Report of the Management Committee for the year ended 31

st
December 2013
In general, 2013 has been a very difcult year.
The economic situation has put pressure on everyone. Our golf clubs are
under great strain and e have seen some fall by the ayside and are
ta!en over.
"s I rite this report there are continuing discussions on the stability of
several and the dreaded #levies$ ord is bac! in vogue. Our members
have all been a%ected by subscription and playing fee increases as clubs
struggle to !eep on an even !eel. Increasing fuel prices &and tolls for us
'autengers( ma!e gol)ng costs less and less a%ordable. The spiral is a
vicious one as the ever increasing charges chase more and more golfers
into longer or! lives and less golf.
These problems are not uni*ue to +outh "frica and in the ,+" there are a
reported estimated 1-.00 clubs. /oever since 2000 these have
decreased by an estimated 1-01120 annually.
One of the results of the pressure on clubs has been the introduction of
loyalty cards and special playing fee structures to incentivise club
members to play their golf at their home club, not having to pay high
visitors rates. 3et every club is trying to attract corporate and visitor
rounds to subsidise member golf and specials are the order of the day. 4e
believe that one ay forard for clubs ould be for clubs ith li!e
subscription and playing fee structures to allo greater 5e6ibility in their
playing fee charges to visitors from those clubs, in other ords alloing
greater local reciprocity to each others members. This or!s very ell in
7ohannesburg over the 8hristmas season, is it not no time to ma!e it a
more permanent arrangement9
"t the closing dinner in 7ohannesburg :ast :resident +teyn :ienaar made a
plea for +eniors to give up some of their comfort ;one and get involved in
the management of their clubs, giving the clubs the bene)t of their
e6perience and business acumen.
<egrettably little of this seems to have happened. =ore and more $young
Tur!s$ rush into club committees, often forgetting the value of the steady
regular rounds played by the older members. 8ourses are set up for young
bloods, not creating a pleasant playing environment for the older age
groups. +adly, the e%ect has been the departure of some of those players
for the cheaper pleasures of bols and T> sport.
To add to all of these oes the diminishing real income of many players
creates its on pressures as investment returns become increasingly ris!y
and sound )nancial practice demands more conservative policies. +eniors
is also a%ected by these problems.
=ost provinces have seen ne member numbers under pressure and most
are under *uota at present. One problem being seen is that here +eniors
have home clubs there is a tendency toards greater +enior membership
from home club members and the creation of $clubs ithin clubs$.
?i!eise the loyalty cards often mean that a holder of the card is less and
less illing to play aay from home, if this is then not the +eniors +ociety
home the problem orsens.
I believe the boo!ing of aay games has become increasingly e6pensive
and difcult, this despite the stated desire to attract visitor rounds by
clubs.
4here does +',+" stand against this bac!ground9
The membership numbers are marginally don on those of previous years.
One ray of sunshine is the steady groth of @orthern 'auteng and e loo!
forard to their ta!ing their place in the @ational Tournament roster in Aust
a fe years.
"lready they have stepped up to the plate and successfully hosted the
Interprovincial caddie tournament tice, ith a third coming up in 201B.
+',+" )nances are a strong and sustainable. The Cinancial +tatements for
the year are published belo and ma!e good reading. The funds under
administration are capable of supporting the administration costs of the
,nion and of carrying any disaster should one befall a @ational
Tournament.
Cor many years no e have sponsored and administered the annual
Interprovincial 8addie Tournament. The main obAectives in so doing have
been to assist :rovincial 'olf ,nions in their promotion of better conditions
for caddies through training and holding provincial leagues. This has not
met universal favour and several provinces have not ta!en much action in
this area, both ithin +eniors and the :rovincial ,nions themselves.
The 'overning Dody of +',+" directed =ancom to secure assistance from
+"'" but I am disappointed to say that although e have met ith +"'"
representatives e have not made much progress. It is a strong possibility
that the 201B Tournament ill be the last run under our banners.
The plan is that the funds previously made available to fund this
tournament ill be made available to those societies ho are able to
achieve the main obAectives through cooperation ith their :rovincial golf
,nions.
?i!eise, during the same meeting ith +"'" e attempted to eliminate
the confusion in names beteen our +ocieties and the organisation run
under +"'" previously !non as $+enior "mateurs$. In this e ere
advised that +enior "mateurs no longer e6ists and that future events run
for older golfers ill be billed as +"'" senior events.
Than!s largely to the e%orts of our past Treasurer, <obin 4righton e have
succeeded in clearing the ta6 status of most of the provincial societies and
to con)rm that they are not ta6 paying entities. Our than!s to <obinE
One area that has received lots of attention over the past years has been
the use of forard tees and the conditions for our competitions.
The dictum of +"'" in this regard has made life a lot easier and I can no
con)rm that +eniors @ational Tournament competitions ill in future be
played from a single set of user friendly tees ith all participants playing
from full handicaps. These tees ill be properly rated.
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2013 National Tournament.
Fast ?ondon is an e6ceedingly pleasant venue and many than!s are due to
Dorder for hosting such a friendly and successful 2013 Tournament.
4ell prior to the tournament it as recognised that the *uality of the 4est
Dan! golf course and clubhouse as a concern. " number of visits ere
made to 4est Dan! and speci)c proposals made as to course preparation.
The sta% and management of 4est ban! ere e6tremely helpful and co1
operated ell. "s part of this process a generic document $8ourse
preparation $as prepared and should be of future bene)t.
The camaraderie and social interaction remains central to the @ational
Tournament and perhaps more attention should be given to the mid1ee!
social event in order to facilitate these e6pectations, particularly as it has
been decided on a trial basis in Gurban to streamline the event by
eliminating the +unday from the programme.
Fntries ere limited to 32B. This is a very manageable number for a
variety of reasons and it is li!ely that this number ill in future remain the
limit hatever the demand. @otithstanding the course set1up guidelines
discussed at length ith Dorder, there ere still some glitches ith the
relative position of tees. This aspect re*uires more direct intervention
from the local team. Ha1Iulu @atal is using a single set of tees so that
this
particular problem is obviated.
:lanning for the 201. Dloemfontein tournament has started hich "rthur
'ilbert and his team are determined to ma!e a success.
"s alays our than!s are due to +cotty "shton +cot and his helpers for the
Dorder arrangements and to <oss 'rainger and 7ets!e for their e%orts in
ensuring a smooth administration
Financial Statements.
Guring the year e investigated hether it ould be possible to enAoy the
same *uality of audit, yet presenting a much abridged set of accounts.
These accounts are in line ith this reporting and, e believe, give
members sufcient information to Audge the current assets and liabilities
of the ,nion as ell as the summarised income and e6penditure on a
meaningful basis ithout having to ade through 30 pages of policies and
schedules as though +',+" as a 7+F *uoted company. 4e ould
elcome any comment o the success or otherise of our e%orts.
International Tours.
Guring Cebruary and =arch 2013 to groups of +outh "frican +eniors
embar!ed on very successful tours of "ustralia hosted by the +enior
'olfersJ +ociety of "ustralia. The programmes prepared by the hosts
included golf on some onderful courses, some of hich rated amongst
the best in "ustralia, combined ith an interesting and varied programme
for the non1golfers and on free days.
The Fastern tour captained by 7ohn Dronrigg and consisting of 1- +eniors
and their ives visited /obart &Tasmania(, 8anberra and +ydney before
completing their tour in Drisbane on the 'old 8oast on 2B =arch. In all the
touring party played nine games of golf and ere very ell loo!ed after by
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their hosts. The *uality of the company, food and beverages enAoyed by
the tourists as sadly not matched by the *uality of their golf and they
ere soundly beaten in most of the matches ith the ladies faring
marginally better.
The +outhern tour by a group of 1B +eniors and their ives and captained
by 7ohn ?udig commenced their tour on 22 Cebruary in =elbourne before
heading o% to "delaide and the completion of the tour in :erth. The +outh
"fricans proved their proess and grit by triumphing 211 in =elbourne,
recovering from a 011 de)cit. The rigours of late nights, high temperatures
and good food and drin! clearly too! their toll and the touring party as
thoroughly trounced in "delaide and :erth.
In all, the tours ere great successes and much enAoyed by the
participants, largely due to the onderful hospitality shon by the hosts.
=any friendships ere reneed and forged and ill doubtlessly endure for
many years to come.
In 7uly +',+" as represented by to teams of four at the 2013 Hing
?eopold 8hallenge in Delgium played at the <oyal "nterp '8 and the
4ouse :lantage '8. The teams ere captained by ?yle ThKle, ith Dobby
7ohnston as vice captain, and ac*uitted themselves ell, coming -th and
0th overall.
"pparently the greensomes event proved to be their undoing. The
participants all thoroughly enAoyed the e6perience, not least as a result of
the superb organisation and hospitality accorded them.
"lthough invited to participate, e ere unable to send representative
teams to the International =eeting in Geauville during 7uly or to the 4orld
+enior 'olf International Team Tournament in @e =e6ico, ,+", during
"ugust 2013.
The +enior 'olfersJ +ociety of the ,nited Hingdom has accepted an
invitation for 1- +eniors and their ives to tour +outh "frica from the 23rd
Cebruary until the 13th =arch 201.. The tour is scheduled to commence in
8ape Ton ith the tourists visiting 'eorge and Gurban before travelling
to 7ohannesburg. Giscussions are underay ith the host +ocieties
regarding )nalisation of the itinerary.
General.
Guring the year e have been luc!y to have received :residential visits
from 7immy +tott on to occasions and have bene)tted from his
participation. I ould li!e to than! the members of =ancom for their
e%orts and the considerable time they put into ensuring the a%airs of the
,nion are sound and continuing to support +',+".
Our secretary, 7ets!e Hingma, has again supported +',+" efciently and
has made our =ancom lives much easier. /er administrative capabilities
are e*ualled only by her ability to !no and greet all members of our
@ational familyE To her, and on your behalf also, my special than!sE
John Hare
Chairman
Management Committee
Senior Golfers Union of South Africa
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AGN!A I TM 3
"#ituaries $ 2013
%or&er Mel 'ight
(on )hilli*s
!es +eir
,arol& +hit-el&
astern )ro.ince Carl &e +it
/ohan le (ou0
/ules "**erman
Free State )iet Malher#e
)eter .an 1iegen
Gauteng Mi2e ,u&&3
/ac2 4earne3
!a.i& 'aing
Cecil 'or&
45a6ulu7Natal /ohn %atho
Gor&on Clo5
+all3 Ferguson
Ian Ma05ell
%arr3 McGarr
+illie Mu2hei#er
Northern Ca*e
Southern Ca*e /ac2 %ar2hui8en
/ohn ,u&&3
+estern )ro.ince !ennis %riggs
/ohn Commins
Colin glin
Cli.e Scott
Norman +alton
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AGN!A I TM 9. 2
)(")"S! F"( !ISCUSSI"N %: T, GAUTNG C"MMITT
" proposed stance by +eniors on the use of forard tees in :inehurst
competitions as tabled at the 'auteng 8ommittee and accepted. It as also
decided to table the suggestion at a meeting of =ancom for consideration and if
approved to be forarded to the various +ocieties for consideration.
$It is recommended that the +enior +ociety of 'auteng adopt the folloing rule
hich ould apply to all :inehurst competitions conducted under its auspicesL
" golfer electing to play o% a particular set of tees at the start of a
competition ta!ing place over more than one round, may not alter his election
for the duration of the competition ithout the consent of the 8ommittee of
the +enior 'olfersJ +ociety of 'auteng.
In addition golfers participating in :inehurst competitions conducted under the
auspices of the +ociety are strongly encouraged, in !eeping ith the spirit
both of the game of golf and that of +eniors, to play o% the tee mar!ers
normally used by that golfer.$
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AGN!A I TM 9. 3
)(")"S! F"( !ISCUSSI"N %: T, GAUTNG C"MMITT
C"U(S STAN!A(!S AT NATI"NA' T"U(NAMNTS
The 'overning Dody discuss and give direction for the future of @ational
TournamentMs at venues ith golf courses that are not up to Tournament
standards.
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AGN!A I TM 9. ;
)(")"S! F"( !ISCUSSI"N %: T, GAUTNG C"MMITT
(A''"CATI"N "F CA!!I T"U(NAMNT FUN!S
+hould the "nnual 8addie Tournament be cancelled, =ancom be
authorised to ma!e the funds allocated to the Tournament available to
regional caddie leagues that re*uire assistance.
=ancom supports this proposal ith the proviso that these funds only be
allocated to regional associations here the provincial society is involved
and gives assistance.
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AGN!A I TM 9. <
(e $ a**ointment of the Management Committee
The 8onstitution of +',+" provides that the =anagement 8ommittee shall
be appointed by the 'overning Dody on the recommendation made by the
8ommittee of the +enior 'olfers +ociety of 'auteng.
The 'auteng +ociety has recommended that the present =anagement
8ommittee be
re1elected en bloc.
The 'overning Dody is as!ed to con)rm this appointment.
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