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CHAIRMAN’S REPORT – JULY 2020
I am aware I am echoing what both Tony and Dan have already said in their reports but this month has definitely seen more progress made towards a fuller re-opening of the Golf Club as a whole. We have been able to open the bar upstairs and take some steps towards providing a fuller catering service. This will be expanded upon during August with Chef John Cuthbert being brought back from furlough. More golfing competitions have been brought back in for all sections of the Club too – seniors, men, ladies and mixed, and I think we are all benefitting from some competitive golf.
Personnel
This month we have been working hard on HR matters, getting job descriptions updated and giving new responsibilities to certain staff. For instance, Jemma Rout is now our Bar Manager. In July we have had a Health and Safety meeting, three Management Council meetings, weekly meetings to review the bar situation and meetings with the staff to look at re-organising our office/admin spaces. We are continually working closely with all our valued staff to ensure we provide the very best service to our members.
“Women in Golf” Charter.
I am proud to be able to announce that OGC is the first Club in Northamptonshire to be awarded this charter. This means that we have made a commitment to advertising all roles within the Club without being gender specific, having ladies in management roles, using some female images in our promotions and advertising campaigns, increasing our lady and girl members and making our course more female friendly. Helen Austen our Marketing Manager already does a great deal of these aspects as you may have already noticed. Also, you may have noticed our Par-3 course on the front nine. Blue circles have been placed near the 150-yard markers or on the par 3 tee areas to enable newer members to get used to playing on a course – obviously this also applies to men and juniors as well as ladies. Thanks to John Homer, Dan James and Sam Beckett for organising and marking out this par-3 course.
Members
Since re-opening on 13th May 85 new members have joined representing all categories. Full – 6, Intermediate – 2, Birdie – 37, Eagle – 8, Junior – 26 and Oundle School Corporate – 6.
We now have nearly 40 junior members and many of these are working with our Professional Sam in the Junior Academy. Some Birdie and Eagle members are already upgrading their memberships. The Birdie membership is considered a great stepping-stone into golf membership, and with our Academy of learners and our Par-3 course we are getting better equipped to develop these new members into more consistent play.
Retention of Members
We are a members’ Club and the difference between our Club and a Club run by a proprietor (such as Elton Furze) is that we listen to our members’ needs. You will remember the survey taken at the end of last year – in this the overwhelming priority was for an improvement in practice facilities. Some small steps have already been taken towards this end, but we have some exciting plans in place for further improvements – watch this space! We are in the process of surveying all our newer members to hear their voice too. New members - please take this opportunity to tell us what you think.
Bar Card Refunds
Following the theme of membership retention we promised to refund the 50 days lost play onto members’ bar cards – this will be done at some point next month. We are still asking for members to let us know if they would rather waive this payment and help the Club – please let me, Barry or Lesley know if this is how you feel. A huge thank you goes to all those who have already volunteered this.
The £30 bar card element of this years’ subscriptions has now been put onto your bar cards. You will see your updated statement after you swipe the card.
A new till has been purchased that will allow swiping of cards in Reception as well as upstairs. You will be able to pay for competitions, buy drinks and snacks in Reception, purchase golf goods from Sam etc with that bar card as soon as it is up and running. So keep your card topped up and you can use it throughout the Club. This will be a great step forward for us as debit and credit card transactions cost us money but the Club bar card transactions do not!
Health and Safety
Many members like to play in the evenings - it is a lovely time of day to play in the summer! However, playing at dusk can only be considered safe if you can see your ball land clearly. It is the same principle as playing in foggy conditions. If you cannot see to the end of the flight of the longest ball you have just struck, then it is not safe to play, and you must leave the course. Please adhere to this rule when you are playing in the evenings. And remember you must still book your tee time on BRS up to 7pm.
Catering
As I alluded to above, the catering service will resume on August 7th. More details will follow with regard to timings and menus etc
AGM 2020
Obviously we cannot hold an AGM under the present circumstances but still want all members to be fully informed of matters. Usually at the AGM we have the following presentations:
- Address from the President
- Finance Report from the Finance Officer regarding the previous year’s accounts
- Half year Report to date from the Chairman
- Half year Report to date from the Captain
This year we will endeavour to produce these reports in written form which will be placed on the website (or in hard copies for those without email communication). These reports will be sent out in August.
Following the theme that this is a members’ Club and all members have a voice we would like to give members the opportunity to ask questions after receiving these reports. We intend to hold a FAQ session which Garry Asbery will organise, and also 2 open forums hosted by myself, Barry Robson and Tony Shillcock to cover all possible questions. One of these forums will be in the daytime and the other one evening. Dates and times to follow.
Open Competitions – Volunteer Needed Please
In order to move the Club forward and present a professional, co-ordinated approach when we advertise our Open Competitions we need one person (or it could be a couple of people) to organise all 5 Opens that we run every year.
You would need to liaise with:
- The Club Captain, Seniors Captain and Lady Captain - to produce dates, prices and formats
- Lesley/John/Jemma - to arrange the catering requirements
- Helen - to promote them with a variety of marketing tactics including entries onto Golf Empire
We envisage that the particular section that the Open is for would take over the running of the Open on the actual day – in other words the Seniors Charity Open would be run by representatives of the Seniors just as it is now.
Please let me know if you would like to take this on.
Changing Room External Doors
These doors will be open from now on even though you still may not use the rooms for changing shoes or clothes! But please be aware that the COVID-19 situation is still with us and I urge you to wash your hands at every opportunity, particularly after using the toilets. It is also advised that you carry a sanitiser spray in your golf bag and keep one in your car. In the event of being unable to have access to the washing facilities (for instance in the evening) you will be covered.
100 Club
This month’s draw was won by Tony Shillcock number 48 – I was a witness – it was not a fix!!!! Well done Tony and well deserved!
Veronica Lyon
Chairman
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