Annual General Meeting – Captain’s Speech

I hope you enjoyed the video of last year’s highlights. It’s great to look back on those sunny days when we were all playing golf and lots of it. As you will know, this is all Ross’s work and I’d like to thank him for producing this and lifting our spirits as we sit here in mid-winter.

> View AGM Presentation Slides

I need to open by saying that I when became your Captain last February I certainly did not anticipate becoming Captain Covid. I expected to be kicking off the season with a Captains vs Vice Captains match in March, followed by the opportunity to play golf with as many of you as possible, exchanging golf stories on the course and in the clubhouse. I was also looking forward to hosting presentation nights, handing out prizes and accolades to our trophy winners. I was even looking forward to playing in the Innerleithen Club Match.

However, despite the unexpected turn of events there is one thing that has played out as I expected – it’s been an absolute honour and privilege to be Captain of Peebles Golf Club. The number of messages of encouragement from members really reminded me what a brilliant club we are and despite the unprecedented challenges we were facing into, that we would undoubtedly work through it. I will cover this in more detail in a few moments as I walk you through a short presentation.

Lastly, before I move to the AGM presentation, I’d like to thank Les Biscomb for stepping up and taking on the role of Vice Captain last year. Les was very clear that this was a temporary arrangement as we had no other candidates and that he would step aside when a suitable candidate was identified.

During the time Les was Vice Captain his contribution was significant and after he stepped back from the Vice-Captain role he continued to contribute significantly across a range of activities. I would single out his leadership of the Sponsorship Sub Committee as the highlight but then there was also the Crowd Funding initiative and many other contributions. Thank you Les, you are an incredible man and your passion for our golf club is there for all to see.  

This brings me to the appointment of Chris Patterson as Vice-Captain. I’d like to briefly introduce Chris as is traditional at this forum, the AGM.  

Chris is a Chartered Civil Engineer who works for Jacobs in Edinburgh where he leads the company’s UK Ports and Maritime team.   Chris has a long association with Peebles Golf Club having been a club member for 37 years since joining as a junior in the mid-1980s. Chris also previously served on the committee for a number of years during which time he held the role of Competitions Convenor.  Out with golf, some of you may also know Chris from his involvement in various other activities in the town including the Highland Games where he has chaired the organising committee for several years.

Chris is married to Kellie and they have two young boys, Callum and Harris.   Although helping to raise his family has reduced the amount of golf that Chris has been able to play over the last few years, he has still managed to maintain a handicap of 6.   With his son, Callum, now a junior member, Chris has been able to play more golf and is determined to lower his handicap.

I am personally delighted to have Chris as my Vice Captain as he is embedded in our club traditions and history and has brought a significant skillset to the board and committee.  When I invited Chris to be our Vice Captain, his first reaction was to say: “…he was very honoured and proud to be asked”. This made his decision fairly easy and I am very much assured that this time next year, I will be handing over the Captaincy to an exceptional candidate.

Now I’d like to take you through a short presentation reviewing last year and looking forward to 2021.

Slide 2

·       The course really was excellent all year and when you consider the early challenges faced with burning hot weather and only Stevie working on his own, it’s quite some achievement by our Greenkeeping staff.

·       Even though we didn’t start golfing until the end of May, record numbers of people played golf last year. Starting sheets were full and getting a time became a challenge if you weren’t quick enough booking a space. Analysis of BRS showed that we saw an overall playing increase of 44%. I see this a big positive as golf reversed a sustained trend of declining popularity and became the go to sport for many people as other sports were still inaccessible due to lockdown.

·       Last year Ross talked about the over reliance we had as a club on a small group of volunteers. This year I’m delighted to say many of our members stepped forward and made a valuable contribution. This ranged from weeding burns and bunkers, seeding divots, painting the driving range and out of bounds fenceposts, a new team for range balls collection, general tidying up, laying new decking on the balcony, building the range ball washer machine and of course our established gardeners. It’s also worth remembering that all the board and committee and junior coaches are also volunteers. Collectively the level of volunteering has really helped our club. Thank you again to all our volunteers.

·       Touching on the previous point, the ‘can do’ attitude of so many people took some of the burden off our small staff team. When people talk about the club it’s basically all of us and nothing happens by itself. So again, my thanks to everybody who demonstrated a can do approach.

·       We attracted a significant number of new members last season and it was especially pleasing to see such a lot of younger members join the club. This age demographic is one that has dwindled over the years and I really hope these members enjoyed their golf and are here to stay.  It was a long time ago but I used to squeeze in a medal round of golf prior to playing for the local football team and in my view golf membership can co-exist with football, rugby, hockey etc.

·       Last season our clubhouse and bar saw much change as after we re-opened from lockdown the number of new rules and changes placed quite a burden on our staff. Be it new rules, extra cleaning and hygiene processes, table service and also having their hours chopped and change due to furlough etc. It wasn’t easy for Willie & Freda, none of this was part of their job profile but they kept going and when we were allowed they kept our glasses full and served our tables. Thank You.

Slide 3

·       Steve had a very tough year last year.  At the start of lockdown Jamie Allan had recently graduated and moved to Loretto and Bob Allan was lined up to start.  However, Bob’s start was delayed given the circumstances and when we re-opened at the end of May, Steve was on his own in the shop.  This meant Steve working 12 hour days, on his feet all day and this was tough going.  Throughout that time Steve also helped to ensure our buggies were wiped down and fully charged and continued to be the face of the club to members and visitors alike. I know Steve was delighted when circumstances allowed Bob to start and this helped to share the load. Again I’d like to express my thanks to Steve and Bob for their efforts last year.

·       The Club Championship week was my own personal favourite event of the year. I had the opportunity to start every match in every section and the level of competition that exists within our club is something that makes Peebles so special.  That Sheila has now won 23 lady championships is incredible and she shows little sign of slowing down. In the gents championship the final between Jamie & Darren was fiercely contested but played in great spirit in front of a huge crowd on a beautiful sunny day. Then presenting the prizes from the first tee back to the balcony was fun, despite the heavy rain shower.  I’d also like to mention that after listening to member feedback we will have a Seniors Championship this season and will be named the Tom Litster Trophy.  I feel this is appropriate and will be a great addition to the championship schedule.

·       Our office team under the leadership of Alan Frain did a great job. They re-organised themselves to incorporate home working and then find the balance of providing office services to members and visitors and some home working. This has worked well and will probably be the “new normal” going forward. I’d also like make you aware that they have taken in-house, some of the accounting processing work from our accountants and this has saved us approx. £2k per year. Last year we also benefited significantly from Government and Scottish Golf grants and Alan had to carefully complete the various application forms needed. All of this is unseen work and I’d like to thank Alan and his team for a great job.

·       When we first stared into the implications of COVID, the outlook for the club did not look positive. Initially we were staring into potential losses in excess of £100k and this was frightening.  The amount of work that went on behind the scenes by this board and Alan was incredible and there were weekly Zoom meetings where we discussed different strategies and options available. This crisis first exploded right in the middle of our subscription renewal period and you’ll recall I wrote to the members several times encouraging people to renew their membership.  The response from our members was fantastic and this was further highlighted when the Crowd Funding appeal received such incredible support too.  When the appeal was launched, we could not have anticipated that the club would achieve the financial performance that we eventually did. We benefitted extensively from grants, donations and furlough schemes which were one off benefits.  That period of financial uncertainty was frightening and brought home to me just how fragile our club reserves were and how financially exposed we were to a crisis such as this pandemic.  I won’t go into any further detail on the finances as this will be covered in the Financial Report but I wanted to highlight why I believe it is so important for our club to have financial resilience and this underpins the proposed subscriptions levels for next season.

·       Sponsorship was driven by Les Biscomb and he was supported by a great sub-committee. They identified opportunity in changing the way sponsorship was approached and focussed on a relationship-based strategy which put the prospective sponsor at the heart of the relationship. This approach worked well, sponsors responded positively,  and we achieved significant returns. Much of this money has been invested in the course and the facilities including new flags, tee collection boxes and junior equipment to name but a few. We also feel that this approach has positioned us well with our sponsors to continue this work into this season and beyond.

·       I’ve touched on the amount of work the board put in to steer the club through the rocky period. I really can’t overstate just how much time and effort the board put in and that we have arrived here in this position is testament to the skillset of the group.  I’d also like to thank the committee who also made a big contribution and as I mentioned earlier, we somehow managed to complete our full competitive fixture card (minus knock out competitions). Thanks to Mary McIntyre and her sub-committee for making this happen. I’d also like to focus on our member communication which has been excellent. Many members have given me this feedback and between Alan Frain, Ross Duncan with the odd Captains Newsletter I think we’ve kept you informed of what’s happening in an engaging and modern way i.e. Newsletters and Social Media.

Slide 4

·       It’s been incredibly difficult for our caterers to establish their business through Covid.  However, they have stuck with us and tried very hard to find ways to provide a service. They started in September 2019 and last year was to be their first summer season and this just didn’t happen. I know they are determined to be successful and we’re all hopeful that they will get the chance at some point this summer to offer the full service. 

·       I’ve really missed the chance to have a good social night at the club. These are always great nights where people relax and enjoy themselves and at presentation night I get the chance to make a speech and Mrs Carruthers hands out all the trophies.  Hard lines Woody – you’ll need to play really well again this year if you want a kiss from my wife.

·       We’ve seen lots of new members join and our existing members plying more golf than ever, however with COVID there’s not been much of a chance to use the bar. This is a key area of income for the club and hopefully we’ll see this area really take off this season when restrictions start to lift.

·       After the brilliant summer is has been very frustrating that we’ve been limited in our opportunity to play golf. The recent weather has been the worst for years and has lasted way too long.  I’m also very aware of the law changes that are preventing our members from Midlothian and beyond who aren’t allowed to travel this far to play golf. These restrictions are out with our control and I’m really hoping we’ll see some movement on this very soon.

·       We lost some very prominent members last year as highlighted on the video, however as well as Donald Nisbet, Tom Litster and Derek Young, we also lost past Captain George Thorburn, Cliff Scupham, Dr Bruce Blyth and Jim McGinty. All will be sadly missed.

Gavin Carruthers | Captain – Peebles Golf Club