FLORESTA PARQUE GOLFE CLUB
MINUTES OF THE 2019 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Held in the O Parque Restaurant 11th January 2019
Present: Geoff Harnett Chairman, Frank Finan Captain, Peter McDonagh Vice-Captain, Mike Abbott, Giles Fox, Linda Anthony
39 members in attendance.
The meeting commenced at 6.30
Geoff Harnett opened the meeting by welcoming the members and thanking them for attending. He then requested that the members took a moment to remember David Haddon and Nigel Driver.
Apologies: Kelvin and Lynette Whittaker, Bob Hart, Ralph and Jeanette Griffin, Mike Evans, Brigitte Beck, Brian Newsham, Peter and Louise Smith, Dave Jones..
1. Approval of 2017 AGM minutes
Proposed by Terry Jennings, seconded by Jim Reid. Approved.
2 Chairman’s Report
Good Evening everyone.
It is my third year as Chairman of Floresta Parque Golf Club and I have, again, the pleasant task of giving you a general update on the activities that have taken place over the last year, as well as giving you some insight into our proposed committee structure for the coming year. Obviously, there will be more detailed updates from Frank and Giles when they make their presentations shortly.
Our golf club continues to have a unique friendly atmosphere that is the envy of the Algarve, so many visitors and guests comment about it – we are very lucky.
We continue to have access to the golf course for our twice-weekly competitions at sensible times; our social events are always popular and well supported, and we can always rely on good company and raucous banter on the terrace after a round of golf.
But most importantly – our club continues to prosper because it receives the wholehearted support of you, the members.
As well as giving you an update on club matters, one of the more pleasant jobs I have as Club Chairman is to thank, on your behalf, the people who keep our club running so well throughout the year.
As you all know, our Treasurer David Haddon passed away very suddenly in February. He did so much for this club, working tirelessly on the accounts and being a very active member of both the committee and the club. He was also a great friend to just about everybody here – he is greatly missed.
David had the accounts in tip-top shape. However we were left without a treasurer and Rod Smith very kindly stepped up & took over the reigns as interim treasurer. This was not an easy task as although David had left us with up to date accounts everything such as bank accounts /signatories & a myriad of other things had to be dealt with. Once Rod was satisfied everything was again shipshape he stood down & handed the reins to Giles Fox who I hope you will vote into office formally a little later in the meeting.
Please join me in giving a big vote of thanks & a round of applause to both Rod & Giles for everything they have done this year.
I will now make a brief comment on our financial health, whilst leaving the detail to Giles’s report later.
I’m delighted to tell you that income increased during the year with good competition revenues and new members joining, so in addition to the subsidised events that were reintroduced during 2018, your committee were delighted to host the 2018 Captain’s dinner and entry fee for all our members.
The club has a healthy surplus & our accounts currently show a credit balance of over €18000 giving Peter and Brian a great platform as they enter the New Year.
May I again assure members, as I have for the last 3 years that all club money is under our own control and under no risk from any change of ownership of GSA.
So, with a strong performance in 2018, and a good outlook for 2019 I’m pleased to confirm that our membership fee will remain at €60 again this year.
Giles or Foxy as he’s known to us all, our interim treasurer, will give you more details on the things I have mentioned in his report but I would like to take this opportunity to praise his commitment and skill in fulfilling a role that requires so many hours of hard work.
I hope you will join me in congratulating him for a job well done. Thank you, Foxy
I would also like to extend a very well deserved thank you to Ralph Griffin and Michael Abbott who have yet again managed the handicaps extremely well over the last year.
Your committee were very sorry to receive Ralph’s resignation as Handicap Secretary a short while ago but as you know he hasn’t been in good health for some while & has spent a lot of 2018 in the UK, however he is now back home in Salema and
I would like to take this opportunity to thank him, on behalf of us all, for the many years he dealt with the Handicaps, always with unfailing fairness & humour.
He is a sad loss to the committee & again, on behalf of us all I would like to wish him & Jeanette well.
Michael took up the reins seamlessly & I would like to thank him for stepping into Ralph’s shoes & hope that you will vote him formally into the Handicap Secretary role later on in the meeting.
In 2018 there where many handicap cuts for exceptional play and after analysing the annual review it is clear that the Federation thought that most were justified as they recommended fewer changes than ever before.
Giles Fox deserves another big thank you as he continues to manage, maintain & improve our web site so that all our members & visitors are kept up to date with all the club’s activities. The website goes from strength to strength with the number of visitors to the site at very high levels. Giles will, I am sure, mention the progress made in the past year
We have a new Captain in Peter McDonnagh, AKA Macca who is officially taking over the reins from Frank tomorrow.
I would like to welcome him to his new position & assure him of the committee’s full support during his tenure of the captaincy.
It’s now time to thank our outgoing Captain, Frank Finan.
Where does one start – well firstly, I believe Frank has been the only Captain in the history of the club to reach for a guitar and lead community singing at his Captain’s Day dinner – it was a fantastic evening and the genuine warmth that the members feel toward Frank was evident from the huge amount of people who played golf on his day and partied into the wee small hours.
I think you would all agree that Frank has performed his role with humility and a great sense of humour – he can be proud of all he has achieved during his year and proud of the many new friends he has made during his tenure
He has put his heart and soul into being Captain & I would like to express not only my personal thanks to him but to congratulate him on behalf of us all for the success he made of his year
Thank you Frank
We have a new Vice Captain Nominee for 2019 in Brian Newsham & I would like to welcome him to the committee subject of course to the approval of this meeting & I’m sure he will be a great asset to the club in this role.
3 members of the committee have all completed their 3 year term of office Those being Linda Anthony, Giles Fox & myself & we are all committed to serve the club for another 3 years should we be elected. The specific committee positions will be
Nominated, seconded & voted on later in the proceedings
Michael Abbott our immediate past captain who has served this club brilliantly over the past 3 years, would normally be leaving the committee today, but, as I have already mentioned, he kindly stepped into Ralph’s former position as Handicap secretary & will be formally proposed for this 3 year role during the elections.
However, before this I would like to thank him, on behalf of us all, for the dedication & service he gave the committee & members as vice-captain, captain & finally IPC
Thank you Michael.
Rod Smith, who stepped up this year to help in our time of need, will also be proposed to re-join the committee bringing a great deal of wisdom, common sense & humour with him.
Rui Gloria has continued to be very capable as golf manager of GSA & we are lucky to have a good working relationship with him. We are all aware of the financial restrictions he has to work under and the committee will continue to support him over the coming year.
We also enjoy a good working relationship with Nelson & the ground keeping staff. The course has, by & large, been in excellent condition all year. And GSA has had yet another record year in terms of rounds sold.
Shortly before this meeting, I heard that the GSA administrator Bruno Vicente passed away a few days ago on the 6th January.
And I would like to extend the clubs condolence’s to his family at this sad time.
We have no idea as to how his passing may affect the club but we will of course keep you updated via the web site
Mario & the team in the Spike bar & restaurant have also looked after us very well during the year with some really very good catering at our events.
My final ‘Thank You’ tonight is threefold,
Firstly, to all the members of the committee who give up their time to make sure all our members have a great club to play at.
Secondly, to all of the volunteer members who give up their time to ‘do the cards’ so that our competitions are expertly administered – with a particular thanks to Mick Berry for managing the rota.
And finally, a huge thanks to you, our members, – you continue to play your role in making our club the fantastic place it is – you turn up in rain ( well sometimes!) and sunshine, you play with good humour, you are the single biggest asset we have. Thank you so much.
There will be plenty of opportunity for questions later, so for the moment I will hand over to Giles for the treasurer’s report and wish you all a Happy. Healthy & prosperous 2019!
Thank you
3 Treasurer’s Report
Dear Fellow members,
Before I start talking about financial results I would like to thank Rod Smith for his invaluable help and support when I first took this role in the early part of last year. Following David’s tragic and sudden passing it was a challenge to get to grips with all the parts of the Treasurers role and we should all be grateful that Rod was available to step into the breach and grasp control. He and I both agreed that it was important to instigate a policy of ‘Continuity Management’ so if this situation was ever to be repeated it would not ever prove to be such a challenge.
So, we now for the first time have a Club bank account solely in the ownership of the club. We have created a facility that enables 4 committee members to have access to the account at anytime. Only the Treasurer is enabled to approve transactions on a sole basis but now, in the absence of the Treasurer, any two Committee Members can do the same.
All Club records and files are stored in the ‘Shed’ and all accounts, documents and the website are accessible on the Clubs PC, also situated in the shed. All Members of the Committee have access to this PC to inspect these documents and records at anytime.
You will have all seen the accounts for the year-end Dec 2018, and, as you can see, we have ended with a surplus of just over 2000 euros and this would have been more but for the fact;
We continued with the CNIT card scheme that gives all qualifying Members reduced cost access to most of the courses throughout the Algarve and beyond.
Subsidies on club events have been increased to the extent that any Member attending all of these events would have had their €60 membership fee fully returned
Thanks to the support and generosity of Paul Gibson we will shortly have a new ‘birds eye view’ course guide with commentary from a PGA professional.
Thanks to the support and expertise of Bob Woodworth we will shortly have a ‘safe to play’ warning system on the 6th tee
Thanks to the effort and attention of Mike Abbott all the Prize Boards have been updated and refurbished.
I would like to introduce a greater use of technology into the club next year. To facilitate this I would like the Membership to show their hands if they have, or plan to start, using Smart phone technology. ( A show of hands revealed that most members have access to smart phone technology).Thank you.
There is one, and only one, reason for this:
In 2017 Membership increased 23%. Last year this increased a further 16%. Not only does this bring us an increase in Membership fees but the income the club earns for competition and 2’s fees have substantially increased as well. We must always keep an eye to increasing the Membership and too this end Macca has initiative to enable this to happen. Over to you Macca ……re-establishing the Junior Golf Section.
(Peter McDonagh explained that the club intended to recruit children from the local schools within the Vila do Bispo parish. The club would provide the finance to pay Rui Gloria for tuition and to buy necessary equipment. Junior membership will be available).
Increasing Membership should be front of mind for us all. Do you know anyone who you can recruit? Especially as there are loud rumblings from members at other clubs in the local area of dissatisfaction? 50 new members and we could get to the position that Federation Fees could be fully subsidised as we have done in years past. It is a target we should all be aiming for.
Thanks for all you’re the support and patience you have shown me as I took on this role. I am very glad for the opportunity to give something back I would be happy to continue in this position.
I am optimistic that the membership in 2019 will grow further on that basis I am sure Macca will be able to have a comfortable year – at least financially.
With thanks again for your support.
4 Approval of 2018 draft accounts.
Proposed by Brendan Murphy, Seconded by Malcolm Berry. Approved.
5 Captain’s Report
Frank Finan began by thanking the committee and members for their support and said that he had really enjoyed his year as Captain.
Mike Abbott has run the League team very successfully and we are the only club that has never been relegated. Mike will continue to run the team this year and Frank encouraged members to put themselves forward for the team.
The members were thanked for supporting Frank’s idea for “Adopt a Green”, it has made a big difference so please support again this year.
Frank reported that there should be 8 more buggies in March and that the situation should improve.
Frank strongly supports the setting up of a Junior section and urged members to volunteer to help with this.
Frank stated that he had made one good decision, which was to appoint Macca as his vice Captain, and thanked him for his support throughout the year.
He concluded by thanking everyone.
6 Approval of Vice Captain
Brian Newsham was proposed by Peter McDonagh and seconded by Frank Finan. Approved.
Brian’s apologies were given with the explanation that he was on a holiday which was booked before he was asked to become vice Captain.
7 Nominations and Elections.
The following are nominated for committee posts that are up for election.
Geoffrey Harnett – Chairman
Giles Fox – Treasurer
Mike Abbott – Handicap Secretary
Linda Anthony – Secretary
Rod Smith – committee member
All the nominations were proposed by Ralph Griffin and seconded by Jim Reid. All were elected to the posts proposed.
8 AOB
Allan Pooley asked if there was likely to be sponsorship for the Junior section, Vila do Bispo town hall will support when the section is up and running and we should be then able to get sponsorship. Rod Smith suggested that members could donate old clubs and other equipment to the section.
Mark Arundel asked when the CNIQ cards would be available, they are ready now.
Liz Jones asked why members are not able to input their own scores as is usual in most UK cubs, this is an area the committee are working towards. A discussion ensued about the pros and cons of inputting our own scores. We all like getting results and prizes on the day that wouldn’t necessarily be possible.
David Walling asked if the committee were planning to do an update on the new rules of golf. There is information on the website and Frank Finan pointed out that it was every members responsibility to acquaint themselves with the new rules.
In response to Mark Arundel Mike Abbott explained how the general play rule worked for handicap reductions. Three wins and/or second place within a four week period qualifies a member for a possible cut at the discretion of the handicap committee. Singles competitions do not count.
The date of the next AGM is Friday 10th January 2020
The Chairman closed the meeting at 19.30
