Seniors AGM Officers report November 2020

Senior Captains Report 2020 Ladies and Gentlemen a virtual welcome to this year’s AGM 2020, a year of vision! I would like start by taking a little time to remember the dear friends we have lost in the last 12 months CLIFF EVANS BILL HUGHES MIKE GORING DAVE LLOYD GEOF BRIDGES KEN HARRISON Sadly missed. The previous 12 months have been nothing if not interesting. For us it started with our Christmas Party, which thinking back, was probably one of the last signs of normality. Fed and watered in the usual way with great fun. Hayley and her team, together with Gaynor behind the bar (Phil was enjoying the party), all need to be thanked for a great day. What followed was probably one of the most unusual spells of wet weather we have had for a long time. In spite of that a hard core of Seniors still turned up on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s, but in this case for Hayley’s all day breakfast, followed by a series of indoor putting competitions. I still can’t believe the concentration from all contestants. We then experienced a short spell of unhindered Golf before we were hit by the dreaded Covid 19. Lockdowns followed in early spring for all of us, and the inevitable course closure. We were then allowed back, initially alone, or in a family. Then latterly in the autumn a Welsh firebreak and an English Lockdown in quick succession. That is where we find ourselves at present, together with the prospect of a vaccine on the horizon to provide a light at the end of the tunnel. Let’s hope that all follows through quickly and correctly. But until then please remain careful and remember the virus is still with us. Despite all these problems we have maintained good contact with most of you. We have succeeded in having the vast majority of board competitions, together with our Memorial Day, the Poppy Day event, and we have maintained our bi weekly kitty competitions, one way or another during the year. This was achieved largely because of the enthusiasm of our committee members, and to them I believe we owe a great thank you for their innovative approach to all issues. We are now faced with the latest challenge, the WHS and what to do with your handicap index! This is based on the average of the best 8 of your last twenty scores……. simple! Your Club and Seniors committee are on top of it. There are of course a number of changes to the way things are calculated, but it’s just an average. You use this average, the handicap index, supplied to you by the WHS, to work out your Course Handicap on whatever course you are playing. For Clays you will find a chart in the office window to see your Course Handicap. So just get out and play as much as you can. And most of all enjoy the rest of this year and the whole of 2021 Finally, we have been working hard as a team to produce a viable package of golf and golf related activities for you during the last 12 months. We couldn’t do it without your enthusiasm and your feedback. This year we have tried hard to listen, but with the way we are playing kitty competitions at present, and with quite a number of people not able to play with us due to the current situation, I would like to invite you to let us know how you feel we are doing, what you might like to change, or what you have enjoyed about this current year. In fact just let us know what’s on your mind regarding the Senior Section. You can reply to this e mail, to any of the committee members e mails, or just lets us know when you see us. We would be glad to hear from you. Take Care in the next few months But most of all Have a Very Happy Christmas Barry Barry Dare 24.11.20

Kitty Competition Organiser’s Report (2020) Coronavirus has certainly put paid to any golfing aspirations this year. Following early wet weather, the period between March and July was a total non-starter and very few enjoyed individual golf following lockdown. Pairs golf was slightly better as the summer progressed but the obvious step was to return to our Senior kitty comps. Talking to most of the seniors, who had all been very careful to avoid contact with Covid 19, kitty comps were desperately needed for the resumption of the associated social aspects’ How to re-instate the comps was debated by the committee at length. A three-page e-mail was the result, stating exactly how we could all move safely forward and almost seventy seniors responded immediately. We recognised that it would not be everybody’s choice (some seniors were shielding and others not ready for mixing in larger numbers – personal choice at the end of the day). Money was paid into a holding fund and individual competition entries have been deducted. A promise of rewards was/is still on the table but I last saw Steve Monk with a suitcase and luggage label heading out to St Tropez. Last year’s report was started with a number of “thank you’s” and they cannot be omitted this year, beginning with Steve Monk, who has remained a mentor throughout. I am also in his debt, since he took over the monetary side of the Kitty Comps (some relief from the incoming e-mails!) With the Wrexham, Welsh and English lockdowns this Autumn, personal access to Clays from Farndon has been denied, so my second thank you is to Mike Hollings, who has diligently collected all scorecards from the “Black Box,” checked scores and kept me up to date. Results have been relayed on to Derek Lyon and always appear on the Blog (another thank you). Again, in my absence, the daily starter sheets have been overseen by Russ, Andy and Josh from reception and thanks to them, the starts have kept flowing. My final thanks, as last year, go out to all of the Seniors, who turn out religiously on Tuesday and Thursday mornings – without you there would be nothing to organise. There was a promise of a reviewed annual list of comps but it has been difficult to implement. Weather and lockdowns have both taken over. The annual list has been tweeked, although perhaps not as thoroughly as it might have been given the circumstances. We have received positive feedback from a number of comps and praise for the “distanced” Kitty comp set-up but members need to know that the overall organisation has been a committee team effort throughout. I contemplated recording stats once again and decided….. yes! The list of podium winners was a source of amusement last year so the exercise has been repeated for your perusal. Please find this year’s winning stats attached below, which started on 1st January, 2020 but obviously, has been subject to breaks. Not all Seniors play in all comps but where you have played, results have been recorded. Spreadsheets have been divided into Strokeplay, Stableford and Team. Winners of kitty comp money and winners of Senior Medals and Board competitions (top 3 places) are all recorded from 48 different events (end of November). Full year stats table will appear 31st December. There are 110 paid up members of whom 97 have played at least once since 1st January. Of those 97 – 86 have found themselves amongst the winners on at least one occasion across the formats. Seniors who have won 5 times or more make the Podium. If you compare the Divisions, you will see that Division 2 has fared better this year compared with last, when it was very even. Perhaps the new World Handicap System will sort that one out! - we should not hold our breath!! No guessing this year – just a straightforward – here are your names and number of comps won. Despite the stop-start nature of the year, I have enjoyed (nearly) every minute of it. Thank you all for your patience and support throughout 2020. Mike Healey

Match Organisers' report for the AGM Sadly, because of the "Covid "situation all fixtures for 2020 had to be cancelled. This decision was reached jointly with the other 6 Clubs. However, we have optimistically confirmed dates for 2021 and hope the situation will have improved and allow us to return to some form of normality. Dates for next year are as follows:- Thursday, 26th March :- Mold - Home Wednesday, 31st March :- Henlle - Away Friday, 23rd April :- Old Padeswood - Away Thursday, 13th May :- Old Padeswood - Home Tuesday, 8th June :- Aldersey Green - Home Tuesday, 15th June :- Holywell - Home Tuesday, 22nd June :- Henlle - Home Monday, 5th July :- Aldersey Green - Away Tuesday, 27th July :- Hawarden - Away Tuesday, 31st August :- Holywell - Away Tuesday, 14th Sept. :- Hawarden - Home Thursday, 23rd Sept. :- Mold - Away All the best, Mal ( there is one change from the list I issued previously - Aldersey Green - Home - has changed from 25th May to 8th June)

“Handicaps” Report, Seniors AGM 2020 What a challenging year due to Covid 19! With no opportunity for a face-to-face formal induction and, more importantly, “hands-on” ClubV1 software training, this year has been a very steep learning curve for me, with accessing the system remotely from the office at home, and sometimes tortuous trial by error outcomes. The results of Seniors competitions have previously, more often than not, been calculated manually with cards in front of us. With the new restrictions, all competitions had to be set up through the software, with remote input of scores via the new HDID app. So, thank-you to everyone for putting up with some of the on-line competition set-up challenges we have faced, and the many occasions when results have had to be re-published because of things coming to light after the event. It is fair to say the app has had some developmental glitches, but without using it, many of our competitions would not have happened. I have sent so many emails to CLUBV1 support desk, they have now offered me a loyalty card! Having “attended” so many on-line webinars over the past 6 months, and revisited their content so many times, I am really pleased the World Handicap System has finally gone “live”. Still a few challenges, but I am confident all will be resolved by the start of the 2021 season. And look forward to a bright new future hand-in-hand with the WHS! Peter Bowen

Competition Report 2020 This has been a strange year for competitions due to the pandemic and having to miss a large proportion of the playing year. We did manage to complete all the boarded Trophies with the exception of the Pairs and Singles Matchplay events. Trying to get entries, draws and then different rounds completed would have been a struggle with 3 months to the finals. All trophy events were well represented with, on average 50 players competing. Congratulations to all those attending and to those Winners and Runner Ups. Senior 2 day Trophy Div 1 Winner Tony Jackson r/u Jon Falcus Div 2 Winner Ken Teiszen r/u Harold Hughes D.J.Bogey Winner Dave Talbot r/u Neville Bassett Senior Trophy Winner Peter Taylor r/u Graham Byrne Vets Trophy Winner Andrew Mitchell Gemini Trophy Ron Roberts/Tom McGrady r/u Chris Jacques/Bill Kelleher Some reflection on winners and 28 “my a***” Medals too were well represented with averages above the high 40’s Hopefully when it comes to the competition season 2021 the pandemic will have either gone or under some sort of control and that we can get back to some sort of normality Don

CLAYS GOLF SENIORS SECTION TREASURER’S REPORT TO AGM, NOVEMBER 24TH 2020 Our financial year runs in parallel with the calendar year, therefore the report I have produced covers only the first 11 months of this year. As far as I can anticipate, there will be no more transactions which result in a significant loss or gain to our balance, between now and the year end, so the final end-of-year account should look very similar to the interim version I present today. Turning to the interim account, this year has of course been completely dominated by Covid-19 and the consequences arising from this pandemic. Some of our annual fund-raising events have either not been able to occur, or have been run with reduced fields compared to normal. Chief victim was our Annual Open competition, which last year brought us a net income of approximately £260. This year the event was cancelled. In addition, our St. David’s Day event was not run until September, and with a reduced field compared to previous years. However, we had planned and purchased our prizes for the event in January and February in anticipation of a competition similar to last year. Before March 1st, however, Covid intervened and the net result was a reduced field resulting in reduced entry fees income but a normal prize expenditure. We achieved a net income of just over £100 compared to last year’s £220. Our membership has, however, remained almost constant and 109 players have paid their £5 subscriptions this year. Balanced against our reduced income, we have also had reduced expenditure. Our biggest item of expenditure is always our annual Christmas Party which is not happening this year. This normally costs us in the region of £500. Also this year, apart from a small donation to Poppy Day, we have not made any donations such as the £300 we donated to greenkeeper’s equipment or the subsidising of Polo Shirts, both of which we achieved last year. The consequence of all of this is that we are still in a very healthy financial position; our fund has increased from £812.99 to a current £1370.65 through the year; and we have enough in reserve to fund the drinks and prizes for a Christmas Party in 2021, should the pandemic be under control by then. Therefore, a decision has been made to not charge members who paid in 2020 a renewal subscription fee for 2021. Any new members who join us in 2021 will still be required to pay the £5 subscription. A free prize draw will be held in December for all those who did pay a 2020 sub, in recognition of our normal practice at Christmas Party time. Steve Monk – Seniors Treasurer. November 24th 2020 CLAYS GOLF SENIOR’S SECTION – INTERIM SUMMARY ACCOUNTS 2020 (Year to Date, January 1st 2020 - November 24th 2020) ITEM

162.36 22.40 450.00 31.58 25.00 812.99 545.00 11.00 102.64 22.40 22.00 31.58 25.00 Interim Totals (at 24 Nov 2020) ** Anticipated Carried forward to 2021 2061.99 691.34 ** 1370.65