Minutes of TMGC MC Meeting of April 19, 2023. (Redacted)
Redacted Minutes of the TMGC Management Committee, April 19, 2023.
1. Welcome and Apologies
The meeting was opened by the President at 1 pm. Attendees: Gerry Moloney, President; Kevin Arnold, Vice President; Ross Barnes, Treasurer; Greg Kearney, Captain; John de Jersey, Secretary; Kristo Bradley and Katy Hewitt.
Also present for the first part of the meeting were visitors Andrew Revie (Club Professional), Graeme Andrews (Greenkeeper), Di Lilley (Ladies Committee), Mike Craw (former Golf Australia member and adviser) and Peter Clark.
2. Professional’s Report
Andrew advised that he and Tina were taking a break during the first week in May, coinciding with the greens renovation on May 1-3. It was agreed that Graeme would touch base with Tony Mahoney about whether a discount would be made for green fees players for a short period after coring and sanding of the greens, as has been done on occasion in the past. Graeme indicated that this time, greens renovations would be minor and he expected the greens to recover quickly.
3. Greenkeeper’s Report
Graeme reported as follows: the greens were recently aerated; Graeme will borrow a digger to level the 17th tee; lawn grubs are a problem on several fairways and will be sprayed; Graeme has purchased a selective herbicide from NuTurf which will kill couch and paspalum without affecting bent grass (will help to prevent encroachment onto greens by couch grass); there is a sample seat in the Club House which is proposed to be used to replace several seats around the course which have become decrepit; some of the 100 and 150 metre posts are decaying and need replacement; it was agreed to look into the type of treated timber posts required to provide a long lasting solution, as well as methods for marking the distance to the green (e.g. 100m or 150m) (Greg, Kevin and Graeme to discuss); the effluent water sprinkler problem has been addressed by using a different type of sprinkler head; new sand buckets will be obtained as required; a BBQ for volunteers will be held in May; new black, blue and white tee markers will be obtained as required.
4. Confirmation of Minutes
The Minutes of the March MC meeting had been circulated and were accepted without amendment (Moved Katy, seconded Kristo) approved without amendment.
5. Business arising not on the Agenda
Nil
6. New Membership Applications and Membership List
Ross pre-circulated a list of applicants for membership as follows: Full members: Paul Smith, Darren Glenn, James Clifford; Junior members: Nicholas Mahoney, James McNamara, Muir MacInnes; Lifestyle membership: Richard Pullinger. It was agreed to accept all of the applicants into membership. Because of discrepancies between membership lists held by Gerry, Ross and Andrew, it was agreed that Gerry, Katy and Andrew meet to rationalise the three lists.
7. Financial Report
Ross had pre-circulated the financial report for March. It showed a credit balance of $162,341.59, compared with $106,840.92 at the same time in 2022. Ross noted that there was an ongoing discrepancy with readings obtained from a meter installed to measure electricity consumption by the buggy sheds, in comparison with expectations. Advice from the electrician is to clean the solar panels, which will be done at the next working bee.
8. Workplace Health and Safety
Replacement padlocks were approved at a cost of $120 (Kevin to obtain).
9. Discussion of gender-neutral tees and hole indexes (discussion held at start of meeting in presence of listed visitors).
i. Scorecards. After discussion, it was agreed to purchase two scorecard printers from Mi-Club at a cost of $1200, together with the software to print a bespoke card for each golfer. The plan will be to obtain scorecards from Dave Strong printed on one side with the Club name, logo etc plus a list of sponsors and other information such as local rules. The other side will be printed up for each player before their round, once the tees to be used are decided upon. It was also noted that the current scorecard lists a local rule allowing a free drop from garden beds. This conflicts with a sign listing local rules which indicates that a free drop from garden beds is not allowed. The meeting agreed that a free drop should be allowed and that the noticeboard listing local rules should be adjusted accordingly. Current cards used by visitors would continue to be printed by Dave Strong.
ii. Indexes. After discussion, it was agreed to have separate indexes for male and female golfers, after a vote of the seven MC committee members was 4 to 3 in favour. It was noted that having separate indexes for male and female golfers would allow female gross events where the index used would be based on results obtained by female golfers. It was also agreed to have separate indexes for black, blue and white tees. For example, if a female golfer opts to play from the black tees, the index that she uses and which is printed on her scorecard will be based on scores obtained during the trial period by female golfers playing from the black tees. Greg has developed draft indexes based on actual scores obtained over the trial period by golfers playing from the three tee positions and by male and female golfers. The MC thanked Greg for his comprehensive evaluation of the data. Greg agreed to circulate the six indexes arising from his evaluation for final consideration prior to final approval. It was agreed that limited adjustment of the indexes could be made to make the first and second nines of similar difficulty (as specified by the indexes). It was also noted that the MC could decide to change one or more indexes at short notice if that became desirable.
iii. Par rating for the three courses. During the trial period, the par rating has been 71 for the black course and 72 for the blue and white courses. There was general agreement that for simplicity, it would be good to have a par rating of 72 for each course. This possibility should be further considered before a final decision is made on indexes.
iv. Gender neutral tees. The meeting agreed that further discussion was required in deciding which tees a player should be permitted to play from in any Club competition. It was noted that the Vets had agreed that all members play off the blue tees for a trial period. It was decided that further consultation with Club members should be held to clarify opinions.
10. Competition Report (also see above discussion)
Greg had pre-circulated the competition report for March. One matter requiring consideration was the subsidiary competitions each Saturday, namely long drive, nearest the pin and approach. It was noted that these were complicated by the policy during the trial period of allowing competition players to hit from their choice of black, blue or white tees (regardless of their handicaps). It was agreed that the matter could be partly addressed by using daily handicaps to determine which grade (A, B or C) a golfer would be in for nearest the pins etc (as being done in the Vets competition) but that would only be fair if golfers played from the same tees. It was agreed to postpone final decisions until a later meeting. Members supported continuation of a BBQ lunch, Sausage Sizzle.
11. Correspondence
12. Matters Listed for MC Consideration and General Business
· Gender neutral tees. See above, to be reviewed next meeting.
· Practice area. Held over till next meeting.
· Date for next MC meeting. It was agreed to continue meeting at 1 pm on the third Wednesday of the month.
· Secretary to request emails of minutes and financial statements of Veterans and Ladies Sub-Committees as per Section 5.5.5 of the Constitution, to allow the MC to maintain due diligence.
· Course and street signage is up for renewal from July 1. A new sponsor is needed for the sign on the main road into Tamborine Mountain from Henry Roberts Drive. It was agreed that an advertisement for the Club on this sign would be valuable. Further consideration is needed on costings of the different signage, and to what extent if any the fees should be increased.
· Eagle Taxation Update. Eagle Taxation has been sold. The accountant who has been looking after our account, Katherine Guerin, has started her own company, All About Accounting Solutions. It was agreed that we retain Katherine Guerin and her new company as our accountant (moved Ross, Sec. John).
· Sicada Fire and Safety are contracted to test our fire extinguishers on a six-monthly basis. We need to find out how often the extinguishers have to be replaced rather than simply being tested.
· Membership Lists. See Item 6 above.
· Grant applications for GCBF round 117 (due in May) and updating of Stronger Communities Grant Round 8 application (Gerry to pursue).
· Psychosocial Hazards. TMGC needs a code of practice to meet Government legislation. Postponed to next meeting.
· The MC carried a vote of thanks to Owen Achterberg for installing a box around the electricity meters on the cart shed.
· General purpose vehicle availability and price (spray rig and Workman). Further discussions will be held with Toro and John Deere.
· Another course and clubhouse working bee is required for various tasks, including cleaning of solar panels, gurneying of cart shed roller doors, removing seedlings from cart shed gutters etc.
· Membership categories and voting rights. Following on from the discussion at the previous MC, Gerry and John had consulted with Chris Kenward (CPR Consulting) about how to reconcile our membership classes and conditions with the Constitution and Bylaws. As a result of this consultation, Gerry and John circulated the MC with a proposal. There were two points of contention which were discussed: firstly, should Country and Lifestyle members be permitted to vote in general meetings and to be eligible for election to the MC; and secondly, should weekday members be permitted to participate in club competitions. After discussion, the President moved that the conditions of membership as set out in the circulated memorandum be approved, seconded John, carried with one against (Greg). This memorandum now constitutes a new by-law.
· Four new toilet seats have been installed and two more which were purchased will be retained as spares.
· John to send a copy of the draft minutes to each member of the MC and a copy of suggested redactions to the President. The President will make any amendments and send them to all MC members for further review.
· Kevin agreed to find and erect No Smoking signs on the deck and signs designating the DOSA (approved smoking area).
· GA Model Venue Initiative. The President had circulated MC members with details of a Golf Australia initiative aimed at reviewing and enhancing policies and procedures across a wide range of Club activities. After discussion, the MC voted unanimously to accept the invitation from GA for TMGC to join. The next step is to sign the Model Venue Service Agreement and send it to the GA representative Andrew Leventis.
Closure and Next Meeting
The meeting closed at 4.45 pm. The next meeting will be at 1 pm on May 17, 2023.
Minutes prepared by Secretary, John de Jersey.
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