Dear All

I hope I find you all in good health and hopefully not killing each other during these crazy times. We have

spent many weeks sloshing around in the wet and muddy conditions, and now the sun comes out and we

must stay at home. All the planning which goes on behind the scenes has just been thrown up in the air,

many competitions and events have already been cancelled, and I am sure there will be more in the weeks

to come.

Spare a thought for two of our members, Steve and Ali Lillywhite our incoming 2020 Captains, the planning

that they have done for their year has been phenomenal, how much they will put into place nobody knows.

Saturday 4th April should have been Drive-in Day. I spoke with Steve earlier in the week and they are

planning to have a little drive-in at home, so we may see some pictures. I hope they don’t actually drive in,

Steve could hit the TV in the lounge from the garden, if he has another shank.

The silver lining of our situation will undoubtedly be our awesome golf course, while we are all doing the

things we have been putting off doing for so long, Dave,Tom and the greenkeeping team have been working

hard bringing the course back to the standard we all know and love at DG. How good will it be when we get

back?

We tried to keep the club ticking over in the run up to lockdown, many of us played in the spring scramble,

which was a great success. Also, an intrepid handful attended the Clubs AGM, because of the

understandable amount of apologies received, it was decided we would issue a draft copy of the minutes to

the membership, and ask for any questions you may have for the committee. These questions will be dealt

with when we next convene as a committee, we will then publish a Q&A document on the web site.

Please respond with your questions by Sunday 19th April, to; -

committee@donnington-grove.com

Please use subject “AGM Question”

My I remind you questions may only be asked regarding Donnington Grove Golf Club. Questions directly

related to Sandtrend Ltd will not be dealt with.

We have never given the members this opportunity before, we are in strange times, and, we feel we need

to embrace these times and keep moving forward as a Golf Club. We hope you will all support this unique

opportunity to ask that question you have always wanted to ask but didn’t want to put your hand up. This

just maybe the kick we needed to get that ball rolling forward.

Stay Safe, and care for those you love.

See you all soon

Andy President

Donnington Grove

Golf Club

Donnngton Grove Annual general Meeting 2020

Date: Wednesday 18th March 2020 Time: 19:30 Location: The Cloudy Room, Donnington Grove Golf Club

Attendees: Dave Knight, Sean O’Shea, Sandy Byfield, Alison Lillywhite, Steve Lillywhite, Loraine Storey. Rob Carvill, Vince Hanniffy, Fay Unsworth,Andy Storer, Tom Fleming

Apologies: Anne Marie Gane, Ian Gaskell, Gary Rinaldi, Nick Bowley, Nigel Roberts-Green, Ann Lawson, David Lawson, Gill Lane, Kim Richardson, Tony Coleman,

Time Keeper: Andy Storer

Minute Taker: Andy Storer

Agenda

Annual General meeting 2020

The Cloudy Room

Wednesday 18th March 2020 19:30

Agenda

Welcome by Club President Andy Storer

Accept Apologies

Introduction of AGM Chairman Rob Carvill 2019 Club Captain Andy Storer

Chairman to open the meeting and give a brief introduction. Rob Carvill

Distribution and reading of the 2019 Minutes. All Attendees

Questions arising from the 2019 minutes. All Attendees

2019 Minutes accepted. (Proposed and Seconded)

Management Report (Sandtrend Ltd) Nigel Roberts-Green

Golf and Course report (Director of Golf) Tom Fleming

Lady Captains Report Anne Marie Gane

Club Captains Report Rob Carvill

Financial Report (Club Treasurer) Gill Lane

Adopt The financial report (proposed and seconded)

Motions for the AGM (read by) Andy Storer

The Club Captain closes the official meeting.

The Club Captain Hands over the Chair to the Club Vice-Captain

Club Vice Captain gives a brief overview of the coming year. Steve Lillywhite

Any Other Business

An open discussion with questions from the floor, to the committee or the management, these

subjects will be non-voting, if deemed necessary actioned at a later date.

Vice-Captain officially closes the meeting. Steve Lillywhite

Those eligible to vote

• Full 7-day members

• 5-day members

• 1 representative of a group corporate membership

• Junior members may participate in the debate but do not have a vote.

Welcome /Appologies

The President (AS) welcomed all attendees, thanking them for their attendance in such difficult times. AS brought to the attention all attendees that this is the AGM of Donnington Grove Golf Club, any questions relating directly to Sandtrend Ltd cannot be dealt with at this meeting. A great number of apologies have been received which in the present climate is understandable. AS informed the meeting, a set of draft minutes will be circulated to the membership, for their perusal and, any questions from members will be asked. There will be a specific time scale for these questions. The questions will then be pasted onto the relevant member of committee/management and answers will be posted on the club website and included within the final minutes of the meeting. AS introduced the Chairman of the meeting Rob Carvill (RC)

Chairman Club Captain 2019 (RC)

Along with my fellow Captains Anne Marie, Ian and your committee, I would like to welcome you all and thank you for attending the AGM this evening. On your seats you will find a copy of the 2019 AGM minutes in the meeting pack, many thanks to TC for compiling the minutes over the last years. If you have not already done so, please take a few moments to read through last years minutes.

Minutes of 2019 AGM (Compiled By Tony Coleman)

Minutes of the 2019 Annual General Meeting of Donnington Grove Golf Club

Held at Donnington Grove Country Club on Wednesday 20th March 2018

Committee members present; Tony Coleman (TC), Gill Lane (GL), Dave Adams (DA), Kim Richardson (KR), Rob Carvill (RC), Anne-Marie Gane (A-MG), Chris Armitage (CA), Andy Storer (AS), Nick Bowley (NB) Dave Knight (DK) Nigel Roberts-Green (NRG), Tom Fleming (TF) Total Members present 25 (9 Committee; 3 Management; 13 Members) Apologies: Tom Lane, Fay Unsworth and Mike Unsworth. The Club President Tony Coleman welcomed all to the 2019 AGM opened the meeting at 7.30pm and introduced The Chairman, Club Captain Dave Adams (DA) DA Welcomed all present and asked if they would read through the minutes from last years AGM that had already been distributed, when the time allowed had lapsed, TC asked if there were any questions or matters arising from said minutes. There were no matters arising from the minutes: TC asked for the minutes be accepted as a true and accurate record of the 2018 AGM, and were proposed by Andy Storer, and seconded by Geoff Kells, all members present accepted them unanimously. TC stated a copy would now be placed on the website for all members to see. TC handed the meeting back to the chairman (DA) DA then invited Nigel Roberts-Green General Manager DGCC to present his report Management Report: Firstly, welcome to you all, I would like to start with a few thank you’s for the support and dedication and time the committee members have given the golf club over the last year, thank you to the Club President TC and the club captains Dave, Kim and Chris, and of course, to the Treasurer Gill. After tonight’s meeting there will be some late refreshments, with my compliments, served in the bar downstairs. The Driving range facilities are much improved and a special thank you to Paul Bailes for his support with the electrical hardware and installation. Champagne Roll up As in prior years Sandtrend will continue to support the weekly members Champagne Roll up with £25 per week for the member’s draw – we start this year on April 19th Congratulations to Mike Unsworth winning last year “pot”. Good luck to everyone for 2019 – remember you have to be in the bar when the random number is selected to claim the prize! My Thanks to the Club Committee Please remember that the Committee, thankfully, consists of a dedicated team of members all with excellent knowledge and commitment to our club and to you the members; their behind the scenes activities enable you to simply turn up and play golf. Members Reps, please use the committee members reps (Gary Rinaldi), as a communication channel to raise any concerns and suggestions you feel need to be raised at the committee meetings, this is the best route for things to be discussed. Not forgetting the comments book in the pro shop which will also indicate when items have been actioned. Greenstaff, thank you to Dave Knight and his team, for their continued efforts, there has been an enormous improvement in the course condition, and we all aspire that this continues. Finally, I would like to personally thank Tom Fleming for his positivity and continued persistence to improve. 2019 sees a small increase in membership after we have held our fees for three consecutive years, going forward we will continue to review our pricing and membership categories. We have begun to tighten up on the number of existing categories and over the following years this will streamline membership, and visitors green fee pricing. Some of our IT and internal procedures may have been a bit of a learning curve, but Tom’s expertise, knowledge and focus has shown positive results demonstrated in the new members joining and positive feedback. 2019 will be another exciting year full of new ideas and initiatives and I look forward to working with the new captains, Rob, Anne-Marie and Ian, and not forgetting our new Club president Andy Storer.

DA invited Tom Fleming (TF) Director of Golf to present the Golf and Course report Golf and Course report Firstly, I’d like to start by thanking all the members for bearing with me in my first year as Director of Golf. Hopefully this year coming will be slightly more productive. I would also like to thank Nigel, Dave, Joanne, Janet and all the hotel staff for all their help and hard work this year. To Nick, Lorraine and Chris thank you for all your hard work over the year and lets all look forward to a prosperous and fruitful new season. Membership, currently as of today we have 439 members. Our strongest category is 7 day with 158 members, followed by the seniors with 53 and then the ladies with 47. All the rest are across the board. The membership at Donnington Grove is strong but we are constantly looking at ways to introduce new members and especially in the categories that fall short of our target numbers. Golf Tournaments, this year as you know I have tried to get a few big tournaments to the club to try and raise the profile of the venue. I thank all the members for giving up their golf course on these days and I hope you understand the benefit of having these events. I thank all of the volunteers at these events in advance and I hope to see lots of you there spectating. On this note I feel that we have a maximum number of days that we can close the course to member’s, and I assure you that you are always in mind when we are booking them. About the course. Dave currently has a team of 8 full Staff, 1 part time Mechanic, Course maintenance, 2018 was a particularly strange year with one of the hottest periods for 30 years and I think Dave and his team did a fantastic job keeping the course playing well. They were often out at midnight watering the greens and surrounds to keep them green throughout the hot weather. Unfortunately, we lost a couple of tees at this time in particular the 12th and the ladies 3rd. The irrigation system is now 25 years old and some areas are not working as well as they should be. We will try and keep on top of this area of maintenance in 2019. Over the past year the focus from Dave and his team has been on restoring the greens to the high quality that they have been in previous years and this will not change throughout 2019. Micro-tining and dressing has been the main reason for the improvement and in 2019 dressing the greens will be a regular procedure every two weeks. More fertiliser will be put down to encourage growth and produce an even surface. At the start of the growing season however we may see a few bobbles as the dominant species of grass (Bent) will grow slightly quicker than the POA and will become noticeable as the day goes on. This will only be a few weeks and then as the summer starts the greens should be running true and fast. The running speed of the greens through 2018 was at an average of 8.5 -9 and in 2019 we aim to keep this at 9 -9.5. The introduction of three hand mowers should mean the surfaces stay at the level we have all come to expect. Spraying, Over the year we have been very proactive, regularly spraying preventatives to stop the greens getting disease whereas last year the weather caused some areas of Fusarium this year we have managed to keep the disease at bay. This will again be part of the operation throughout the year. On a personal note I think the winter greens here have been some of the best I have played on. We will continue to invest in the necessary maintenance of the course. This includes all the chemicals, machinery, irrigation system and old for new replacements. Last year Santrend agreed to build us a driving range and I hope you all agree that it has been a success. No small thanks go to Paul Bailes who provided the mirrors and electrics to make this a great facility for the members. Pitch marks have been a massive problem this year. I urge all members to repair their pitch marks and maybe the odd one they may see elsewhere. I talk to a lot of people about pitch marks and we have had a lot of complaints from members. Whenever I do the same line comes up, “well, I repair two or three on every green” if this was true there would never be any so I must ask people to look after their course. Bunker sand, we have just begun putting some new sand in the bunkers. The sand is called China clay and is recycled material including sand. I have played at a number of courses over the year with this sand and it is easier to maintain and produces a more consistent surface for play. The process of changing the sand is not an easy one and will almost be 2 years before completion. I hope you have all felt that the course has been good this year and we will try and keep things improving throughout 2019.

On a final note I would like to thank the committee for putting up with my stupid ideas and causing conversations to be far longer than necessary. In particular I would like to thank Andy Storer, Kim Richardson and TC. Andy has worked tirelessly to create all the competitions that the members get to play in and helps me whenever I have pressed the wrong button. Kim has been amazing this year from baking fantastic cakes for raffles and prizes to delving into the Tardis that is her truck and producing all manner of things to help when needed. And to TC, he has been fantastic for me this year and always has the best interest of Donnington Grove in mind. Thank you to you all and I hope for a great year ahead. DA thanked TF for his report then asked the Lady Captain, Kim Richardson (KM) to present her report. Lady Captain’s report: Good evening Mr President, Mr Captain, Committee members, Members, Green Staff and Pro Shop staff. I am very proud to be presenting the achievements of our Ladies section during my thoroughly enjoyable reign as the Ladies Captain during 2018. Throughout the year as well as some achieving some fantastic golf results we have enjoyed a variety of fun social activities, including a Craft evening painting pottery, a bulb planting morning, planting up golf bags, a cocktail master class, a potluck supper evening, movie night and 2 golf breaks, one to Tewkesbury and St Marys in South Wales. We also enjoyed a fabulous Christmas ball and ladies Christmas lunch. One of our main fund raisers of the year was Catherine and Maureen’s Garden Party, hosted in John and Maureen’s beautiful garden. They prepare and provide all the delicious cakes and sandwiches themselves, charging a nominal amount for this popular event. This year they raised a fantastic £610, all going to the Newbury Cancer Care Charity. I would like to thank all the members who have bought raffle tickets on Friday nights for cakes. Thank you for digging deep and giving so generously, and for The Snowman Vase filled with golf balls (191) also raised £163, with the winning hamper won by Gill Lane. Sue Foote kindly organised the eclectic this year, which raised £55, well done to Lorraine for the best Nett score and to Fay for the lowest Gross score. Our busy calendar of 8 Ladies friendly matches and 8 mixed matches resulted in 3 wins, 2 losses, one halved match and 1 not played due to bad weather for the ladies’ friendlies. In The mixed matches we scored slightly better by winning 4, halved 2 and 2 were not played due to the weather. I would like to thank all the members who took part in these matches. Our ladies’ section, whilst only being 47 strong is most definitely strong on character, skill and competitiveness. This is evident in the results at Open Events, Board Competitions and County Events, I will highlight a few but a more condensed list can be found on your seat, as there are so many to mention, I thought reading it for yourselves would make more of an impact. Many more external competitions were entered but without a top 5 finish. Please join us at the club presentation evening to see your friends, husbands and wives presented with their trophies. One of our most favourite competitions of the year is the friendly match against the seniors, I would like to specifically thank the green staff who I think joined the ladies section that day as the result was a resounding win to the ladies, bad luck seniors we will be looking forward to the return match later this year. The Annodata and Duncan Trophy comps sadly didn’t see us past the first rounds, we will be hoping for a better result this year. Pro Am – whilst being male dominated with only 9 ladies taking part, Jules Julie and Sarah J managed second place with Samantha, Fay, Jan and Alison B finishing in 6th place The Newbury Challenge Cup this year was won and hosted by Deanwood, hopefully again a better result will be achieved as we will be hosting this event later this year. HSL last year saw us pipped on the last putt into second place due to a quirky way of scoring this event, we are determined to win it again this year. Bronze league, organised by Sue Kingham, I thank Sue for her commitment to this event. 4th hole challenge for ladies in competition - this hole has not been birdied by a lady in any competition, so the first one to do so this year will receive a prize. Handicap cuts – Julie, Jules, A-M, Katherine, Ann L, Maria, Sue Foote and myself. Coffee and golf morning was a great success, thank you to Julie and Jules for organising it.

Both The Ladies Open and the Mixed Open saw an increased number of players, great to build on that for this year so please encourage all your golfing friends to enter. Finally, there have been a few ladies this year having to deal with or support loved ones with health issues. As you rest and heal, know that you are thought of warmly and wished a quick recovery. Do not forget that you can rely on your good friends for help or for anything that you might need, so do not hesitate in asking for help. Thank you again to all the ladies, to TC, David Adams, the committee and staff at Donnington Grove, I wish Anne-Marie, that you enjoy the year as much as I have, and before you know it, you will be standing here this time next year. TC thanked the Lady Captain and invited DA to read the Club Captains report Captain’s report I will try and keep it as brief as possible….!! I am very proud and honoured to have been your Club Captain over the last 12 months in what was our 25th Anniversary year. On the whole, I have thoroughly enjoyed my year but feel, that at times, I have not been able to give it my all due to very busy work commitments - I would not have been able to make what I hope has been a successful year without the support of so many members and staff. Firstly, I would like to thank my fellow Captain’s Kim & Chris for all their hard work and effort over the past year in keeping the very busy and well supported Ladies & Seniors sections organised and healthily active. It is a credit to you both and your vice-captains (Anne-Marie & Ian) that things have run so smoothly and successfully. Thanks to Nigel Roberts Green and all the bar, restaurant, kitchen & hotel staff for all your support and assistance throughout the year and in particular for helping to organise and run a very successful Members Christmas Ball. Your continued efforts in acting as a conduit between the members and the owners, Sandtrend Ltd, are much appreciated. Thanks to Dave Knight and all his green keeping staff and volunteers for once again presenting the course in such a good condition. I had real concerns at the Captain’s Drive-In last year that, following a prolonged period of very wet weather, we would start the year with a trolley ban. Thankfully, I was wrong, but we then had an incredible dry spell and yet more challenging conditions. I am sure that you will all agree, particularly since the DG Pro-Am in late October, that the course and greens have been in fantastic condition with ongoing improvements being made all the time. The difference over the past year has been remarkable and it is a privilege to be able to play on such a well-maintained course. Thanks to Tom Fleming and his team (Chris Devonshire, Nick Mitchell & Lorraine Storey) in the Pro-shop for all your hard work and support over the year – the Pro-shop seems to go from strength to strength and we now have a varied mixture of fun competitions, quiz evenings and other entertainments. I’d particularly like to thank Tom for his continued help, advice and support to Dave and the green staff. Thanks also to the various Team Captains (Kim, Maggie, Sue, Fay, Gill, Graham, TC, Jason, Craig & Steve – my apologies if I have missed anyone) in what has been another busy & successful year for the club. Good luck to all our Team Captains for the coming year – please continue to support and participate in these varied team events. Thanks to Mel, Craig (and I think Graham?) for running the ever-popular Champagne Roll-ups on Friday night; I believe that there has also been an informal Roll-up between the end of September and the re-start of the Champagne Roll-up in April? My sincere and heartfelt thanks to the whole of the Committee (TC, Gill, Andy, Kim, Chris, Rob, Anne-Marie, Tom, Nigel, Joanne, Dave, Gary and Nick) for your unstinting support, time & commitment during the past year – it has been a privilege & pleasure working with you all. I would particularly like to high-light the huge amount of work done by the Club Officers and thank them for all their hard work and efforts above and beyond the call of duty: - Gill Lane – Club Treasurer, Andy Storer – Competitions & Handicap Secretary (ably supported by Steve Gridley) TC – Club President, who will this June step down after 8 years in the position when Andy Storer will become the next Club President Kim & I chose to support the Rainbow Rooms (part of the Newbury & District Cancer Care Trust based at West Berkshire Community Hospital) as this year’s Club Charity. I am delighted to confirm that we have

managed to raise a fantastic total in excess of £10,000 and this figure will be doubled by match funding by the Greenham Trust (thank you TC for facilitating this) so we will be able to present a cheque for over £20,000 at the forthcoming Presentation Evening (Saturday 11th May) - Gill will hopefully confirm the final figure in her Report. I would like to single out Kim and her ever willing band of lady volunteers for all their hard work, baking, raffles and supporting events that have made this such a success. Kim has been an outstanding Ladies Captain and ambassador for the Club & Charity. I would also like to the Seniors for all their fund-raising efforts. As my predecessor, Graham, said last year, the reason that this club runs so well is largely down to the passionate and committed people who work behind the scenes and assist in many ways. A huge thank you to all those members & staff that have helped or assisted us in any way during the year. It does not go unnoticed and is greatly appreciated by the Captains & Committee. Finally, I would ask that you give your full support and assistance to the incoming Club Captain (Rob Carvill), Ladies Captain (Anne-Marie Gane) and Seniors Captain (Ian Gaskell) and their Respective Vice-Captains. I wish them every success in the coming year and believe that we leave you in good hands DA introduced The Treasurer GL and asked her to present the financial report for the past year. Treasurer’s report Income and Expenditure The Club made an operating loss of £820 in 2018. Total Income Competitions Income showed an increase from £9,463, to £9,564 and the amount paid out in vouchers also increased from £5,685 to £5,769. Fines charged to Members for late pulling out of competitions dropped from £47 to £20. There was no sponsorship for the Club Championships this year again, with no profit being taken at the Captains’ Drive in, and an decrease in the takings from the bar at the Club Champs from £256 to £181, we were still again able to give a small gift to all participants, costing £288. Club ties have continued to be on sale during the year, However with a stock check we have had to write off a further 3 (given away for various reasons), and a small amount of interest has been received on the Committee funds, resulting in total profit for the year of £166. Total Expenditure This has increased during the year from £882 to £987. There are some significant differences between the 2 years: The entry fees paid towards team entries club competitions increased from a total of £538 last year to £637 this year. Balance Sheet The Club’s total funds stand at £8,756, Current assets are £14,678, being cash in the bank of £14,450, plus debtors of £228 relating to Club ties which were unsold at 31 December 2018, Total liabilities stand at £5,922; this sum relates to vouchers still unclaimed, prizes to be given at the forthcoming prize giving, and the Memorial Fund which has £679 remaining Charity Account GL highlighted the fantastic effort made by both the Ladies and the Senior’s sections in fundraising, but commented that a significant sum had once again come from the auctions on the Captains Charity day raising £4567 The total raised for David, Chris and Kim’s charity currently stands at £10,381 GL asked if there were any questions about the accounts As there were no further questions from the floor, TC asked for a proposer and seconder, they were proposed by Cliff Waller and seconded by Steve Lillywhite. The meeting accepted the accounts as a true record for the previous financial year. DA thanked GL for her report and asked TC to read the motions to be considered by the 2019 AGM TC announced that notices and agendas had been posted around the clubhouse and on the website for the periods quoted in the club constitution and as the committee had received no correspondence from the members in the said time, there were no motions to be considered for the AGM. TC then handed the meeting to Rob Carvill, the Vice-Captain to officially close the meeting and asked him to present an overview of the year ahead.

RC announced that the official AGM was now closed. Overview of the year ahead by the Vice-Captain Rob Carvill Firstly, I would like to say what a great honour it is for me to become Club Captain at Donnington Grove. I have been playing golf at various clubs since I was in my early teens and compared with each of these in the present-day Donnington Grove has such a lot going for it; not only with the rapidly improving course but also the vibrant and inclusive membership. I am proud to become Captain and look forward to working closely with Anne-Marie and Ian during the coming year. There are many people I need to thank for making this possible; Dave and the committee for allowing me to become his vice; Steve Lilywhite for agreeing to become mine, and for the amazing start he has made to this role already with his work on the club teams and keeping the website updated with information on them; the way he is carrying on you would think he was after my job! My sincere thanks to Tom, for the tremendous improvement to the condition of the course since he became director of golf due to working closely with Dave Knight and also, for the support he has already offered for my role in the coming year. Nigel and the hotel staff have been very supportive in suggesting ways in which subsidised catering may help to bolster forth-coming events. Kim, Chris and Dave have done a fantastic job of raising money for their charity this year. For our charity for 2019-20 I suggested Taylor Made but the other Captains’ wouldn’t hear of it, so we too are supporting the cancer ward, the Rainbow Rooms at West Berkshire Hospital. Turkey Trot, I hope to make changes to some events this year and to introduce some new ones. Although the winter warmer in November has proved quite popular the committee has agreed to moving this to December and rebranding it a Turkey Trot. As the name suggests prizes will consist mostly of vouchers for turkeys and hampers. Night Golf, we also plan to arrange a 9-hole night golf event next winter with supper to round off the evening. I am sure many of us have played in Internationals at other courses; they tend to add an element to our natural competitiveness – I am hoping to try one here at Donnington. At this point, I would like to put in an early word about the Summer Ball we are planning on organising this year. They have been very successful in the past when the weather has allowed us to really appreciate what a special venue this is - the champagne reception is held in the grounds. Your support for this event would be much appreciated. Finally, I wish every member an enjoyable golfing year ahead I will now hand you back to TC for questions on any other business thank you. TC thanked RC and wished him good luck in his year of office along with all the other captains and vice-Captains he also, on behalf of the members, thanked the Club Captain (DA) and the lady Captain (KR) and all the other outgoing Captains for a job well done. TC then offered to all the members present at the AGM, an opportunity to ask general questions to the members of the committee and management in the form of a question and answer forum, for information only, and not to be put to the meeting for a vote, this section would be deemed as any other business. Any Other Business Ian Gaskell asked TF, what’s happening to the greenside bunkers are we just putting new sand on top of the old and what is the schedule. TF responded, No, sand will be removed and replaced we will focus on greenside bunkers first over the next three months and then the existing bunker plan will continue next year Geoff Kells asked TF; have you any further tour events planned. TF responded, no further tour events but quite a busy corporate calendar, however it will be kept down to a minimum to cause as little disruption as possible to the members. Steve Lillywhite asked TF; is the big tree on the 10th coming down. TF responded, No, but it will be cut back to make it more manageable TC asked if there was any other questions, and as there were no further questions, he concluded by thanking DA, KR, GL, NR-G, TF and RC, for their reports and proceeded to, on behalf of all the members, to personally thank Dave Knight and his team for all their hard work in providing us with a very high standard

of golf course whenever possible, considering the terrible weather conditions of the past year. (this was met with a round of applause from all attendees in the AGM. TC then reminded all attendees that refreshments would be provided in the members bar downstairs the compliments of Nigel Roberts-Green, General Manager DGCC (Sandtrend) and handed the meeting back to the Vice-Captain Rob Carvill to close the meeting. The Vice-Captain (RC) declared the AGM closed at 8.20pm AGM minutes prepared by Tony Coleman: Club President.

2019 Minutes

Questions arising from 2019 minutes

No Questions Asked

2019 Minutes Accepted

Proposed by; - Vince Hanniffy

Seconded by; - Fay Unsworth

Management Report (Read by Tom Fleming)

AGM 2020

Firstly, welcome to you all I would like to start with a thank you for the support, dedication and time that the committee members have given the golf club over the last year, thank you to the Club President Andy Storer and the club captains Rob and Anne Marie and Ian and of course to the Treasurer Gill keeping a close eye on the committee funds. The Driving range facilities are much improved and a special thank you to Paul Bailes for his continued support for further developments planned to this area that Tom will detail later. As in prior years Sandtrend will continue to support the weekly members Champagne Roll up with £25 per week for the member’s drawer – remember you have to be in the bar when the random number is selected to be able to claim the prize! As our daily routines begin to be altered by the Corona virus outbreak our imminent plans may be altered and at the time of preparing this our intentions are to progress “as normal”, remain open, especially the golf course. It is likely that there will be cancellation of some functions and others will go-ahead with alternative arrangements for food and drinks if there may have normally been a “large gathering”. The safety of our team we employ, our members and our customers, is of utmost importance to me and decisions will be made with this in mind. In the interim if we can be creative in a safe environment with our business in mind then we will explore any new incentives and promotions. We will be introducing a take-away service from “Beau’s Boxes” for telephone orders and collection of hot and cold meals based around the current bar menu Please remember that the Committee has a dedicated team of representatives with excellent knowledge and commitment to our club and its members; please use the committee members reps , as a communication channel to raise any concerns and suggestions, this is the best route for things to be discussed. Not forgetting the comments book in the pro shop which will also indicate when items are actioned.

In the past twelve months we have seen the course at its best and wettest, thank you to Dave Knight and his team, for their continued efforts too, there has been an enormous improvement in the course condition and we all aspire that this continues

Finally, I would like to personally thank Tom for his positivity and continued persistence to improve what we do. Without his drive and enthusiasm, we would not have seen the growth in revenue and membership in the past year. Tom has developed a solid team in the pro-shop and a good working relationship with Dave’s team that is professional, friendly and welcoming. Our aim is to develop and maintain the membership, improve our reputation and create a club atmosphere that is “Donnington Grove”. It may be some while before normality returns to our daily routines, 2020 will continue to be a challenging year so let’s stay positive, look after each other and look forward to the summer months ahead.

Questions arising from the Management report

No Questions asked

Director of Golf report (TF)

Firstly, I’d like to start by thanking all the members for continuing to support both myself and the club. 2019 has been overall a fruitful year although there have been some tough times and I fear there are more of these to come. I would like to thank Nigel, Dave, Joanne, Janet and all the hotel staff for all their help and hard work this year. To Nick, Lorraine and Chris and Dan it has been a pleasure and our small team manages to come through almost every situation thrown at us and it has been great fun well most of the time.

Membership, currently as of today we have 447 members up from 439 last year. Our strongest category is 7 day with 159 members, followed by the seniors with 61 and then the ladies with 54. All the rest are across the board

The membership at Donnington Grove is strong but we are constantly looking at ways to introduce new members and especially in the categories that fall short of our target numbers. We will continue to look at new ways of reaching out to people and of course improving the facilities and course at DG to try and gather new members across all categories.

Tournaments I will come to these at the end

The course and facilities

Dave currently has a team of 8 full Staff

I want to make a special mention for Dave and his team who I honestly can’t say enough about.

They are out there in every weather and work tirelessly to repair and improve the golf course and this year like the last has thrown its challenges. They don’t get enough praise in my opinion and whilst they are trying to work, they get golf balls hit at them and people shaking their heads and fists which would certainly put me off my work.

The golf course in my opinion has been 1st class for most of the year obviously the rain we have had has made the winter hard but where most other courses have shut or been on temporary greens we have managed to keep you playing and on decent green surfaces too. The fairways and such have obviously been wet and muddy, but we have tried a few things and we will continue to look at how to deal with those types of conditions.

This year even at this point we are still looking at ways to improve the surfaces and over seeding greens and the surrounds, tees and other affected areas in planned as soon as possible so hopefully these areas will play even better than last year. 250 tons of sand will be put into the greens this year and hopefully this will mean they are a better surface all year round.

Iron sulphate has been sprayed on the greens and tees and some other areas to kill the moss which should also improve the playing surfaces.

The bunker sand is ongoing, but the majority of bunkers are now done and hopefully you have all gotten used to the new sand and are getting those bunker shots close

We are looking at continuing to add to the practise facilities with a swing room and short game area which will happen as soon as we can logistically do them.

The aesthetics of the course are always being looked at for example we have laid wood chippings under some of the trees on the back of the green at 18 which I think drastically tidies the area up and we will look to do this around other areas of the course also.

I hope you have all felt that the course has been good this year and we will try and keep things improving throughout 2020.

I would like to stress to the members once again that pitch marks have been a major issue this year once again and whilst I can’t blame anyone group more than another I would like to make sure all members realise that it is part of golf to repair any marks made on greens divots from fairways and rake bunkers. It does not take long and is totally disrespectful to Dave, his team and other members to not repair the damage. That is all.

I would like to thank the committee Andy Storer and the captains Rob and Anne Marie for their hard work over the year and in some trying circumstances they have been at the forefront of the club. Their continued support for all events whether golf, social, charitable or just for fun have been wonderful to see and have made a real difference to the members and guests at DG.

2020 and Corona Virus

I would just like to quickly mention what I am sure is on all our minds.

During the coming months we will do everything we can to keep DG golfers playing golf. I think for us all it is a scary time and I don’t for one minute take it lightly. We will have to all be conscientious to others however I want DG to be a place you can all come get some fresh air, meet your friends and have

Questions arising from Director of Golf report

Vince Hanniffy asked; - Has there been an increase of funds from Sandtrend Ltd for the use of the greenkeeping team? TF replied;- There has been an increase in funds available to the green staff, this is mainly due to the increase in revenue from the golf operation, a pro rata % increase of golf take, and a small increase for some larger projects.

Lady Captains Report (AMG) read by Alison Lillywhite (AL)

Lady Captain’s Report AGM Wednesday March 18th, 2020

Good Evening Mr President, Mr Captain, the Committee and Ladies and Gentlemen of Donnington Grove GC. It is both a pleasure and an honour to be presenting the Ladies Section Achievements to you this evening; we have had a very successful year both on and off the course. On the Social side, we have enjoyed several golf breaks; the first was a weekend visit to St Pierre Golf Club Chepstow in May, we then went to visit a couple of our reciprocal clubs, Hamptworth GC and Boundary Lakes GC in the summer. We have held a divot party, a quiz and tapas evening, film and supper evenings and fun midweek rollups which included an Easter bonnet competition. Not forgetting, our annual and very popular Christmas golf and lunch event where a generous £325 was raised for the charity. However, our main charity fundraiser this year was the annual Afternoon Tea Party organised once again by Maureen Heath and Catherine Moody. This year they raised £610. Over the years, they have baked, gardened, sent out invitations and since they first started doing this, they have raised a grand total of £4,434.00! Another Lady who has baked and raffled cakes in aid of charity is Kim Richardson. Her cakes are legendary and have become a firm feature of the Friday night Champagne Roll up. In the past two years, she has single handily raised £1,341.00. These 3 individuals sum up the generous spirit which runs through the Ladies Section and the supportive nature of the members who have given so generously. The Summer Eclectic competition was once again run very efficiently by Sue Foote and I would like to thank her for giving up her time to do so. This year the Gross winner was Fay Unsworth and the winner of the Nett Score was Lorraine Storey. In the Par Tree Competition, Ann Lawson was the winner and in the Birdie Tree competition, Fay Unsworth. The combined entry fees for these competitions raised another £60 for charity. Congratulations to Shey Walder who joined the hole in 1 club; she achieved it on the 7th hole in the April medal. A number of ladies have succeeded in reducing their Handicap this year, but the greatest reduction was made by Isabel Ember who enjoyed a reduction of 3.5. We continue to maintain good relationships with other clubs by participating in both Ladies and Mixed friendly matches which has resulted in a busy but enjoyable calendar. Of the 8 Ladies Matches we won 5, lost 3 and halved 1. As for the mixed matches, the weather was our largest opponent causing us to cancel 3 games, but we won 3 matches and only lost 1. Thank you to all the members who played and were quick to volunteer their services. From an organisational point of view, this made life very easy indeed. Another annual and keenly contested competition is the Ladies v Seniors match. Despite our best efforts, normal service was resumed as the Seniors won by 2 ½- 1 1/2. Well done Gentlemen! Unfortunately, there were low entries for the Ladies and Mixed Opens and so these were cancelled. However, we did host a Ladies Coffee Morning and a Ladies Invitational competition where we welcomed visitors from 8 different clubs. The DG Ladies have supported and achieved great results in the monthly medals and champagne rollups. Notable winners of DG internal competitions are Maria and Roger Tillett who won the May Madness Competition and Sue Foote who won the Ladies Professional Trophy. However, the main board competition winners this year were: - Julie Myall who won The Japan Cup and the Parasampia Bogey. Julie also went on to win the Anniversary Foursomes with Gill Lane and The Pairs Cup with Sarah Jolly. Fay Unsworth won the Parasampia Cup, the Captain’s Rose Bowl, the Past Captain’s Plate and she also won the 2019 Ladies Club Championship with Katherine Hartwell winning the Nett Ladies Championship. Jan King won the 2019 Mid-Week Championship. And finally, Alison Lillywhite and Andy Storer won the Mixed Greensomes Cup. There have been countless combinations of players entering Opens up and down the land, putting Donnington Grove on the map with their successes. These include: Sarah Jolly with her partner Philip McTiffin winning the Goring and Streatly Mixed Open. Sarah went on to have a further success with Tom Fleming at Calcot GC in the Professional & Ladies Foursomes where they were placed 2nd. For the second year running, Jan King and Gill Lane were winners at Studley Wood Ladies Open and their good fortune continued as they also won the Badgemore GC Ladies Open. Fay Unsworth and Gill Lane were winners of the N & C Invitational Tournament; Lydia Rayne, Jan King, Gill Lane and Julie Myall were outright winners of the Boundary Lakes Ladies Open and at the Tadmartin Heath GC Open, Kim Richardson, Katherine Hartwell and Julie Myall were also placed first. Similarly, at the West Berkshire Ladies Open, Kim Richardson and her partner were declared outright winners.

It has not stopped there; Kim Richardson, Katherine Hartwell, Gill Lane and Jan King were awarded the prize for the Best Team at the County Past Captain’s Autumn Meeting held at Goring and Streatley with Katherine and Kim taking the individual 2nd and 3rd places. Kim also won the prestigious Coronation Medal at the Berkshire County Ladies Golf Association Autumn Meeting which was held here at DG beating 72 other players in the process. One of the main successes of the year was the High Silver League where Donnington Grove came in as the 2019 winners! My thanks goes to Fay Unsworth for captaining and leading the team (which comprised of myself, Kim Richardson, Gill Lane, Julie Myall, Shey Walder, Jules Culley, Maria Tillett, Jan King, Katherine Hartwell, and Lorraine Storey) to victory in this tournament for the second time in 3 years against teams from Donnington Valley, Newbury and Crookham, Mapledurham, Basingstoke, Sandford Springs and Marlborough Golf Clubs. The Bronze League, led by Sue Kingham, are also to be congratulated, as they were runners up in the 2018-19 tournament to the eventual winners, Donnington Valley. At a National level, we entered several competitions; the Duncan Trophy, the Annodata Matchplay Knockout, the Coronation Foursomes and the Daily Mail Foursomes but 2019 was not to be our year as we were surpassed by some very impressive teams. I’d like to thank the past and current presidents TC and Andy, the Captain Rob and Seniors Captain Ian, as well as all the committee for their support this year. I would like to thank Tom and the pro shop team also for their support, help and advice during the past year; nothing is too much trouble for them, and they are unfailingly cheerful. By the same token, I would like to thank Dave Knight and his team for all their hard work in preparing the course to a magnificent standard week in week out so that we may go out and enjoy ourselves. It has been particularly difficult for them over the past 3 months and despite everything that the weather has thrown at us, we have still been able to enjoy our golf. We are very lucky to have such a dedicated team looking after the course. Thank you, Dave. I wish the incoming Captains Steve and Ian all the best in their roles for the coming year and of course to Ali, when I hand over to you at the beginning of April, I wish you every success and enjoyment in the role. I know you are going to have a great year and to enjoy leading the ladies. And lastly, I’d also like to thank all the members and in particular, the ladies’ section for making my year so enjoyable.Thank you.

Questions arising from lady captains report

No questions asked

Club Captains Report

Club Captains Report 2020

I have been playing golf now for over 50 years, and when I was a junior, I always thought that the Club Captains were grumpy old men who spent half of their lives playing golf. How right I was, it has been fantastic. I am very proud and honoured to have been your club captain over the last 12 months; I would not have been able to do it without the support of the committee, and Nigel and Tom. My fellow Captain’s Anne-Marie and Ian have done a tremendous job this year in maintaining a vibrant lady and seniors’ section, both with a very busy competition and social calendar. I am not sure if you are quite aware of how many team captain’s we have within the club, their tremendous efforts go into making sure that your club has such a busy and successful competition schedule year on year. This Year my thanks go to: Steve Lillywhite (My successor as Captain next year) For the Concorde League and the Anodonta.

Sandy Byfield who not only organises your club competitions as competition secretary, but also captained this year’s Tri-Series team. Graham Attridge who this year captained the Hillman trophy team. Many thanks Gentlemen. Also not forgetting Craig and Mel for running the ever-successful Champagne roll-up throughout the summer months; although my wife thinks I have gone tea total since I have not been bringing home the champagne this year. Thanks to Tom Fleming and his team (Chris Devonshire, Nick Mitchell, Loraine Storey and Dan Seymour) in the pro-shop for all their hard work throughout the year. The pro-shop seams to go from strength to strength and we now have a varied mixture of fun competitions, quiz nights and other entertainments. A special thanks to Tom for organising the Euro-pro event at Donnington Grove, because it raises the club’s profile, and it is good to see the club featured in a television event. Dave and his team have worked extremely hard this year to maintain and improve the course, sometimes under very difficult weather conditions. This was especially true on the last day of the Euro-pro event, when without their hard work the event would have been cancelled. I am sure the whole club appreciate this and extend their thanks. It is not until you are in the position of Captain that you realise what a large part Nigel and his team play in helping to organise the social events and post competition meals; and so I would sincerely like to thank Nigel, the bar and restaurant staff and the hotel staff for all their efforts on the clubs behalf. In terms of the committee I need to thank you all for your support and efforts this year. When I started my term as Captain TC was club president and did a great job of helping me into the role, so thankyou TC. Andy took over the role in the summer and has ably filled TC’s shoes; my special thanks to you as well. Sandy as competitions secretary has had a huge amount of work to do this year; his organisational skills have been invaluable; thanks Sandy. I would also like to thank Gill who continues to be a stalwart of the committee, ensuring healthy finances for the club. Anne-Marie and I both decided to continue to support the Rainbow rooms which is part of the Newbury and District cancer care trust. Once again, your support for the charitable even this has meant we have been able to raise approximately £10,000 for the trust, a very pleasing figure. The whole club have contributed to this worthwhile charity. Kim’s wonderful cakes once again figured largely in the fund-raising effort, and as always, the senior section headed by Ian has been extremely generous in supporting the charity. It is easy to miss people working behind the scenes on our behalf, Steve Gridley, although you may not always thank him as handicap secretary. Mike and Viv Lewsey for the smooth running of many registrations, Molly at the halfway hut, and of course all the volunteers for our special events through the golfing year. Finally, I would like to personally thank Steve Lillywhite who has worked so hard this year as my Vice Captain, both he and Alison the Lady vice-Captain have put a huge effort in this year ably organising so many social events. I wish you both every success for the coming year as Captains. Thank you .

Financial Report (Club Treasurer Gill Lane) read by Sandy Byfield

DONNINGTON GROVE COUNTRY CLUB ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – 18th March 2020

Donnington Grove Golf Committee

Treasurer’s Report AGM

18th March 2020

Income and Expenditure The Club made an operating profit of £329 in 2019. Total Income Competitions Income showed a significant increase year on year from £9,564 to £10,928, and consequently the amount paid out in vouchers also increased from £5,769 to £6,095. The increase in income is entirely related to an increase in the number of participators in competitions, it is noticeable how quickly the competitions bookings fill up. Only 1 fine for late pulling out of competitions was charged this year. No gift was given for the Club Championships this year saving £288 on the previous year. This resulted in a profit from competitions of £1,336 after voucher prizes and trophies have been awarded. Further income was earned from the profit of £272 made by the bar on the 18th hole on Day 2 of the Club Champs. 1 Club tie was sold during the year at a tiny profit, leaving a stock of 11 ties remaining, and a small amount of interest has been received on the Committee funds, resulting in total net Income for the year of £1,635, an increase of £1,469 on the previous year

Total Expenditure This has increased during the year from £987 to £1306 There are some significant differences between the 2 years:

1. The Summer Hoedown was cancelled incurring an unrefundable deposit of £168 2. We hosted the Interclub Challenge this year so increased the cost to ourselves by £80 to

cover a few extra prizes. 3. Sandtrend charged us for new photo frames for the Captains photos £66 4. There was a cost for the Captains blazers this year of £90 whereas in the previous year,

this was all covered by the allowance from Sandtrend. 5. We only entered 1 team of Men and 1 team of Ladies in the Annodata Matchplay

competition whereas in 2018 we entered 2 teams of each. This saved us £60. In 2020 we have again entered 2 of each.

Balance Sheet

The Club’s total funds stand at £9,216, which is an increase of £460 on last year. Old uncashed vouchers this year amounted to £130.

Current assets are £15,922, being cash in the bank of £15,713, plus stock of £209 relating to 11 Club ties which were unsold at 31 December. Total liabilities stand at £6,706, mainly vouchers not yet claimed, prizes to be given at the forthcoming prize giving, the Memorial Fund which stood at £434 at 31 December after spending £245 on the new plaques in the Memorial Hut, and an outstanding bill from Sandtrend of £154. Charity Account The total raised for Rob and Anne-Marie’s charity so far is £9,411. There is still some money outstanding form the Charity Day and once this is collected, the total should be in excess of £9,600, another excellent effort by all concerned.

Questions arising from Treasurers report

No questions asked

Financial report Adopted

Proposed by;- Loraine Storey

Seconded by;- Vince Hanniffy

Motions for the AGM

Proposal of change of section 16 Club President

Present

16. Club President

I. The Club President shall be selected by the Committee for a term of 3 years, commencing on the 1st

June of the relevant year.

II. In the event that the office of Club President falls vacant during the tenure, the Committee will select

a suitable candidate to fill the role.

III. The Club President must be a full seven-day member who has previously served a full year as Club

Captain, Ladies Captain or Seniors Captain.

IV. The post of Club President is honorary. The role is to support the Club Captain and the committee

and to promote the membership and the Club.

V. The Club President is entitled to a President’s day

VI. The closing date for nominations for Club President will be the February Committee meeting of the

relevant year. The Committee will vote in the Club President no later than the April committee

meeting of the relevant year.

Proposal

Proposed by; - Sandy Byfield

Seconded by; - Steve Lillywhite, Alison Lillywhite

16. Club President

I. The Club President shall be selected by the Committee for a term of 5 years, commencing on the 1st

June of the relevant year, and, any subsequent periods of office by the same person to run for a

period of 3 years.

II. In the event that the office of Club President falls vacant during the tenure, the Committee will select

a suitable candidate to fill the role.

III. The Club President must be a full seven-day member who has previously served a full year as Club

Captain, Ladies Captain or Seniors Captain.

IV. The post of Club President is honorary. The role is to support the Club Captain and the committee

and to promote the membership and the Club.

V. The Club President is entitled to a President’s day.

VI. The closing date for nominations for Club President will be the February Committee meeting of the

relevant year. The Committee will vote in the Club President no later than the April committee

meeting of the relevant year.

Voting on AGM motions

A vote was not conducted for the presented motion, this is due to there not being a voting quorum (10) in attendance at the AGM. The proposer and seconders of the motion will submit the motion for the 2021 AGM

The Club Captain (RC) Closed the official meeting 20:20

The Club Captain (RC) hands over the Chair to the Club Vice Captain (SL)

Vice Captains Overview of the coming Year (SL)

The year ahead 2020/21 Donnington Grove Golf club

Thank you, Andy, So firstly, what a privilege & an honour to be standing here taking over the role of DG club captain from Rob, it is a little daunting to fill the big man’s shoes, but I will see how it goes. Well you offered me the captaincy, what seems a long time ago now on the back of the 12th green and here we are now. What a different world in just a short space of time especially over the last few weeks. Being Captain is an honour but it’s also about giving something back to the members, club & past captains – John Watson was captain when I first joined back in 2001 when we played millionaires golf as Parasampia. So, with thanks to Rob, the committee for allowing me this opportunity as well as Andy for his guidance. Also, to Tom for his magnificent efforts at DG supported by Dave for his team’s efforts to improve & maintain what is a fantastic golf course. As well as to Nigel for his continued support not forgetting Jo & Simon for the bar & catering help, they have shown so far. So myself & Ali are making a first for DG as Mr & Mrs captain’s!! with Ian continuing as seniors captain. Our charity this year is going to continue as Newbury Cancer Care which incorporated the rainbow rooms as a specific project that is now completed. During the drive in we planned to have a representative come and explain how this all works.

This year Rob, Anne-Marie & Ian have raised over £9,500 so a big congratulations for the effort not only for the charity but the smooth running of the year. Golf in 2020

• The social side might be very different this year with most of the leagues already cancelled or

delayed.

• The calendar is now fixed mostly on club V1 & Diaries will be available hopefully we won’t have to

move much due to the Coronavirus

• After a very wet start we still have to play the members memorial which we will fit in at the end of

the year

• We are planning a Newbury golf challenge on the 19th of June to raise money for the charity

• The Consuls are coming on the 29th May

• The scratch league is back this year Paul Bailes is captain

So Finally, good luck to all the members, committee & staff for the coming year, most importantly keep safe. So, thank you Andy back to you.

A.O. B

Loraine Storey; - Would it be possible to streamline the process of competition prize money? The pro-shop team take the money for the competitions, would it not be possible for the pro-shop team to calculate the prize monies for the competition. Then assign the correct monies straight onto the members card account. Then return the nett amount for the club treasurer. It is felt by several members that they must wait to long for monies to be put onto their accounts. (AS) Responded; - At present the committee endeavour to assign competition monies on to members cards each month, sometimes this may take longer. However, we take onboard the question and I will take the question to the next Club Committee meeting. (AS) I wish to ask the members of Donnington Grove to support the Committee and Management of the club in the current climate and situation we find ourselves in. Many discussions have taken place daily, we intend to communicate our decisions with all members via social media and e-mail, we hope to be able to keep the course open for play, but we must conform to the government directive at all times. We don’t know all the answers, but we will endeavour to be clear and concise with any decisions we take to protect our members.

The Vice-Captain Officially Closed the Meeting

Time: - 20:45