Notice Board: 2010

19th November 2009 FALKLAND GOLF CLUB AGM
Apologies were received from J Montgomery, D Blair, A Graham, S Easton, P Veitch, A Ferguson, A Speake, C Robertson, C Mitusch, K Hamilton and M Goudie.
There were 29 members present.
The minutes of last year`s meeting were proposed by E Lindsay and seconded by J Nicoll.
There were no matters arising.
H Horsburgh was ratified as ladies secretary and Susan Ritchie as ladies treasurer.
Secretary`s report
The number of members is as follows-
Ordinary males 43
Senior males 47
Country males 5
5 day male 1
Ordinary females 11
Senior females 23
Total adults 130
Juniors 12
Total 142
The licence to sell alcohol has been granted under the terms of the new Licensing Act 2005 although there is a delay in providing the actual licence.
It is with regret we note the deaths of John Anderson, Charles Leece, Alan Faulkener and Douglas Armour who were valued members of the club.
AGM 2009 Captains Report
Those who were present at the last AGM will know that I didn’t initially volunteer for this “job”, however after listening to Bob Duncan’s proposals, and as, like many others, I have a passion for this club, I agreed to take the position. I can honestly say that, thanks to hep of an excellent committee (from which there were no mid term resignations) and the support of the membership, I have really enjoyed it. No treasurer was appointed at the last AGM and although I went on record as saying it would be healthier for the club to have another person doing it, in the absence of a volunteer I also took on that role. Due to the precarious state of the clubs finances, much of the year has revolved around money but I`m pleased to say that the club is now on a sound financial footing and I will expand on that later in the treasurer’s report.
Following discussions at the 08 AGM, the vice captain and myself visited Charles Wilson of Fiddle Hall with proposals to broker a land swap between Fife Council and himself regarding the newly fenced off area and the inner
corner of the 9th Fairway. Although he was quite positive about this proposal at our meeting, a subsequent meeting between himself and Fife Council resulted in him moving the fence back to the line recognised by Fife Council as the correct boundary, and an amendment to our lease was subsequently signed off.
The suggestion of the clubhouse function being franchised out was also raised at the last AGM. This was progressed positively by the committee resulting in a proposed contract being drawn up by Alan Henry. Discussions with the Steward never really got off the ground as he indicated his preference to maintain the status quo. Further discussions were then held with another party, however he then decided not to proceed.
The main change made in running the club was the termination of the McNab contract. Over the winter period we were indebted to our president who spent many hours keeping the rough at bay. Greenmaster took on an annual contract of greens maintenance and also we operated “a pay as you cut” system with them for the fairways and greens until we had the equipment in place to do that ourselves. When we were in a financial position to acquire machinery, we purchased second hand greens, fairway and semi rough mowers together with a new hover, strimmer and trailer. It was also the intention to employ a person as a “grass cutter “ over the summer season. Until May 09 we cut the grass ourselves and my thanks go to all volunteers who helped Bob Duncan and Tam Shields keep the place in good order. We then got David Gilbert on work experience from Elmwood College. His knowledge and enthusiasm was very impressive and when he indicated that he would like full time employment with us we revised our plans, clarified the health and safety requirements and created a full time Greenkeeper position. The excellent condition of the course is testament to this policy. We have renewed the Greenmaster contract to cover areas of work where we do not have the specialised equipment or knowledge
During the main season the clubhouse was kept open 7 days a week, with the Stewards days off being covered by volunteers. This resulted in lower wages which together with keener buying, resulted in a much better financial performance and customer experience. Food for outings was outsourced from the Lomond Tavern. This, coupled with the friendly manner and bar expertise of Nick, has resulted in a much improved reputation for looking after visitors. The main beneficiaries of expanded clubhouse opening ( we are currently trialing increasing the winter days from 3 to 4) are the members. The numbers playing in competitions has increased significantly compared to recent years, resulting in a most enjoyable prize giving evening last week. My congratulations go once more to Jack Montgomery and Angela McEwan our worthy champions and the match and handicap sections for organising the events thoughout the year.
One area of disappointment however has been the lack of a competitive junior section. Some folk say juniors are the future of our club, although I do not subscribe to that. It is Seniors who are our target market, as we are a flat 9 hole course with numerous playing configurations. That fact does also make it attractive to young juniors though. We held a training day for 65 children from Falkland primary school which went very well, but there was no real follow up. One suggestion may be to give primary school children free junior membership with playing restrictions. We can discuss this under subscriptions on the agenda. We also need a convener to look after them and there is an SGU Club Golf Initiative where non- pros can become category 1 coaches to help youngsters.
In summary I would like to thank the committee for their support and friendship together with the membership for making 2009 an eventful and successful year for Falkland Golf Club.
2009 AGM Treasurers Report
What a year! The committee started with zero cash and £1000 worth of debts. Numerous members paid their subs early to sort the initial shortfall and following a lot of hard work by all concerned we turned a loss of £7.5K in 08 to a profit of £10.5 K in 09. That is a £18K turnaround. Well done everyone.
We achieved an EBITDA to sales ratio of 18% which for a pseudo manufacturing business ( we take a patch of land and manufacture a golf course out of it) is most acceptable so we may well be one of the most profitable clubs in Fife. I don’t want to get too carried away though because we are still in a recession and I would prefer to have a much larger cash surplus, in order for the club to weather potential storms in the future.
Firstly, I intend to present and explain the 2008/9 accounts, expanding on the income and expenses in specific areas to identify successes , failures and what had done to remedy them. From the turn of the year we have operated against a budget which proved quite successful. The committee agreed a budget for 2009/10 prior to the start of financial year and I will then talk you through that, and the assumptions that have been made, as you will later vote on membership subscription levels which are our major source of income.
I’ll start with the Clubhouse accounts. As you can see there has been a significant reduction in the loss. At this time last year we were enthusiastically talking about franchising it out. In hindsight this would have been a bad decision. The franchise proposal would have included 25% of green fees collected ie around £3K so in fact the club would have been £1.7K worse off.
The accounts are split into Bar and Catering but this is historical from the days when the club was responsible for the bar and the steward had a franchise for the catering. In truth the separate figures are meaningless because some of the bar purchases are in fact catering and the wages are only under bar, so it’s the total that is important. Basically its easy to make a small profit if you have little or no wages. However without a full time steward, its harder work for the volunteers and a worse experience for members and visitors with the inevitable reduction in clubhouse opening and an effect on green fees. Looking at the effect on the profit of the club as a whole, all areas of income increased with the exception of sponsorship, where we lost a few sponsors, not surprising in a recession. The reason for the high misc income in 08 was due to an insurance claim payout, with corresponding high repair costs. In terms of costs then the major factor was course expenditure following the termination of the McNabs contract. This does not include most of the machinery purchases, which are capital expenditure and are depreciated over 3 years. So the depreciation figure of £1.7K represents 1/3 rd of the expenditure. This can be seen more clearly when we view the balance sheet.
Moving on to the balance sheet, the course/buildings value remains the same every year. In reality of course the clubhouse is worth more than £3.4K ( we insure it for £200K) but were we to revalue it, we would have to pay tax on the difference, which would bankrupt us and we would have to sell the clubhouse. So we don’t ! Here you can see the increase in assets due to the capital expenditure 2/3rds of the total. ( the other third in the P&L ) Were we not to buy any equipment next year then in the 09/10 accounts there would be 1/3rd in assets and 1/3rd in P&L. You will see later in the budget proposals that we do intend to buy some, so the depreciation in next years accounts (P&L) will be £1.7K + 1/3rd of next years spend and so on. One thing that regulates capital expenditure is having the capital (cash) in the first place. You will note that at end Aug 09 we had £15K compared to £7.4K at the same time last year. This means that we will not run down to zero in November and will be able to buy more machinery next year. Amounts prepaid are what we have paid for but not yet had, whereas outstanding accounts are what folk have paid us for but not yet had. So in summary the good profit this year has increased the clubs assets back to better than 2006 level and the budget for 2010 is to be better than 2005.
Which takes us to the 2010 budget !
This is similar to the sheet we monitor ourselves with on a weekly basis. Most of the income budget is based on last years figures , except for subs, where I have taken the existing membership numbers and applied the same fees (without levy) as last year ie no increase. For expenditure, course maintenance is worked out on wages paid (including a proposed increase), weeks in the month, fuel and machinery repairs in the growing season. Bar wages are worked out on hours worked at different times of year and weeks in the month. Other costs are based on last years with the exception of heat and light where we have negotiated a reduction, Hygiene where we have terminated PHS, rates where we now only have water, subscriptions where there is a £1 a head increase and Misc where I have removed the draw prizes from Jan onwards. The bottom line is that if we meet this budget we will make a cash profit of £2.9K but as this includes capital expenditure of 7K , and taking into account higher depreciation I would expect to report a profit of £6K next year, with a net asset increase on the balance sheet of almost £10K.
As of close of business today the cash assets were as follows Clubhouse Account £5637.16 Subs Account £1209.74 Cash (incl bar float) £1222.91 Total Cash reserves £8069.81
I would like to thank Kevin Hamilton for the use of the projector and I commend this budget to the house.
Questions were asked regarding the cost of machinery and repairs, and answered by the treasurer using the display on the screen.
The accounts were proposed by A Garrett and seconded by A Henry.
Annual subscriptions
S Wilkinson proposed that subs should remain at £230 for an ordinary member, £185 for seniors and 5 day members, £50 for juniors and intermediate members and £20 for restricted playing members. Country members would remain at £100 and there would be no levy.
R Duncan seconded this.
No counter proposal was offered and the motion was carried.
S Wilkinson then proposed that primary school children be given free membership to encourage the formation of a junior playing section under management of a junior convener.
J Nicoll proposed we offer this for 1 year. This was seconded by G Thomson. No counter proposal was offered and the motion was carried.
Amendments to the constitution
The constitution required certain amendments to satisfy the council for the new licensing law.
1.2 Add –The club has to have at least 25 members to be properly constituted.
1.2.7 Replace “clubhouse member” with “restricted playing member”
1.3.1 Replace “All guests must be entered in a book kept for this purpose showing the date, name and address of each visitor and signed by a club member” with “Where a person is on the premises at the invitation of a member of the club and accompanied by that member, is supplied with alcohol when an occasional licence is not in effect, there is to be entered ina book kept for the purpose (1) the date in question (2) the name and address of the person (3) the name of the member accompanying the person”.
Add “Other than when an occasional licence has effect, no person is to be supplied with alcohol on the club premises unless that person is a member of another club which meets the requirements of 125(1) of Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005”.
3.7.1 Replace “In particular, no member of the general committee and no manager or servant of the club shall have any personal interest in the sale of excisable liquor” with “No member of the committee or other governing body and no person employed by the club is to have any personal interest in the sale of alcohol on the club premises or I the profits arising from such sale”.
Election of office bearers
S Wilkinson was proposed for captain by I Wann and seconded by J McEwan.
He accepted and was duly elected.
E Lindsay was proposed as vice captain by L Anderson and seconded by G Findlay. He accepted and was duly elected.
H Brough was proposed as secretary by E Lindsay and seconded by J McEwan. She accepted and was duly elected.
S Wilkinson was proposed as treasurer by A Garrett and seconded by V Wicks. He accepted and was duly elected.
I Wann was proposed by E Lindsay and seconded by S Lindsay. He accepted and was duly elected.
G Findlay was proposed by S Wilkinson and seconded by D Blair, he accepted and was duly elected.
The following members no longer wish to continue on the committee-
L Henry, J Pickesgill, P Veitch.
No other members accepted nominations for committee.
AOCB
E Lindsay asked if there was any restriction on the number of competitions which a country member could enter and did the membership feel that there ought to be such a restriction. Following a discussion it was decided to retain the status quo and address the problem in committee in the future.
The meeting closed at 9.50.

Notice Board

Friday, 19 November 2010

2009 AGM approved minutes

Friday, 29 October 2010

2010 AGM