Denbighshire Golfing Union
Minutes of the Council Meeting held
18th September 2024 at Denbigh Golf Club
The Chairman opened the meting by reminding delegates that it they wished to speak they should first identify themselves and their club or position.
Apologies were received from: John Hatcher, Martin Jones, Reg Peacock, Don Walmsley & John Farrington from Denbigh, Brian Willetts from Old Colwyn, Colin Hughes, Dave Brayshaw and Daryl Oehme from Plassey, Gav Millington of Moss, Paul Wallace-Jones of Clays and Gwynfor Jones and Emyr Wyn Jones of Llangollen
Attendance register was recorded as: (DGU) County Captain, County Vice Captain, County President, Immediate past County Captain, Scratch Team Manager, Marketing Manager and Competition Secretary and (Clubs) P McHugh, M McHugh, D Evans, J O’Connor, J Ll Williams, H Robertson, D Roberts, H Farrell.
There was no officer representation from either Plassey or Wrexham
Minutes of last meeting 19th June 2024 were agreed except from noting that Mr H Robertson (Llangollen) had been omitted from the attendance record
Matters arising from minutes not identified within the Agenda: The President advised that with the agreement of Executive Officers and Life Vice Presidents, Mr John Lewis (Ruthin-Pwllglas) has accepted the position of Vice President for the period 2025>2026 and would assume the full position at the 2027 AGM
Financial Update: The President provided a verbal update from Treasurer Reg Peacock confirming that the County was in a healthy financial position. Written report added at the end of this document.
County Captain’s Day: The County Captain reported on a very successful day at Clays and thanked all players for their support.
Autumn Meeting 22th Sept: Massive field, probably the largest we have ever received. 38 pairs across 19 tee times. Its critical that players take a brisk step when playing to allow the later games to finish before darkness. It was asked if clubs could please pass the comments to any of your players.
Inter-club League (update on fixtures): Only one outstanding fixture (Moss -v- Abergele) but will not affect overall results.
Team Managers update on 2024 season
Scratch: Written report added at the end of this document.
Senior Scratch: Written report added at the end of this document.
Jubilee Plate: A successful tournament with zero problems. The finals will be held on Sunday 6th October at Clays
Any Other Business:
i) The President reported on a great day at Abergele and thanked the clubs and their officers for their support.
ii) The executive officers were saddened by the lack of our elite players at the County Captains Day and people seemed to have ignored the fact that there were several County Championships being played within the day. Therefore we needed to re-think the event. It was agreed that we should create an annual ‘County Championships Day’, promoted as such and within same include a couple of ‘County Captains’ prizes. Set a principle of rotation across our 5x 18 hole courses and in such a way that clubs knew, effectively 5 years in advance when they would host. This would then balance against the clubs that hosted the Spring and Autumn Meetings and avoiding the same club hosting 2 county events in the same year. 2025 would be held at Abergele and we await a date from the club to allow us to create the advertising poster for distribution at the AGM.
iii) The President reported that our informal Junior Organiser Mr Vic Pritchard had failed in his promise to supply the Union with details of his demanded certifications for operating ‘safe’ Junior events within our operation and for that reason, the Union had withdrawn their offer of the position. A letter had been sent by Recorded Delivery and from the date of receipt, he had no further association with our organisation.
Date of next Meeting AGM – Wed 4th December @ Denbigh GC: The President asked if clubs could please encourage their incoming Vice Captains to attend. Its an opportunity to meet opposing Vice Captains and its the time where we distribute the advertising posters and entry sheet or the forthcoming year as it is often the responsibility of the club Vice Captain to manage our events at club level and work alongside any appointed club rep.
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Treasurer's Report
Transactions since the last meeting
Affiliation fees:- NWCGA affiliation fees amounting to almost £802 (35p per member) have to be paid when invoiced.
Spring meeting:- the final £300 of vouchers issued have now been redeemed.
Bank interest:- £42 received.
Scratch Team:- the £680 paid for accommodation for the Welsh inter-counties has been refunded as a team could not be raised. £372 paid for match catering. £120 entry fee to NWCGA inter-counties paid.
Senior Team::- £70 match catering paid. £580 paid for entry and expenses for seniors inter-counties.
Captains Day - £800 entry money received. In addition to the vouchers awarded by the Captain, DGU vouchers to the value of £550 were issued of which £180 have been redeemed.
Presidents Day - £1,575 received including £255 for raffle tickets and £330 for the DGU teams. Awaiting invoice for food and wine at approximately £1,130.
Autumn Meeting - £1,065 entry fees received with a further £210 outstanding.
Juniors:- no activity this year.
Other significant expenditure expected before the AGM
- Autumn meeting hosting and prizes (circa £1,250)
- Jubilee Plate finals (circa £900)
- Honoraria (£625?)
- Trophy engraving (circa £200)
- website licence (circa £150)
- insurance premium (circa £325)
= redeemed vouchers (circa £1.200)
Bank Balance and Projection
The current bank balance amounts to almost £13,140. and, based on the above, I expect the balance reported to the next AGM to be in excess of £1,000 more than that reported to the last one. This is primarily down to the scratch teams non-participation in the Welsh Counties.
Reg Peacock
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SCRATCH TEAM REPORT
DGU first match of the year was at Holywell GC at end of May. Hard fought game against Flintshire which we lost 6-3
Second game was against Caernarfonshire at Denbigh. Sadly, despite our best efforts we were overwhelmed and lost by 1-8
Our final match was against Anglesey at Holyhead. Despite a greatly depleted team we suffered an inevitable loss by 7-2. Special mention should be made concerning rookie Aled Howells who delivered a magnificent 6&4 win over a plus handicap home player.
In the North Wales Inter-counties finals at Llangollen, Denbighshire produced a stunning result, winning the day and only losing a second-place finish to Anglesey by one point.
Generally a disappointing season, not helped by us being unable to field a team to complete in the Welsh finals at Cregiau.
Arthur Jones
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SENIOR SCRATCH REPORT
Our first match of the year in June returned a resounding victory over Dyfed away at Ashburnham with a score of Dyfed 4.5/10.5 Denbighshire, an impressive win down south.
The inaugural North Wales Four Counties Seniors Seniors Championships was held at Abergele GC on July 28th contested by Denbighshire, Caernarvonshire and Flintshire.
Denbighshire won the honour of having the first County to be engraved on the new NWCGA Four Counties Shield.
The victorious team was Dewi Davies & Ian Shaw (Abergele); Kingsley Evans (VLGC), Arthur Jones (Denbigh GC) and Steve Merrill, Mike Shaw, Ian Davies and Martin Jones (Wrexham GC).
Dewi Davies also won the best gross with a 75, so a strong performance here from DGU Seniors.
Team gross scores for 6 counting scores were: Denbighshire 467; Flintshire 472 & Caernarvonshire 488.
Our first match of our Annual two-leg match against our neighbours Flintshire was held at Mold GC on 5th August and after a tight match, we return to Wrexham in October with the score tied at 5-5 looking to retain the Miners Lamp we claimed last year.
The next match in August saw the DGU Team travel to Llanymynech GC to take on Shropshire & Hertfordshire who were the Midlands Finalists last season. The result was a hard fought draw at 9-9 indicating the ongoing strength of the Denbighshire squad.
We have three fixtures left, namely:
1. Welsh Team Championships @ Swansea Bay GC 7-9 Sept;
2. Brecon & Radnorshire @ VLGC on Friday 13th Sept; and
3. Flintshire @ Wrexham GC on Thurs 10th October 2024.
Martin Jones
