Constitution
1.00 Aims & Objectives
1.01 To bring together existing and former employees of English Partnerships in the North West, and its successor body, the Northwest Development Agency, plus friends and colleagues, for the purpose of enjoying the game of golf via arranged outings to golf courses. For convenience and continuity, the Society shall be known as The English Partnerships Golf Society.
2.00 Membership
2.01 All those described above shall, on payment of an annual fee, become members of the English Partnerships Golf Society.
2.02 Guests of members will be welcome but they will be expected to abide by the rules of the Society and therefore by implication to comply with the dress code and etiquette expected by clubs at which the Society is playing. The member inviting the guest is responsible for ensuring the standards are explained.
2.03 The Committee shall, from time to time, consider whether any member who has contributed to the running of the Society over a considerable period of time, should be awarded Honorary Membership and not be required to pay an annual fee. Any proposals for such special membership should be submitted to an AGM for approval.
3.00 Annual Fee
3.01 An annual fee of £25 for new members and a renewal fee of £10 for existing members, to be reviewed at each AGM, will be payable by 31st January each year. This will be used to cover such items as course booking deposits, any Committee expenditure, end of year prizes, etc. Any member who has not paid the renewal subscription by the due date will not be allowed to play at any event unless specifically arranged with the Secretary in advance.
3.02 Former members who had let their membership lapse, for example, due to ill health/incapacity may be allowed to re-join the Society at the renewal fee rate at the discretion of the Committee and subject to places being available.
3.03 In the event of the Society ceasing to function and a majority decision of the members being taken to give effect to its winding up, any funds in the Society account after the society has met all outstanding obligations and payments will be divided equally between the members of the Society at the time of its winding up.
4.00 Management
4.01 The management of the Society shall rest with a Committee chosen at each Annual General
Meeting (AGM). It will comprise a minimum of 3 for a quorum. The Committee will meet
as and when required and will appoint a Chair/Captain, Secretary, Treasurer and other
members as necessary. These posts will be filled following nominations received by, and
elected at, the AGM which will, normally, be held after the final outing of the year. The
Committee will determine individual Handicaps in accordance with the arrangements
described below.
5.00 Competition Format
5.01 A competition will be held at each outing and points awarded to each participant on the Stableford system of scoring.
5.02 A player's four best scores will count towards the end of season total.
5.03 After the final event of the season, individual prizes will be awarded after dinner to season and event winners as described below, subject to registering a minimum of 4 scores and the principle that no member will be eligible for more than one prize :-
(i) Championship Shield and Trophy winner - to the member with the highest aggregate score for the season, based on their 4 best scores. In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined on the basis of the next highest score for any other event attended.
(ii) The Chris Morley Memorial Shield - to the winner of the penultimate event
Note; to be read in conjunction with (i) & (ii) above: Each shield is held for 12 months and the winner is responsible for arranging the addition of an engraved plaque with their name and year
(iii) Divisional Trophies - Prestwick Trophy (under 20) and Turnberry (over 20) - to the member in each category with the highest aggregate score for the season, based on their 4 best scores. In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined on the basis of the next highest score for any other event attended.
(iv) Event Prizes - In addition to the 12 Balls presented at each event to the member scoring the highest number of points (if not a Shield or Trophy recipient, or an earlier event winner) will also receive an additional prize (see below)
(v) Additional Prizes – All winners will have a choice of drinks (spirits or wine) with an additional bottle of champagne for the Champion.
5.00 Competition Format (Cont'd)
5.04 Each full and temporary member will be given a Handicap on their first outing in the year. This will be based on lower of their final Society Handicap for the previous year or their current official club Handicap. In the case of new members, the Handicap will be their official club Handicap, or one based on their age and experience. New guests without a club Handicap will play off 21.
5.05 Handicaps will thereafter be adjusted in accordance with the Society's Handicap system which is an adapted CONGU based system as attached (Annexe 'A')
5.06 If a member fails to complete a round, the card should be marked 'No Return' with the
reason given for withdrawal e.g. Injury. Such a card will not be taken into account in
calculating the player's average score for the event. If no mitigating circumstances are given
for a 'No Return', this will be considered under the arrangements described in the following
paragraph.
5.07 In addition, after a member has returned 2 and then 4 cards, their handicap will be reviewed under the CONGU general play provisions, and any changes proposed require endorsement by the Captain or a Committee member prioir to the next event. All Handicaps will count in full for scoring purposes.
6.00 Event Arrangements
6.01 The Society will aim to hold six competition events spread between April and September, these to be proposed by the Event Arranger and agreed by the Committee. Venues will be selected having regard to the following criteria :-
(i) Format - a mix of all day golf, 18-hole golf and evening meal combinations, depending on value for money.
(ii) Cost Band - as a guide only – to a maximum of £35 for 18 holes and lunch and £45 for 18 holes plus lunch and an evening meal. An additional 9 holes and refreshments on arrival may be considered at an extra cost.
(iii) Locations - within a 25 mile radius of Liverpool, some North and East of the Mersey and some South and West of the Mersey. One event may fall outside of the 25 mile limit.
(iv) Social Events - the Society may arrange social events and an annual away trip.
(v) Courses – 3 or 4 courses previously played by the Society plus 2 or 3 new venues.
6.02 All members and guests who propose to attend a particular event will be asked beforehand to make their appropriate payment in advance by Bank Transfer to the Society's Account. If this is not possible, a cash payment will be accepted on the day. If, after making payment, a member has to withdraw, then payment will either be credited to the next event, or repaid, provided the club concerned has not already been notified of final numbers and requires full payment regardless of late cancellations.
6.03 The groupings for the competition round at an event will be determined by a random draw to take place approximately one hour before play is due to commence. The draw will be arranged by the Event Organisers.
6.04 The Event Organisers (EOs) will have a list of current Handicaps. The EOs will then be
responsible for obtaining sufficient score cards from the club professional for those expected
to take part in the competition and entering their names and Handicaps on the cards. The
playing groups will be selected by a random draw of the cards taking into account the
following factors :-
(i) Any reasonable request made for an early start. These cards will be excluded from the draw and form part of the first group(s). The presumption is against such requests – there must be clear reasons such as work/family commitments. If it transpires that this facility is being abused, future requests may be denied by the Committee who will retain overall responsibility for managing the outing.
(ii) Member and Guest pairing cards will be placed together for the purposes of the draw.
(iii) Member buggy users will be placed in the draw for sharing with other buggy users as drawn and should go out as one buggy with walking players to be drawn on the day.
(iv) Those have said they will attend but who have not arrived by the time of the draw will, because their attendance cannot be guaranteed, be placed in the last group(s).
(v) Committee members required to be back in the clubhouse early for official duties particularly at the final event may be placed in the first group.
(vi) The Captain is to be placed with different members at each event.
6.05 The EOs will then list all tee times on a sheet and the numbers in each group bearing in mind the total slots available and any requirements of the club (e.g. as to the total numbers in each group). The EOs will then ask others present to pick out individual cards to form groups of 2-4 depending on tee times available and announce the results as the draw progresses. The groups drawn will be written out for the benefit of late arrivals.
6.06 Members may invite guest players to events, subject to availability of places at the event, members having priority, and subject to each individual guest attending a maximum of 2 events in each season. A member may invite a maximum of two guests to any event but can accompany only one during the competition and must choose which of the guests should be placed in the random draw for the other groupings (see above).
6.07 At each event, players attending will be asked to contribute, normally £2, to a prize fund for 'nearest the pin' (NTP) winners. There will normally be 2 NTP holes and the money collected will be divided equally between the winners. If only 1 hole is won that winner takes all the prize money. If there are no winners then the money will roll over to the next event unless it is the last of the season when the money will go towards Society funds.
6.08 At each event, the winner of each event will win 12 balls and, possibly, an end of season prize, (see above). 6 Balls will also be given for the Longest Drive and any 2s. The prize for a hole-in-one will be 12 balls and the player's card framed for presentation at the annual prize giving. All costs will be met from Society funds.
6.09 All contact with the club Professional/Secretary about the management and payment for the event will be undertaken by a Committee member.
Annex A - EPGS Handicap System
The Society uses an adapted CONGU method for calculating Handicap adjustments throughout the season.
There are 4 categories of Handicap between scratch and 54, and depending in which category a player's Handicap falls, respective increases and reductions are applied to their Handicap.
Handicap adjustments are made by comparing the member's Stableford points score at each event against a base score arrived at by splitting the difference between standard par (36 points) and the average score for the event (rounded up).
Then :-
(i) For those on the base score there is no Handicap adjustments.
(ii) For those scoring above the base score, no buffer zone applies and their Handicap will be reduced for each point above the base score as shown in Column 3 below.
(iii) For those scoring below the base score, no Handicap adjustment will apply if that score is up
to 4 points below base score, depending on category, as shown in the buffer zone Column 4
below.
(iv) Those scoring 5 points or more below the base score will have their Handicap increased by 0.2 as shown in Column 5 below, with a maximum of 54.
The Handicap categories, buffer zone and score based increases and reductions are summarised in the table below :-
Column 1 - |
Column 2 - |
Column 3 - |
Column 4 - |
Column 5 - |
1 |
0.1 to 5.4 |
-0.1 |
1 |
0.2 |
2 |
5.5 to 12.4 |
-0.2 |
2 |
0.2 |
3 |
12.5 to 20.4 |
-0.3 |
3 |
0.2 |
4 |
20.5 to 54.4 |
-0.4 |
4 |
0.2 |
General Play
After 2 and then 4 cards have been returned the Committee may make 'General Play' Handicap adjustments based on a member's overall performance at a number of events and having regard to the active Handicap of club members. This is in addition to the usual end of season Handicap review.
Example – The following table illustrates how this system will work :-
H'cap |
Cat |
Par |
Avge Pts. |
Base Score |
Member Score |
BZ Adjust |
H'cap Adjust |
Comment |
20 |
3 |
36 |
28 |
32 |
33 |
None |
-0.3 |
1 Pt above BS |
20 |
3 |
36 |
24 |
30 |
27 |
3 |
None |
Within 3 Pts of BS |
20 |
3 |
36 |
20 |
28 |
16 |
3 |
+0.2 |
Over 3 Pts below BS |
Revised 2018