Amended Minutes of TMGC MC Meeting, May 15, 2024

1.   Welcome and Apologies. The meeting was opened at 2.10 pm following a presentation by Virginia Irwin, accompanied by Natalie , from Golf Australia about “Women in Golf”. In particular, the meeting heralded the acceptance by our Club of the R & A Women in Golf Charter. The meeting was attended by MC members and about 20 other Club members. See Appendix for notes on this meeting.

Present at the MC Meeting were Gerry Moloney, President, in the Chair, John de Jersey, Secretary, Simon Briggs, Captain, and Kristo Bradley. Apologies: Katy Hewitt, Kevin Arnold.

Guests: Tina Revie, apology from Andrew Revie and Graeme Andrews.

2.   Professional’s Report. Tina advised that there would be a fundraiser for MND at the Club on Friday 23 August, in memory of former club member Phil Rogers, following the successful event held in 2022, more details later. In response to a question on how the Thursday competition fees were distributed, Tina indicated that because of the small fields, all fees were returned to players as prizes.

3.   Greenkeeper’s Report. Graeme provided a course report by email. Main points included that the greens renovation had gone well and that damage to greens by weather early in the year had largely recovered; that tree roots had been removed from the back of the first green; drainage behind the sixth green would soon be completed and it is proposed to bring the green back into play for the June monthly medal providing the weather permits; new tee signs are still being rolled out; fairways have been spiked for aeration and to reduce compaction; and spraying for weed control under trees completed.

4.   Minutes of April MC Meeting. The minutes of the April 17 MC meeting had been pre-circulated and were confirmed (moved Gerry, seconded Ross, carried unanimously).

5.   Business arising. The following three items remain on hold: visit to NAB for banking alterations; kitchen floor waste and pit for ice machine waste; and name tags for selected trees.

6.   New membership approvals. Ross presented the following list of new members: Full members: Jason Howard, Casey Stoner, Dean Pritchard; Young adult: Joel Tane; Country: Andy Marshalsey, 

All of these applications were approved, bringing the total number of members to 275.

7.   Financial report. Ross had pre-circulated the financial report to the end of April and it was approved unanimously. The closing balance was $82,736.54.  There were 642 visitor rounds played in April. Ross presented a list of proposed annual membership fees for 2024-25. The proposed fees had been increased by the Brisbane CPI increase of approx. 4% for the 2023-24 financial year.  The proposed full member subscription is now $880, increased from $845. The fee for junior members was left unchanged at $100. Acceptance of the new fee schedule was moved by Ross and seconded by Gerry, carried unanimously. Ross also presented a copy of the invoice from Golf Australia for capitation fees. The total assessment for the Club is $15,282.22 without GST, due June 30. Payment is not negotiable for affiliated clubs so the payment was approved. The MC also agreed to support an entry for the Club in the local Tamborine Mountain tourist brochure.

8.   Other important financial matters:

Discussions with our insurance company: Gerry reported that he has been having numerous discussions with insurance assessor Tom Childs.  There needs to be agreement on what funds will be received from the company prior to putting in an application for a grant to fund some or all of the $35000 excess which had to be paid to appoint the contractor appointed to fix specified damage caused by the tornado.

The second major matter is the need to respond to the need for replacement of our irrigation system. Quotations have been received from three contractors and discussions are continuing on the required design features. Simon has agreed to take a major role in these discussions.  A major issue will be finding the large amount of money required. Attempts will be made to save some money by fine tuning the plan. It was agreed that we do not have sufficient funds at the moment to proceed, but that the situation will become clearer in the next three months. The MC confirmed that a new irrigation system is the top financial priority, ahead of the plan for new buggy sheds and a storage shed close to the clubhouse.

9.    Competition report – April was a good month with participation in the 80s. King and Queen of the mountain saw a field of 95.
 
There was some misunderstanding on Saturday when the course was closed to buggies. Some read this as course closed. However, walkers were permitted. This was mainly known, but some members didn’t get the message. Graeme said preferred lies are reinstated. Whoever mows the greens on Saturdays could check course conditions re playability. As Simon is usually here early he said he would also lend a hand in his task.
 
Ability – Based tees – will be used in stableford events unless otherwise stipulated. Simon would like to have a Stableford event once a month where A grade players play from Black tees, B grade from blue tees and C grade from white tees.
 
Simon to check numbers in grades to see if there could be adjustments to the handicaps in each grade.
 
Social and Competition numbers have been down a little in May this was not helped by cancelled competitions.

Moved Gerry, seconded Simon that the committee adopt the action plan for club championships as described by Virginia from Club Queensland. Passed unanimously. This is in line with the WGGC plan which sees our ladies playing in set tee time blocks am and pm with the men’s and women’s finals held in the afternoon of the final round

 District affiliation fees to come plus women’s fees.

10.                       Correspondence out – rebel radio to pay for recent tree work near radio tower and will deal directly with Mountain trees.

11.                       General business – John dJ to check the register of members to make sure it is up to date.

12.                       The back fence shared with Peter, our neighbour, is repaired. When the owner knows what he wants to do with the chicken coup area destroyed by a member’s car that too will be fixed.

13.                       Cart sheds – the committee will seek further quotes so we can go ahead at an appropriate time with cart sheds and a storage shed near the existing sheds.

14.                       R&A Women in Golf Charter – Katy to be the TMGC representative.
 
Simon suggested having some footage of Women’s Golf shown at schools. LPGA footage would be good. Simon to discuss with members connected with mountain schools.

15.                       Discussions concerning the relevance and member support around honour board events were discussed. Simon and Gerry will submit a proposal at the next MC meeting. Gerry to commence the process to have entries placed onto a rolling tv screen
 
Meeting closed at 3.45pm

Appendix. Notes on Presentation by Virginia Irwin of Golf Australia

Virginia congratulated the Club on moving towards meeting the requirements of the R & A Women in Golf Charter.

She emphasized the importance of abiding by the requirements of the Federal Sex Discrimination Act. This Act requires

that all full members of the Club must be able to play eighteen holes of golf on every day of the week and to participate in Club competitions, regardless of gender.

Other considerations:

That attempts be made to increase the number of female members and recruit junior members. Currently, only 15% of our members are female and their average age is 63.

That attempts be made to recruit more female members onto the Management Committee. 

That Honour Board events be reviewed to ensure they are still relevant and comply with the Discrimination Act.

That club championship events be held on Saturdays. The Discrimination Act states that the working week is Monday-Friday, although it is recognized that many people now work on weekends.

That separate Club Championships for both men and women be held on Saturdays with the final round held in the afternoon for maximum member participation to congratulate winners.

That we need to be flexible about assigning handicap limits for A, B and C grades.

That the Australian association for professional female golfers is the WPGA. In the USA it is the LPGA and in Europe the LET.

That Golf Australia and Clubs should be addressing gender diversity and inclusion issues as they arise, taking note of the Discrimination Act.

That moves by the Club towards ability-based tees are in line with GA recommendations.

That GA will work with the Club on programs aimed at recruiting more women and girls. One suggestion was that the Club sponsor teams of girls playing other sports on the mountain such as netball.