains who had passed away since the last AGM and requested those present to stand in a moments silence in their memory: Bill Mort Past Captain Llanwern Peter O Toole Past Captain Llanwern John Davidson Past Captain, Past President, Past Chairman Llanwern Elio Bartholomew Past Captain Greenmeadow Ray Evans Past Captain Greenmeadow Cliff Hopkins Past Captain Blackwood 2) APOLOGIES Apologies were received from: Mr. Mike Buckley, Mr. Roger Floyd, Mr. Brian Hinks, Mr. Tony Groves, Mr. Peter Richardson, Mr. Robin Jones, Mr. Gary Musto, Mr. Mike Swindlehurst, Mr. Jonathan Davidson, Mr. Ray Bradley. There were 12 Gwent clubs represented at the meeting : Bryn Meadows, Celtic Manor, Dewstow, Greenmeadow, Newport, Peterstone Lakes, Pontnewydd, Pontypool, Rolls of Monmouth, Tredegar Park, Tredegar & Rhymney, Woodlake Park. 3) MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS AGM The minutes of the previous AGM at Greenmeadow Golf Club on Tuesday 24 th February 2015 were approved as a true record. Proposed: Mike Williams Seconded: Mike Nightingale 4) MATTERS ARISING There were no matters arising. 5) REPORTS a) Honorary Secretary Membership Total membership reported for 2015 was 6948 which was a reduction of 255 on the 7203 reported for 2014. Junior membership for 2015 was 361, a reduction of 62 from the 423 for 2014. Junior membership for 2015 was 5.2% of the overall membership. County Cards Total County Cards sold by the clubs in 2015 was 354 which was a decrease of 70 from the 424 sold in 2014. Page 1 of 7

Annual Dinner The total attending the dinner was 91 which included 8 top table guests, a table of 11 for the GGU Under 18 Team for winning the U18 Channel League and the junior squad coach Joe Vickery. 12 Gwent Clubs supported the event. The Chairman stated that the GGU Executive had decided that if a club could fill a table of 10 people for the Annual Dinner then they would only pay for 8 places in an effort to try and get more support from the clubs. It was also decided to relax the dress code for the Annual Dinner and allow the wearing of Lounge Suits. b) Honorary Treasurer The Honorary Treasurer had prepared a report on the Unions accounts which was presented to the meeting by the Hon. Secretary in his absence. Firstly I d like to refer to the income and expenditure account. With regards to income, worthy of mention are the drops in Subs and County Cards income - 21,609 and 6,370 respectively which is the trend which has continued for a number of years now. We, as a Union are seeking to halt this trend by investing in junior coaching and the promotion of junior golf generally. Worthy of note is the fact that we have had sponsorship income this year for the first time for a while so our thanks go out to Cheshire and Co and Cwmbran Concrete Products for their generosity. Also thanks to the Gwent Seniors for their contribution to County Seniors open entry fees which has provided 900 for the County s coffers. I would now like to turn to expenditure:- Catering and Match expenses this has fallen from 13,368 to 9,862 and covers the costs of the First, Second and Seniors teams and is dependent on whether matches are played home or away. There were two cancelled Channel League matches due to weather and only one of which was replayed contributing to the savings made in this area. Prizes, Cups and Engraving this has fallen from 1,900 to 1,817. Ties, Badges and Clothing this has increased from 642 to 1,211 due to an increase in clothing provided. Telephone, Printing, Stationery and Sundries this has increased from 840 to 1,265. Annual Dinner Subsidy increased from 1,602 to 1,907, and was due in the main to the county providing a table for the U18 team in recognition of their winning the U18 Channel League for the first time. Coaching and Equipment this includes team coaching, golf balls etc. and has decreased from 5,826 to 3,900. The net effect of the above has resulted in a surplus of 324 compared to a deficit of 2,062 last year. Turning to the Balance Sheet, Current Assets have increased from 25,871 to 26,296 and the main increase being in bank and cash which has increased from 23,610 to 25,487. Overall, the Union s Accumulated Fund has increased from 26,032 to 26,356. The Chairman asked for a proposer and seconder to adopt the accounts: Proposed: Dave Bradbury Seconded: Will Price c) League Secretary The League Secretary reported that we had a good summer last year but we did have some teams drop out and there has been a significant reorganisation of Divisions 5, 6, & 7 to accommodate withdrawal of several teams during the winter. That reduction in numbers is generally in line with the decline in membership as a whole. Celtic Manor 1 st Team were champions which was well deserved and it is the first time they have been on top, and hopefully not the last. Page 2 of 7

The overall League results were of course published so he just confirmed the League winners and promotional runners up. Celtic Manor I County Champions 2015 St. Pierre I Div. 2 Champions 2015 Woodlake Park I Parc II Div. 3 Champions 2015 West Monmouthshire I Newport IV Div. 4 Champions 2015 Woodlake Park II West Monmouthshire II Div. 5 Champions 2015 Tredegar Park I Llanwern IV Div. 6 Champions 2015 Pontnewydd II Parc IV Div. 7 Champions 2015 Monmouth I As mentioned previously several teams have dropped out during the winter so there has been a fair bit of reorganisation for the coming season. Consequently several other teams obtained an unexpected promotion. The Gwent Champions Celtic Manor played the Glamorgan Champions Neath at St. Mellons Golf Club. Celtic Manor played very well and were very close to giving Neath a complete whitewash winning by 8 points to 1. The League Secretary reported that all match fixture sheets have been finalised, checked, and issued. There was a considerable amount of back and forth to get things sorted but it is far better to get it done now than during the season. So although it was a bit messy at one stage it was no real problem. The League Secretary reported that he had moved house so that all the old white result cards need to be destroyed. There are new result cards printed to be taken back to the clubs, they are a buff colour so the change should be obvious. The rules will not change for this coming season but there will be a modification for next season. As requested by one of the clubs last year to maintain the integrity of their teams we agreed to the second team being higher in the leagues than the first team and this set a precedence which we feel is not what the league system is all about. The teams should be graded from the first team down and clubs should be striving to push the best players up into their higher teams and not rely on a group of friends ticking along together. Confirmation that: 1) Fixture Sheets have been issued by Email 2) Result Cards are available collection after the meeting 3) The rules and player nomination sheets will be issued by Email during March. d) Match Secretary In the absence of the Match Secretary the Honorary Secretary submitted the following match report: The Gwent first team began their Channel League campaign with a fine win against Cornwall by 9 points to 6 at Llanwern. Gwent won the morning foursomes by 3 points to 2 and needed a solid start to the singles and duly got that when Josh Davies, Owen Edwards and Jack Davidson won 3 of the first 5 matches. Needing another two points for victory Theo Baker eased the nerves with a resounding 6&5 success. The final point required for a win took a little longer to arrive but eventually came from Olly Mottram in the ninth match on the course when he secured a 4&3 win. That left the mature figure and Llanwern stalwart Richard Tayler the last man on the course Page 3 of 7

and he did not let the now gathering spectators down by winning his match on the final green which left the final result Gwent 9 Cornwall 6. Gwents next match against Glamorgan at Neath had to be postponed due to a fog bound course. Gwent then went on to play Wiltshire away at Kingsdown GC in July, where Gwent went into lunch trailing by 3 games to 2 but began the afternoon singles by taking 4 points from the first 6 games. Unfortunately Gwent lost 3 of the last 4 games with only Theo Baker securing a point in the last game to halve the singles 5 points apiece and a defeat for Gwent by 8 points to 7. Gwent played Devon at Newport in August where they got off to a fine start winning the foursomes by 4 games to 1. Gwent began the afternoon singles by taking the first two singles games and then suffered a middle order collapse taking only 2½ points from the remaining eight games. The morning foursomes win however left Gwent with an 8½ - 6½ win. Their next match against Somerset at the Rolls of Monmouth was again interrupted by the weather and was rearranged for October. Gwent played Gloucestershire away at Filton in September and lost the match by 8½ to 6½. Unfortunately this defeat ended any hopes of Gwent winning the Channel League in 2015. Of the two postponed matches only the Glamorgan match was replayed in September where Gwent lost by 8 points to 7. The Gwent II team had a disappointing season in the Wessex League losing all three of their matches. They lost 7-5 against Somerset at Tredegar Park and lost away to Devon 6½ - 5½. They lost their final game to Gloucestershire 7½ - 4½ at Woodlake Park. The Seniors Channel League got off to a bad start losing to Cornwall 10-5, and losing to Somerset by 8½ to 6½. This was followed up by a further loss against Gloucestershire by 8½ to 6½. They recorded their first win against Wiltshire by 10-5 at Newport and a further win against Devon by 8½ to 6½ and their final match against Glamorgan was halved 7½ - 7½. e) Championship Secretary The Championship Secretary reported that all the county championships had been completed successfully. The Cock o North Final Played at Llanwern Golf Club on Sunday 3 rd May and was won by the Raglan Parc pair of Terry Davies and John Lewis with a better ball medal score of 64. In 2 nd place with a score of 65 was Adrian and Mike Cunningham of Woodlake Park. The County Strokeplay Championship Played at Pontypool Golf Club on Sunday 14 th June and was won by Nathan Humphreys of Monmouthshire golf club with scores of 73,71 total 144. In 2 nd place was Rhys Barber of Newport with 74, 71 total 145, and in 3 rd place was Ricky Jones of Greenmeadow with 71,75 total 145. County Matchplay Championship The final took place at Pontypool GC on Sunday 26 th July and saw Robert Davies of Pontypool defeat Nathan Humphreys of Monmouthshire. The County Team Championship Played at St. Mellons on Sunday 9 th August. The winning team with a gross score of 293 was Celtic Manor. Celtic Manor also won the best net team score with a score of 285. The Celtic Manor team were: Joe du Feu, Rhys Evans, Lewys Sanges, Rhys Briscoe, and James Parrott The W.P.R. Peters Cup for the best individual gross score and the Ivor Williams Cup for the best individual net score was won by Joel Wright of West Monmouthshire with a score of 69-5 = 64. The County Handicap Team Championship Played at Dewstow Golf Club on Sunday 30 th August. The winning team were the home club of Dewstow with 146 stableford points with Raglan Parc in 2 nd place with 143 stableford points. The Dewstow team were: Ken Lawrence, Jody Mignaud, Will Crispin, and Simon McLaghlan. Page 4 of 7

The County Seniors Strokeplay Championship Played at Newport Golf Club on Monday 17 th August. The winner of the C.F. Smale Cup for the over 55 s Best Gross was Dave Watkins of St. Pierre with a gross 71. The E.T. Palmer Cup for the over 55 s Best Net was Bruce Brown of Woodlake Park with 87-19 = 68 (34.5 B9). The winner of John Huckin Cup for the over 70 s Best Gross was won by Ray Williams of Newport with a gross 78. The winner of the Tom Harris Cup for the over 70 s Best Net was won by Alan Davies of Pontnewydd with a 94-20 = 74 There should have been one other competition to report on for 2015, the Gwent Golf Union Golf Day, but owing to lack of support it had to be cancelled. The GGU had received the courtesy of the St. Pierre Old Course for 24 tee times to run a team of 4 competition with an entry fee of 100/team. Of the 25 clubs in Gwent only 2 clubs had entered a team together with one individual team. Had this competition gone ahead it would have netted the county funds by some 2k. Prizes had been donated for the winning teams all of which had to be returned to the sponsors together with an apology to St. Pierre. The Championship Secretary concluded his report by thanking those officers and executive members who had helped run the championships throughout the year. f) Boys Secretary Gwent had 2 boys representing Wales in the Boys European Team Championship at Pickala in Finland, they were Callam Morris of Monmouthshire and Laurence Vargas of St. Pierre. Wales finished in 12 th place out of 16 teams. In the Boys Home Internationals played at Conwy, Callam Morris and Laurence Vargas were joined in the Welsh Boys Team by Matthew Harris of St, Mellons. Unfortunately Wales finished in last place with no match wins. In the Welsh Boys Strokeplay Championship played at Abergele both Laurence Vargas of St. Pierre and Callam Morris of Monmouthshire finished in joint 5 th place with gross 142 s. In the matchplay championship Laurence was knocked out in the first round and Callam was knocked out in the quarter finals. In the Wales U16 match against England U16 played at Radyr Gwent had 2 boys in the Welsh team. They were Matthew Harris of St. Mellons and Lewis Jones of Monmouthshire GC. Wales lost the match by the narrow margin of 11 points to 9. The SWBGA Spring Medal played at Milford Haven was won by Jay Detheridge of Monmouthshire with a gross 77 and in 2 nd place was Luke Anderson of the Parc with a gross 78. In 6 th place was Benedict Tindal of St. Pierre with a gross 82. The SWBGA U13/U15 Championship was cancelled due to a lack of entries. The SWBGA Strokeplay Championship played at Wenvoe Castle saw Lewys Sanges of Celtic Manor finish in 6 th place with a gross 154, with Edward Price, Newport, George Burnett, St. Pierre, and Matthew Harris, St. Mellons finish in 7 th 8 th and 9 th place respectively on gross 155 s. The SWBGA Matchplay Championship saw Matthew Harris defeat Jordan Golley of Clyne in the final to become the SWBGA Matchplay Champion for 2015. Edward Price lost to Gordon Jolley in the semi-finals. The first Gwent Boys Medal was played at Llanwern on Monday 30 th March with a turnout of 16 boys. The winner was Michael Powell of Llanwern with 82-16 = 66. The Best Gross score of 73 was returned by Ben Hicks of the Parc Golf Club. Page 5 of 7

The second Gwent Boys Medal was played at Monmouthshire on Friday 29 th May with a turnout of 20 boys. The winner was Finn Davies of Woodlake Park who returned an 86 19 = 67. The Best Gross score of 72 was returned by Luke Anderson of the Parc Golf Club. Owing to such a low turnout the match play qualifiers was reduced to 8 players. The Matchplay Championship was won by Ben Tindall of St. Pierre who defeated Harry Porter of the Celtic Manor at the 23 rd hole. The Gwent Boys Stroke Play Championship was played at Greenmeadow Golf Club. The Under 14 Championship (over 18 holes) was won by Daniel Bearcroft of Llanwern with a gross 82. The Under 16 and Under 18 Championship was won by Lewis Jones of Monmouthshire with a gross score of 70,70 total 140. The Junior Leagues have been very disappointing this year with a large number of clubs failing to complete their fixtures. The League Playoffs which took place on Sunday 13 th September at Pontypool Golf Club were competed for by the Parc I team, Llanwern, and Greenmeadow. Greenmeadow were the winning team and went forward to represent Gwent in the Welsh junior inter club championships at Builth Wells where they finished in 2 nd place to the Vale of Glamorgan. The Gwent U18 Team were undefeated in the U18 Channel League, winning two and halving two of their matches to take the U18 Channel League title for the first time since it began in 2001. In the Severnside Tournament which was held at Moseley Golf Club in Worcestershire Gwent Boys performed very well. Gwent got off to a great start, defeating Worcestershire by 6 games to 1 in their first match. In their second match on the Friday morning they came up against Glamorgan which they lost by the narrow margin of 4 games to 3. In their final match against Gloucestershire on Friday afternoon they again lost by 4 games to 3. Had Gwent managed to win one of these final two matches then they would have won the tournament with a better games point total than either Glamorgan or Gloucestershire. 6) ELECTION OF OFFICERS The Chairman Mr. Graham Rich opened his remarks by stating that it had been an honour and a privilege to have been the County Chairman for the past three years, which he had thoroughly enjoyed. He had made many friends not only in Gwent but also in the other six counties that make up the Channel League. He thanked the County Officers and Executive for all the hard work they carry out on the counties behalf, and the club representatives for their input at the meetings. He also thanked the clubs for the use of their courses for the county championships and channel League matches. He thanked the two sponsors, Cheshire & Co. and Cwmbran Concrete Products for supporting the Union. With regards to the Channel League we were unable to win the main prize in the past three years but in 2014 the second team under the captaincy of Andrew Ritter won the Wessex League and last year the Gwent U18 team won the U18 Channel League for the first time since it began in 2001. He thanked the captains of the respective teams for their hard work. The Chairman said that he had tried to keep the council members informed of the notable achievements of individuals and teams and he thought the season was over in September but this turned out not to be the case. Two Gwent players, Jack Davidson and Owen Edwards of Llanwern travelled down under spending five weeks in Australia during our winter to participate in some of the worlds best amateur events. The first was the Australian Masters of Amateurs where Jack finished 9 th and Owen tied 45 th. They then played in the Australian Amateur where they both finished tied in 24 th place. Jack then played in the Lake Macquarie Amateur finishing in 6 th place. They finished the tour by playing in the New South Wales Open where they both finished tied in 7 th place. Page 6 of 7

Jack and Owen together with Joshua Davies of the Celtic Manor are representing Wales in the Euro-nations Trophy at Sotogrande in Spain. The Chairman stated that the Executive had decided to increase the GGU Annual subscription from 3 to 5 from 1 st January 2017 which would include a free county card for adult members. Junior affiliation fees to remain at 3. The Chairman said it gave him great pleasure to nominate Mr. Ray Hughes as his successor as County Chairman and wished him an enjoyable term in office. Mr. Rich and Mr. Hughes exchanged chairs and Mr. Rich handed Mr. Hughes the Chairmans badge. Mr. Hughes addressed the meeting and thanked Mr. Rich for all the hard work he has undertaken on behalf of the Union over the past three years and while he is standing down as chairman he will be assisting with the running of the junior teams. The Chairman stated that the remaining officers are seeking re-election en-bloc and that the auditors HSJ Accountants Ltd. be adopted to serve as our Auditors for 2016. Proposed: Mr. Will Price Seconded: Mr. Chris Hughes The proposal was carried unanimously. The Chairman stated that the county were looking for executive members to be nominated at the next Council Meeting on Tuesday 26 th April 2016. Nominations should be sent to the Honorary Secretary in writing prior to the meeting date. The Chairman reminded council members that club Captains were invited to the April Meeting in a non-voting capacity so they may familiarize themselves with Union procedures and make acquaintance of their fellow Captains. Mr. Steve Morgan of St. Mellons notified the meeting that he had been elected to the council for the GUW and together with Mr. Robert Martin and Mr. John Holland they would be splitting the county into three areas and would be attending each club in their area during the year. 7) CHAMPIONSHIP VENUES & DATES 2016 Cock o North Finals Monmouth Sun 1 st May Stroke Play Championship Raglan Parc Sun 12 th June Match Play Championship Raglan Parc Matches to be played over 6 weeks Match Play Championship Final Raglan Parc Sat/Sun 23 rd /24 th July Team Championship Llanwern Sun 7 th August H/Cap Team Championship Bryn Meadows Sun 28 th August Gwent Seniors Championship St. Pierre (Mathern) Mon 15 th August 8) DATE of NEXT MEETING GGU AGM MEETING - TUESDAY 21 st FEBRUARY 2017 GREENMEADOW GOLF CLUB 7:30 p.m. Page 7 of 7