Apologies from all those not here.

Present:- PL, MS, ABW, DF, TM, AW, DGM,PB, GW< CM< JG< EE, MM, GA, CD, MC, LW & TH Golf only.

PF injured, The Chair on the Rhine.

Competition Results;

Could be a record number of participants today, 18 in total!

Seven twos, the pot was placed in the swears tin since the Geezers Cards were not operational!

Duffer of the Day with 23 points was Jethro.

Deputy Duffer of the Day with 24 points was Two Beers.

Third Place and receiving £3 was Dewey with 38 points.

Runner up was Shagpile with 40 points and £5

This week’s winner was Winscale with 41 points and £10 prize.

Handicaps will be adjusted as appropriate.

Swears made £5.40 this week!! A much better effort.

Toasts:

Tom Lewis for winning the Portugal Masters

Justin Rose for winning the Fed Ex Cup and $10m

Oliver Fisher for first competitive 59 on European Tour

Tiger was nominated but not much enthusiasm for a toast!

Previous minutes were agreed.

Matters Arising

None

AOB

Crocs has now in his hand the final set of cards for the eclectic.

Hunley Hall sorted JG to circulate tee times.

PRESENT: C.M, T.M, P.F, J.G, L.W, E.E, K.S, G.W, M.M, A.B-W, T.H.
APOLOGIES: F.B. M.M apologised in advance for his absence on 1-8 October.
RESULTS: One 2 was posted by the lucky old Scuttler who scooped today’s prize plus a rollover of £2.40 from the previous week. The Geezer, Brains and El Mat were joint D’soD with a miserable 26 points apiece. DDoD was Shagpile with 28 points. The runner up was Jethro with 38 points. The winner and today’s champine was the resolute and ever popular Johnnie Walker with a magnificent 39 points.

Soapy agreed to Chair today’s meeting due to the absence of the Straggler and the Rabbi.

TOASTS: To Justin Rose on his rise to world No. 1.
To Lewis Hamilton who won another GP.

LAST WEEKS MINUTES WERE ACCEPTED IN THEIR ENTIRETY.
MATTERS ARISING: Shotgun reported that he and the Chair were intent on approaching the club manager to voice their concerns about the poor state of the course. However he discovered that Alex Tate was also intent on approaching the manager on behalf of the Seniors, to voice similar concern and to invite him to the next Seniors committee meeting to acknowledge the poor state of the course and its lack of preparation. Alex, it was reported would speak on behalf of the Seniors, the ladies committee and the MOHGS. Shotgun awaits information on the results of the discussion.

HUNLEY: Brains reported that the arrangements were going well. All monies had been paid and the rooms had been allocated. Bob Hallet and Geoff Ainsley have hired a buggy which they will share for the weekend.

Due to the game at Hunley, members should be aware that there will very few if any people available to play at Morpeth on Monday 15 October.

DIRTY DOZEN: The match v the DD on Oct 1, is now in doubt after a straw poll revealed that many members are unavailable on that day. There will be further discussion next week. Meanwhile it is hoped that the DD will be patient and keep their powder dry until a mutually convenient date can be found.

Soapy apologised for his absence for the next three weeks whilst he is on holiday in Oz.
There being no other business, the meeting closed at 1.30.

Kwok.

PRESENT: C.M, D.G-M, A.B-W, F.B, K.S, P.L, E.E, P.F, J.G, D.F, T.H, T.M.

RESULTS: Today’s game was a 3 ball with the best two scores counting off 90% of each h/cap. This was a very close encounter with only 5 shots separating the teams. D’soD were Kwok, the Straggler and Soapy with 69 points. DD’s with 71 points were Scuttler, 2Beers and Shotgun. The runners up were the Geezer, Crocs and Rabbi with 72 points. The overall winners and champines of the week were the popular triumvirate of Brains, Jethro and the Laird with 74 points. No 2’s were recorded.

FINANCES: Unfortunately no record was taken of the amounts collected in Geezers cards or swears.

TOASTS: To Alistair Cook on his retirement from test cricket after a record breaking career.
To Matthew Fitzpatrick who won the Swiss Open.
To the Scottish ladies football team who qualified for the World Cup.

The Minutes of the last meeting were accepted.

MATTERS ARISING: Just a reminder that Buggies are not included this year. Anyone wanting/needing one might want to see if anyone else would be interested in sharing before making their arrangements Hunley Hall.
# A message for the esteemed Robert Hallett esq. It is proposed that the return encounter with the DD be held on Monday 1st October at Morpeth. Please make enquiries and respond asap.
€ Crocs advised that the eclectic will more than likely be available by the end of September. No Year was mentioned.

The remainder of the meeting was taken up by a testosterone driven discussion about the present state of the course and the apparent indifference of the authorities to its sad decline. The Chair opened the discussion and cut straight through the Gordion Knot and in so doing unleashed a hornets nest of biblical proportion. Pent up feelings and raw emotion as well as festering grudges rose to the surface in a litany of diatribes against officialdom. The Chair was required to steady the ship and keep a firm hand on the tiller but he became so agitated that the ship was almost grounded with all hands lost.
The gist of the problem was the poor state of the course last week. There were many temporary greens which had not been adequately cut and were very small. Some flags were missing and there was no hole at all on the 13th. The same conditions applied on Past Captains day last week which was felt by many to be disrespectful.The poor state of bunkers and lack of sand were also mentioned.
It was reported that many individuals had visited the manager to lodge complaints. It was felt by some that they were met by indifference.
P.L: There are 170 Senior members at the club. Are they getting a fair crack of the whip?
A.B-W: If the manager is not taking note of our concerns we should take them to the Board.
F.B: Is it worth considering a switch to another club? If we left en masse we could get a better deal elsewhere.
T.H: Most people would find it difficult to leave.
T.M: There are extenuating circumstances at present with absenteeism and sickness within the grounds staff. There is too much emphasis on preparing the course for Saturday matches at the expense of those who play during the week.

A.B-W was prepared to write a letter on behalf of the MOHGS to register our concern about the state of the course, however it was decided that the most appropriate action would be firstly to register a verbal complaint with the manager and if this proved unsatisfactory, to take the complaint to a higher authority. The Chair was happy to accept this compromise but he made it clear that he was no longer willing to keep his powder dry and in the best interests of Morpeth G.C he was willing to sail as close to the wind as possible in order to obtain playing conditions to match the expertise and commitment of the MOHGS.

D.F apologised for his absence for the next few weeks.

The meeting closed at 1.30pm.

B.Kwok.

Attendees
FB, KS, TM, JG, GA, DGM, ABW.

Non Attendees
Lots.

Results
DoD Soapy +2
DDoD Twobeers +1
Runner Up Winscale -1
Joint Winners Shotgun and Brains -2

Given the conditions and the condition of the course 2’s were not competed for and swears were allowed (and taken full advantage of by some).

Toasts
Mat Wallace, England Cricket Team, Lewis Hamilton.

Hunley Hall
Cheques received from The Chair, Two Beers and Windscale.

Meeting closed at 1.00 pm.