President and Captain's Newsletter - December 2010

Our year of tenure is almost at an end and we thought it might be helpful to summarise the events of the year as well as mention a few highlights.

Match Results 

We are grateful to all those who have represented the Club through the year and are pleased that there has been a marked improvement in LGC's results for 2010 but we feel there is plenty of room for improvement! All the matches are open to any member to play in. If you would like to participate please simply contact the relevant match manager.

Annual Dinner
We had a very fine and civilised evening at Merchant Taylors' Hall. 275 members and guests attended. The guest speakers were Mark Burnyeat and Philip Noel.

The 2011 Dinner will be at the same venue on 3rd March.  

Spring Meeting 2010
We had a gloriously sunny day at Walton Heath this year and a good time was had by all; over a hundred members attended - the highest attendance for some years.

The winners of the events were:

- President's Prize - Wim Bushell and Mike Gravett
- Runners up - Kingsley Borrett and Patrick Webb
- Winners on the Old Course - Simon Clapham and Roger Bathurst
- Winners on the New Course - David Sowery and Andrew Stout
- Veterans' Prize - Martin Shaw and George Johnstone

The 2011 Spring Meeting will be held on 20 April at Walton Heath

Summer Meeting 2010
Fifty four members enjoyed two fine days of links golf at Royal St George's in Sandwich. As usual the hospitality provided was exemplary. The Captain and President of Royal St George's were our honoured guests at the black tie dinner on Friday.

We might add that members not competing in the main meeting are nonetheless very welcome to attend the dinner and maybe play in the Saturday morning foursomes.
The winners of the events were:

- Cyril Wintle Putter - Tim Kemp and Robert Kemp
- Hogg Trough - David Woodcock and James Quinn
- Bedford Bowl - Charlie Davies and Will Fetherston
- Howden Challenge - Ron Sandler and Mike Hall
- W J Foster - Colin Frizzell and Sir Alexander Graham
- R & Q Quaich - Wim Bushell and Bill Holden

Despite the fact that "The Open Championship" takes place only a few weeks later the 2011 Summer Meeting will take place on 3 and 4 June in 2011 at Royal St George's so we are very honoured indeed to be allowed to continue play at this time.

Autumn Meeting
Sixty four members enjoyed a beautiful "Indian Summer" day for golf at The Berkshire.

The winners of the events were: 

- Captain's Prize - Charlie Cantlay and Tom Corfield
- Runners Up - Simon Clapham and Roger Bathurst
- Winners on the Red Course - Stephen Wilcox and Nick Harrap
- Winners on the Blue Course - Charlie Davies and Richard Ohlson
- Veterans' Prize - Paul Edwards and Murray Emerson
- Neville Drury Cup - Wim Bushell
- Buncombe Trophy - Jason Innes
- 1923 Captain's Prize - Simon Clapham

The 2011 Autumn meeting will take place on 5 October 2011.

Under 35's
We would like to persuade more of our under 35 players to join in as much as possible.

As an incentive the Club offers to fund their green fees in any of the matches or meetings. It would help all concerned if their respective Lloyd's related employers and senior management would actively encourage them to participate.

Handicaps
Please could you do your best to keep us informed of any changes to your handicaps by editing your profile on the website. Please understand the Committee have the discretion to adjust individual handicaps as they deem appropriate for any LGC events. This was applied in a few cases this year!

Club Website (www.lloydsgolfclub.com)
Hopefully you are all increasingly using the website to see what is going on at the Club and to find the results of matches and competitions amongst many other things that are available on the site. It would be helpful if you could review your specific details on your profile so that they are constantly kept up to date. If you have forgotten your login and password please contact the Hon Sec at hon.sec@lloydsgolfclub.com.

Club Finances
As you are aware in 2009 we decided to change the fundamental basis of financing the running cost of the LGC from one where we depended on our ability to attract new members and run the various events during the year at a profit to a position where we have asked the membership to commit to an annual subscription (albeit a modest one) payable by standing order in January of each year.

To date we have obtained commitments from 280 members which should provide an annual income of approximately £9,800. This is a very significant change as we can now rely on a consistent level of income each year which will ensure that the clubs finances are sufficient to meet the annual running costs.

In 2009 we also decided that the Club should move into the modern world and develop a website which would allow greater contact with the membership and handle some of the burden which had previously been managed by our Honorary Secretary, Simon Clapham. The development cost of the website was £10,250 which was a sizeable investment that would clearly stretch the finances of the Club.

In order to finance the website development it was decided that we would approach the past Presidents and Captains of LGC to secure additional finance either in the form of donations or loans pending the flow of income from the new subscription arrangements.

We had a tremendous and generous response from the past Presidents and Captains to our request with donations of £2,000 and a further £7,050 of loans on an interest free basis up to five years.

The 2010 accounts show a cash deficit for the year of £2,654 (income less expenses). However the overall cash balance (less accruals) currently amounts to £15,925 and we anticipate that from 2011 we should be able to run the Club at a breakeven level.

We are therefore pleased to be able to repay the bulk of the loans next year and would like to thank those particular past Presidents and Captains for their wonderful generosity and support at the time of our need.

In case of doubt we reiterate that once the capital costs of the website and the loans have been repaid, then it is our intention that any surplus carried forward by the Club would be used to help reduce the cost of the dinner and/or the matches and/or the three major meetings.

 

Subscriptions
There are a number of members who still have not paid their 2010 annual subscriptions nor completed a standing order. It is appreciated that the new system of annual subscriptions has come in relatively recently so we are being as sympathetic and understanding as possible.

In order to incorporate a level playing field for those members that have paid, the initial upfront payment which was £20 in 2009 and £55 in 2010 will increase to £90 in 2011. This is to capture the outstanding subs due in 2009 and 2010.The annual subscription of £35 will remain the same and is due on the 1st January.

Please appreciate however, if you have not paid your dues then your continued status as an active member will be at the sole discretion of the committee. A copy of the standing order form can be obtained from the Hon Sec.

Hon Secretary & Committee Members for 2011
It is no doubt appreciated that running a Club like this one requires a substantial engine room with some very hard working individuals involved. At the helm is the Honorary Secretary Simon Clapham together with the Honorary Treasurer, Jonathan Turnbull . They put an enormous amount of effort into the running of all proceedings as well as looking ahead at the welfare of the Club. We wish to thank them, as well as the various other secretaries and committee members.

Simon Hall and Richard Ohlson have agreed to retire from the committee having extended their roles by one year in 2010. Philip Whittaker has agreed to seek re-election for one more year at the next annual general meeting.

New Members
The following fifteen candidates have become new members this year:

Julian Todd
Des Potter
Stuart Harmer
James Coyne
David Constable
Michael Bender
Alexander Clayton
Angus Findlay
Bart Grefe
Oliver Litterick
Colin Mann
Adam Mullan
Lee Savage
Michael Wilmot
Nigel Dorning

President and Captain for 2011 & The AGM 10 December
The nominations for the President and Captain for 2011 are Peter Carroll and Andrew Hussey respectively. We wish them well for 2011, subject to their election!

For those that are able to attend we look forward to seeing you at The Annual General Meeting at 1.30pm on Friday 10 December at The Old Lloyd's Library.

It has indeed been an honour to be President and Captain respectively for 2010. Needless to say we have thoroughly enjoyed the year, playing golf and meeting old friends and new. Above all it has been fun, illustrated perhaps by a few photos at the end of this missive and far more extensively on the website.

LGC provides a focal point of sportsmanship and camaraderie unrivalled in the Lloyd's community. It fosters fun, friendship and understanding amongst those who work in it and across all age and status levels. It also maintains links with other like minded clubs and societies through the various matches and events we support. We believe these are all fine ideals that we should continue to emphasise and encourage with utmost vigour.

We wish the LGC well in 2011 being its 117th year.

Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year to you.

 

President : Stephen M Wilcox

Captain: Graham A Findlay

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