Announcement
The East Lothian Clubs Winter League was formed in 1965, founder member clubs being Bass Rock, Dirleton Castle, Dunbar, Longniddry and Tantallon. A constitution was first adopted in 1990 reflecting the conditions that prevailed in 1965. A number of amendments were subsequently made reflecting decisions of the league committee, the introduction of new competitions and changes to competition format.
In 2014 a new constitution was adopted with detailed competition rules removed. Separate sets of rules were established for each competition run by the league with responsibilities for managing these competitions defined in the constitution.
CONSTITUTION
Name and Purpose of the Organisation
1. The organisation shall be named the East Lothian Clubs Winter League (“the league”).
2. The objective of the league is to promote competitive scratch golf and social interaction between golf clubs in East Lothian during the winter months by organising competitions.
Management, Office Bearers and Meetings
3. The office bearers of the league shall be the chairman and secretary/treasurer. A general council consisting of these office bearers and one representative from each member club shall conduct the affairs of the league.
4. The chairman shall take the chair at any meeting of the general council which he attends, and shall appoint a deputy to take the chair in his absence.
5. An Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) of the general council shall be held in September each year.
Additionally the chairman may call a meeting of the general council at any time deemed necessary, and the secretary shall call a meeting of the general council if requested to do so by no fewer than one third of the members of the general council.
A minimum of 14 days notice will be given of any meeting of the general council.
6. The chairman and secretary/treasurer shall retire annually but shall be eligible for re-election at each AGM.
In the event of the position of chairman or secretary/treasurer falling vacant full powers to fill such a vacancy, ad interim (until the next AGM), shall be vested in the general council.
7. At any meeting of the general council representation by one half of the member clubs shall form a quorum.
8. On a vote being taken at any meeting of the general council each member club shall have one vote, a simple majority being sufficient to carry any motion. In the event of a tied vote the chair of the meeting shall have the casting vote. The secretary/treasurer shall not have a vote.
Membership
9. Membership of the league shall be restricted to clubs that are affiliated and fully paid up members of the Lothians Golf Association and whose courses lie within the boundaries of the county of East Lothian. Any application to join the league shall be considered by all member clubs at a meeting of the general council, and the member clubs present at the meeting shall vote to decide whether to accept or reject any such application. All member clubs shall compete in the competitions organised by the league, and clubs that cease to compete shall automatically cease to be members of the league.
Subscriptions and Accounts
10. The amount of each club’s annual subscription shall be determined at each AGM and shall be due to be paid by 31st October each year.
11. All accounts are to be settled by the secretary/treasurer who shall submit a statement of accounts at each AGM.
Competitions
12. The general council shall appoint a competitions committee comprising the chairman, secretary and up to two other representatives. The competitions committee may make rulings, resolve disputes, impose penalties and deal with other matters relating to the golf competitions organised by the league.
The scope of the competition committee’s decision making shall be constrained by a set of rules for each competition, which shall be formally adopted by the general council. The competitions committee is also expected to make recommendations for changes to these rules (as and when required) to the general council.
The member clubs have the power to decide on the format and conditions of the competitions and may make representation to the competitions committee at any time. Any changes to the competition rules must be approved at a meeting of the general council.
13. Competitions organised by the league shall normally take place between the beginning of October and the end of March each year, with matches normally played on Sundays. It may be necessary on occasion to extend the season into April, or to play matches on days other than Sunday, but this should only be in exceptional circumstances.
Responsibilities of Member Clubs
14. Member clubs are expected to make their courses available for play as required by the league schedule. In general it is expected that play should be from medal tees and to permanent greens, although it is accepted that some temporary tees and/or greens may have to be used on occasion. It is not expected that green fees will be charged to visiting teams, but that the benefit to all players will be gained though reciprocal invitation driven by the schedule of matches and events.
15. The general council shall approve fixtures at the AGM (a draft fixture list shall be circulated in advance of the AGM). Member clubs are responsible for making tee reservations for their home fixtures, for making suitable arrangements to reschedule matches where the tee is unavailable, and for providing details of any such reschedule arrangements to their opponents and the secretary at or before the AGM.
16. Clubs that opt to participate in the league are expected to fulfill all approved fixtures, to give as much notice as possible to their opponents and the secretary of any difficulty in fulfilling a fixture, and to make every effort to rearrange postponed fixtures within the timeframes laid down in the conditions of competition.
Clubs that consistently fail to meet these responsibilities may be required to suspend their membership of the league.