Rules

1.   The Society shall be called The Old Shirburnian Golfing Society (“the Society”).

2.   The objectives of the Society shall be to foster the playing of golf among Old Shirburnians in a competitive and convivial spirit, and, in particular, to arrange matches, meetings and entries in appropriate tournaments.

3.   Any member of the OS Society may apply for membership.  Members of staff and others who have given significant help to the Society may be invited to become Honorary Members.

4.   (a)    Categories of membership shall be:  Playing, Non-playing, Junior, Life and Honorary.  Only Pplaying and Nnon-playing members shall pay an annual subscription.

      (b)   Entrance fees and annual subscriptions shall be determined by the Committee and any proposed increase approved at an Annual General Meeting (“AGM”).

      (c)    Life membership shall be available from age 60 on payment of ten times the current annual subscription.

      (d)   Junior members shall pay no entrance fee or annual subscription until reaching an age to be determined by the Committee, and on reaching such age shall become liable to pay an annual subscription.

              Junior members shall receive a daily subsidy when playing for the Society at a rate to be determined by the Committee.

5.   It shall be responsibility of any person playing golf in a Society match, meeting or tournament to have in place adequate public liability insurance cover.

6.   (a)    Annual subscriptions shall payable on the first business day on or after January 1st.  Where a member has not paid his subscription by the due date, and two reminders sent to his last known postal or email address remain unanswered, he shall be deemed to have resigned from the date the subscription was due.  The Committee may re-instate membership on the payment of arrears. A member may be re-instated on the terms in (b) below.

      (b)   A member wishing to resign shall give notice to the Hon. Secretary before the next subscription is due., failing which he is liable for that subscription.  Anyone who has resigned and subsequently wishes to re-join the Society may be re-admitted on such terms as the Committee Honorary Secretary may determine.

7.   The officers (“the Officers”) of the Society shall be: the President, Vice-President, Captain, two Vice-Captains, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer, and a minimum of two and a maximum of three Trustees.

8.   (a)    The Committee shall comprise the Officers, up to twelve Ordinary members, the immediate Past Captain, the Halford Hewitt Captain, the Archivist and such others who may be co-opted.  All members of the Committee shall be elected or re-elected at an AGM. 

      (b)   The Committee shall be responsible for the management of the Society, including the arrangement of the Spring, Summer and Autumn meetings, matches against other societies and clubs, and the entry of sides for tournaments.

9.   The financial year end shall be December 31st and an AGM shall be held within six nine months.  An income and expenditure account, together with a balance sheet, shall be sent to members for approval at the AGM.

10.All investments shall be held in the name of a regulated nominee company, or in the names of the Trustees. Money placed on deposit must be with a bank having a credit rating of AA or better.

11.  The Committee shall have the right to refuse an application for membership and, in exceptional circumstances, require a member to resign for actions considered to be prejudicial to the interests of the Society or the School.

12. Any proposed rule changes shall be endorsed at an AGM.

REGULATIONS

1.   Delegation

      Regulations 2 to 5 shall require the Committee to make proposals for approval at an AGM.

      Regulations 6 to 12 shall be under the direct control of the Committee and no AGM approval shall be required, but members must be informed of any changes at the next AGM.

2.   Entrance fee - subscriptions

      (a)    A new member who does not qualify by age as a Junior member on January 1st in the year of joining shall pay an entrance fee. aged 27 or over on January 1st in the year of joining shall pay an entrance fee on joining the Society.  This shall be the equivalent of a playing member’s annual subscription.  The entrance fee shall be in addition to the subscription for that year.

      (b)   Subscriptions: the rate forPlaying, Non-playing and Overseas members shall be determined by the Committee and endorsed at an AGM. Junior, Life and Honorary members shall pay no subscription. Playing-£20; Non-playing and overseas-£10; Junior, Life and Honorary ‑ nil.

3.   Officers

      The Committee shall propose the names of Officers for election by the AGM.

      (a)    President - to hold office for five years.

      (b)   Vice-President - to hold office for five years.

      (c)    Captain - to hold office for one year, but may serve further terms at the discretion of the Committee.

      (d)   Two Vice-Captains - in the normal course of events the junior Vice-Captain shall after a year become senior Vice-Captain, and then Captain.

      (e)    Hon. Secretary, Hon. Treasurer and Trustees - once elected at an AGM, these Officers shall hold office until such time as they wish to resign.

      (f)    Duality - a member may occupy more than one office at the same time.

4.   Other members

      (a)    The Committee shall propose the names of Ordinary members for election by the AGM.

              Ordinary members shall serve for three years. With the maximum of 12 on the Committee, one third shall retire by rotation each year but shall be eligible for re-election.  In the event of a lesser number, retirement shall be subject to the date agreed on appointment.

              Where an Ordinary member resigns before the completion of his three year term, his immediate replacement shall serve for the remainder of that three year term before retiring by rotation.

      (b)  The Halford Hewitt Captain (who shall be appointed by the Committee) and the Archivist shall be members of the Committee in those roles. 

      (c)    The immediate Past Captain shall serve on the Committee for one year in that role irrespective of other positions he may hold.

5.   Co-opted members

      The Committee shall have the power to co-opt members at any stage but co-opted members must be reappointed annually by the AGM. A co-opted member shall have no vote at meetings.

6.   Committee meetings

      Regular meetings shall be properly convened on two weeks’ notice, and be quorate with six or more members present.

      In exceptional circumstances a special meeting may be called by any three Officers on one week’s notice, and be quorate with six or more members present.

7.   Handicaps

      The manager of a meeting, after consulting with Committee members present, may in exceptional circumstances reduce the handicap of a member before the start of any round.

8.   Rules

      The Rules of Golf, as varied by local rules, shall apply at all matches and meetings.

9.   Tournaments

      A team shall be entered for the Halford Hewitt Cup, the G LG.L. Mellin Salver and such other tournaments as may be decided by the Committee.  The Halford Hewitt Captain for each tournament shall be appointed by the Committee and hold that position until for such time as either sees fit.

10.Tied scores at meetings

      Tied scores in any of the Society meetings shall be decided by the best score (gross or net as required) over the last nine holes, failing which the last six holes, or failing which the last three holes and so on until a clear winner shall emerge.

11.Prizes at meetings

      At meetings a member may not be awarded more than one of the prizes set out below for that meeting.  Where a member’s score makes him eligible for both a scratch and handicap prize he shall be awarded the scratch prize, with the handicap prize awarded to the second best net score.  Prizes will be awarded in the order set out below.

• Spring AGM meeting

                            Harris Challenge Vase                        (Scratch)

                            Hempson Challenge Cup                    (Handicap)

                            P E M P.E.M. Shaw Cup                    (12 and over Scratch medal)

                            P E M P.E.M. Shaw Cup                    (12 and over Handicap stableford)

      At this meeting the winner of one of the major prizesset out above may not take the secondprize for any of the other three, and may not win the prize for the first or second nine holes. In addition, the runner-up for any of the major prizes may not win the prize for the first or second nine holes.

• Summer meeting

                            Turner and Foot Challenge Putter       (Scratch medal)

                            Page Challenge Cup                            (Handicap medal)

                            Stableford Prize                                   (Handicap stableford)

                            Harry Croly Cup                                 (Under 27 handicap stableford)

                            Stableford Prize

If there is no competitor under 27 the Croly Cup should not be awarded.

• AutumnRye meeting

                            Captain’s Prize                                    (Best two four rounds)

                            Vice-Captain’s Prize                           (best three rounds)

                            Greig Challenge Cup                           (Best two rounds for over 32s36 holes Saturday)

                            Autumn Challenge Cup                       (Best two rounds for under 32s36 holes Sunday)

                            Hugh Rowan Salver                            (Second best score for two rounds excluding winners of Greig and Autumn Cups)

                            Manning Trophy                                 (best twofour round score not winning

                                                                                        one of the above a prizes)

12.  Subsidy

      This shall be available to Junior members who must be under an age27 on January 1st of the year in question, such age to be determined by the Committee.  Junior members shall be required to pay:

• A £25 maximum per day for green fee and lunch at the club;

• A £20 maximum for bed and breakfast for the Saturday night of the Summer meeting at Sherborne, and the Friday and Saturday nights of the Rye meeting Autumn meeting at Rye;

• for representative tournaments a maximum of £25 per day for dinner, bed and breakfast.  There shall be discretion to help with onerous travelling expenses.

        The maximum payable shall be determined by the Committee and the Society shall in all cases pay   the balance.                        The Society shall pay the balance.

                                                            GUIDELINES

                                    (including Committee decisions and best practice)

1.    Committee meetings and the AGM

There shall be two Committee meetings a year, normally to be held in March and November. The President (or his appointee) will chair meetings which should start promptly at the advertised time.

Key agenda items must be supported by a note to encourage timely and better informed decisions.

Minutes should be circulated within one week of each meeting.

2.    Sub-committee

The Committee may appoint a Sub-committee to investigate and report on any topic.

3.    Fixtures

The Hon. Secretary is responsible for the arrangement of all matches and meetings after seeking advice from the relevant managers. He should inform the November meeting of any major changes of date or potential clash of fixtures. Notices of the three meetings should be sent to all playing members and papers for the AGM to all members.

4.    Managers

Managers of matches and meetings are appointed by the Hon. Secretary, and responsible for raising a full side for matches or appropriate numbers for meetings.

The address list made available to managers every January has important information including playing categories, handicaps, and in most cases email addresses. In July, those managers with a match still to run should be emailed an up to date list.

Managers should settle the subsidies for junior members before leaving the club, and put in a claim to the appropriate person for this and other expenses incurred. Managers are encouraged to receive payment in cash or by electronic transfer.

5.    Historical records – collecting of full results

It is most important that the Society continues to record a high standard of information for all events for posterity. Managers will receive a results sheet some time before their match, meeting or tournament. This should be returned to the Archivist with full details of names, full initials, margins, costs of the day (if applicable) and (if possible) a date for the next year. All this information should be sent to the Archivist within three days of the match, meeting or tournament.

* *

Current rate of subscriptions and subsidies as agreed by the Committee:

(a)        Junior members whose 27th birthday is before January 1st of the year in question shall become liable to pay an annual subscription and become a Playing member;

(b)       Annual subscription rates are: Playing £20; Non-playing or Overseas £10; Junior, Life or Honorary members – nil.

(c)        Junior members who must be under 27 on January 1st of the relevant year shall be eligible for the following subsidies and be required to pay: (i) £25 maximum per day for green fee and lunch at the club for matches and meetings; (ii) £20 maximum for bed and breakfast for the Saturday night of the Sherborne meeting, and the Friday night of the Rye meeting; and (iii) £25 maximum per day at representative tournaments for dinner, bed and breakfast. The manager shall have discretion to help with onerous travelling expenses for tournaments.

The Society shall pay the balance.

(d)       Members aged 27 until the year of their 32nd birthday are eligible for a further tier of subsidy and are required to pay: (i) £40 maximum per day for green fee and lunch at the club for matches and meetings; (ii) £25 maximum for bed and breakfast for the Saturday night of the Sherborne meeting, and the Friday night of the Rye meeting; and (iii) £40 maximum per day at representative tournaments for dinner, bed and breakfast.

The Society shall pay the balance.