EGM & Irrigation Update
As at Tuesday 12 May 2026
EGM
We had suggested that it would be possible to vote on the proposed budget electronically. We have looked at various solutions however have not found anything that provided the necessary safeguards and functionality for a price that is worth paying so will not be available so you will only be able to vote by attending the meeting, by voting in advance in the office or by completing a proxy form so that someone may vote on your behalf. We hope to make electronic voting available in the future however we will only do so when we find a cost-effective way to do so.
I have received some further questions regarding the proposals, and I will seek to answer them here:
1) A figure of £60,000 was mentioned as to the cost of keeping the ARDS, how can it be that high? We currently have 27 people that receive free golf, this increases to 37 in July, this alone totals £57,350. Under the currently proposal should all the members renew then this would recover half of this amount. There are then the members that are over 65 and 70 that receive discounts of 10% and 18% respectively. 27 in the former category and 50 in the latter. This equates to a discount of £4,185 and £13,950. So, the actual “cost” of the ARDS for senior members is £75,485. We accept that the recovery, should the proposal be accepted will be less than this amount as some members may chose to leave and we are only proposing to recover 50% of the “lost” element for over 80 golfers however this still represents a significant sum, likely to amount to over £500,000 over the next 10 years.
2) The ARDS scheme has not been open to new members since 2003 surely the numbers will drop off? Of course, over time the numbers that will qualify will decline however there are many members that have that qualify for the discounts that have not reached 65 and therefore it will be some time before the cost reduces by any significance.
3) What if there is a no vote, what is being proposed is flawed as there is no fallback, what happens if the budget is not approved? This is in keeping with previous years, the Council of Management has never presented options, simply a yes or no vote on their recommendation. Should the budget not be accepted then we would need to have a further EGM to consider a new proposal.
4) What would an alternative proposal look like? That would be up to the Board to decide, it may include some transitional arrangements to make the changes to ARDS more palatable, it may mean that the proposed changes to ARDS are scrapped. What would be inevitable is that the level of the standard subscription would need to increase, you will have seen that this would likely need to be £1,725 rather than the £1,550 that has been proposed. Should this happen then my real concern is that we will continue to lose members/fail to recruit replacement members and members will face future increases just to survive rendering any discounts as academic.
Irrigation
I believe the need for the new irrigation system is more evident than ever, it would allow us to direct irrigation more effectively, increase the amount of water that we can use (we currently lose approximately 30% to leakage) and minimise the time that our greenkeepers need to spend either adjusting or repairing the system. We have received several quotes all of which are higher than hoped, apparently the cost of the pipes has doubled due to the Iran conflict alone. The Irrigation Implementation Team is due to meet on Thursday who will look at the tenders in detail to see what might be feasible. If we are to undertake this project, then we need our finances to be on the strongest footing which requires us to have a coherent plan to get back to having a full membership.
Irrespective of your opinion on the matter, it is imperative that you give your view at or before the AGM, it will determine the future of the club. If you are unable to attend on the 20th then please pop into the GM’s office and give your vote.
Kevin Hall
Chairman
We had suggested that it would be possible to vote on the proposed budget electronically. We have looked at various solutions however have not found anything that provided the necessary safeguards and functionality for a price that is worth paying so will not be available so you will only be able to vote by attending the meeting, by voting in advance in the office or by completing a proxy form so that someone may vote on your behalf. We hope to make electronic voting available in the future however we will only do so when we find a cost-effective way to do so.
I have received some further questions regarding the proposals, and I will seek to answer them here:
1) A figure of £60,000 was mentioned as to the cost of keeping the ARDS, how can it be that high? We currently have 27 people that receive free golf, this increases to 37 in July, this alone totals £57,350. Under the currently proposal should all the members renew then this would recover half of this amount. There are then the members that are over 65 and 70 that receive discounts of 10% and 18% respectively. 27 in the former category and 50 in the latter. This equates to a discount of £4,185 and £13,950. So, the actual “cost” of the ARDS for senior members is £75,485. We accept that the recovery, should the proposal be accepted will be less than this amount as some members may chose to leave and we are only proposing to recover 50% of the “lost” element for over 80 golfers however this still represents a significant sum, likely to amount to over £500,000 over the next 10 years.
2) The ARDS scheme has not been open to new members since 2003 surely the numbers will drop off? Of course, over time the numbers that will qualify will decline however there are many members that have that qualify for the discounts that have not reached 65 and therefore it will be some time before the cost reduces by any significance.
3) What if there is a no vote, what is being proposed is flawed as there is no fallback, what happens if the budget is not approved? This is in keeping with previous years, the Council of Management has never presented options, simply a yes or no vote on their recommendation. Should the budget not be accepted then we would need to have a further EGM to consider a new proposal.
4) What would an alternative proposal look like? That would be up to the Board to decide, it may include some transitional arrangements to make the changes to ARDS more palatable, it may mean that the proposed changes to ARDS are scrapped. What would be inevitable is that the level of the standard subscription would need to increase, you will have seen that this would likely need to be £1,725 rather than the £1,550 that has been proposed. Should this happen then my real concern is that we will continue to lose members/fail to recruit replacement members and members will face future increases just to survive rendering any discounts as academic.
Irrigation
I believe the need for the new irrigation system is more evident than ever, it would allow us to direct irrigation more effectively, increase the amount of water that we can use (we currently lose approximately 30% to leakage) and minimise the time that our greenkeepers need to spend either adjusting or repairing the system. We have received several quotes all of which are higher than hoped, apparently the cost of the pipes has doubled due to the Iran conflict alone. The Irrigation Implementation Team is due to meet on Thursday who will look at the tenders in detail to see what might be feasible. If we are to undertake this project, then we need our finances to be on the strongest footing which requires us to have a coherent plan to get back to having a full membership.
Irrespective of your opinion on the matter, it is imperative that you give your view at or before the AGM, it will determine the future of the club. If you are unable to attend on the 20th then please pop into the GM’s office and give your vote.
Kevin Hall
Chairman