1 GENERAL
Qatar Aeronautical College Golf Society (QACGS) provides for the promotion and organisation of golfing and associated social activities for the employees, students and associates of Qatar Aeronautical College (QAC) and their families. It was formed in September 2003.
2 MEMBERSHIP
Membership will be open to:
• employees and students of QAC
• associates of QAC
• families of members.
An associate of QAC is a person connected with the College as a supplier, an employee of an organisation which has a business relationship with QAC or an individual who has a business relationship with QAC. Associates must be proposed and seconded by members who are employees of QAC.
Associates of QAC should not form more than 25% of the total membership.
There are two classes of membership:
- Full
- Social
The fees are given in Appendix 1 to this constitution.
3 MEETINGS
Meetings will be either committee meetings or member's meetings. A committee meeting is a meeting of the elected officers of the Society. A member's meeting is a meeting of the full membership of the club.
Each meeting will have a designated Chair who will normally be the President of the Society. In the absence of the President the Competition Secretary will take the Chair. Voting decisions will be by a simple majority with the Chair having the casting vote. A quorum will consist of half the full members for a committee or a member's meeting. Social members may attend and speak at member's meetings
but will have no voting rights and will not count towards a quorum unless the item under discussion is a social activity.
Committee meeting will be held quarterly or whenever required to deal with a matter in hand as determined by the President.
Member's meetings will be held annually within December to elect officers of the QACGS for the forthcoming year, review the accounts and conduct any other business. Member's meetings may be called by the President or on written submission to the President by at least 10% of the full members.
The following can only be decided by member's meetings:
• changes to the constitution and rules
• fees
• officers of the Society
• affiliations
• days on which regular club internal competitions are held
• expenditure other than that specifically authorised to be made by the Committee in Appendix 1
4 OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
The following are the elected officers of the Society:
• President
• Treasurer
• Fixtures Secretary
• Competition Secretary
• Social Secretary
With the exception of the Social Secretary, who may be a social member, all officers must be full members.
The duties of the officers are given in Appendix 2.
5 INTERNAL COMPETITIONS
Two regular competitions will be held between full members:
• a weekly individual 9 hole competition with the winner decided by stroke play after applying the QACGS handicap.
• an annual 9 hole competition between teams of two with the
winning team decided by points based on stroke play after
applying the QACGS handicap.
A trophy will be presented, each week, to the winner of the individual competition. Any member winning the trophy for three consecutive weeks will be entitled to permanently keep the trophy otherwise the trophy will be handed to the current winner at the end of each match. In
the event of a draw after 9 holes a winner will be determined by count back. If a winner cannot be determined by count back then the trophy
will be handed to the Competition Secretary to hold until the next outright winner is determined. A draw ends a sequence of wins.
The winners of the team trophy will be announced at the end of the last
match of the year. The winners will be the team with the maximum number of points. A point is awarded to team players for each stoke under their QACGS handicap achieved in each individual weekly competition match played throughout the year. In the event of a draw the winning team will be determined by count back. Each player in the team will be presented with a trophy. No allowance will be made for matches missed. The individual with the highest number of points will also receive a trophy. Teams must be registered with the Competition Secretary.
Further internal competitions may be held as decided by the membership at member's meetings.
6 CARDS
In all competitions individual cards are to be marked by an opposing player and signed by the marker and player at the end of the match.
After any competition cards will be handed to the Competition
Secretary for processing as soon as all games have been completed.
In the absence of the Competition Secretary the cards will be handed to the President or Treasurer.
Cards resulting from games between members, other than those played as part of the Society's competitions, may be submitted to the Competition secretary for the purpose of computing a Society handicap as long as they have been marked and signed as above.
7 HANDICAPS
The QACGS handicap employed for internal competitions will be determined by the average number of strokes over the most recent five 9 hole games for which a properly completed card has been submitted to the Competition Secretary. There will be no maximum handicap.
Cards submitted for 18 hole games will count as two 9 hole games with the score for the first nine and the back nine being counted as two scores.
On joining the Society, the QACGS handicap will initially be determined by the average of the first three games, then the first four games and from the fifth game under normal QACGS rules. New members who can submit a previously awarded Handicap Certificate acceptable to the committee may be awarded a QACGS handicap for 9 hole games which is half the certified handicap until such times as five cards have been submitted when the normal rule for the QACGS handicap will apply.
No member may win the weekly competition nor have his or her score
counted towards the annual competition until he or she has been awarded a QACGS handicap.
In any 18 hole games organised for the members of the Society the nine hole handicap will be doubled.
The Competition Secretary will, after processing, hand in a card to the
Qatar Golf Association (QGA) for the purpose of obtaining or updating a QGA Handicap. The QGA Handicap will be as given in the published list displayed at Qatar Golf Club.
Any handicap issued by the QGA or any other recognised golf club, may be used for external competitions. The QACGS handicap will apply for internal competitions.
8 EXTERNAL COMPETITIONS
The Committee will, from time to time, arrange matches with other organisations, clubs or societies.
The rules, form and handicaps to be used are to be mutually agreed between the Society and the opposing team prior to the start of the match or series of matches.
9 MATCH RULES
Rules applied for all internal competitive matches will be in order of:
• QACGS rules
• Local rules
• Royal and Ancient rules.
QACGS rules are:
• Practice swings will not count but where the ball is clearly addressed and an attempt is made to strike the ball an “air shot” will count as a stroke.
• A ball accidentally touched or moved off the tee, where it is obvious to the marker that no attempt to hit the ball has been made, will not count as a stroke.
• For bunker shots, touching the sand with the club head prior to attempting to strike the ball will count as a two shot penalty.
• For shots from the rough, loose rocks may be moved without penalty where immediately in front of the ball or where impeding the swing of the club head.
• The ball may be repositioned without penalty where an immovable rock could cause damage to a club if an attempt was made to strike the ball where it landed. When moved in such circumstances, the ball cannot be moved closer to the hole or more than one club length and the ground on which it is placed must be similar in nature to the ground where it landed.
• If a ball is unplayable, as determined by the marker, it may be
moved up to one club length further from the hole without penalty. Where it is not possible to so move the ball in order to make it playable it may be dropped within one club length of the point of entry, as determined by the marker, with one penalty stroke.
• Where it is considered that a ball may be lost, a provisional ball may be played. Where the first ball played is subsequently found it must be played and the provisional will not count. If the first ball is in fact lost the provisional is played and a one stroke penalty incurred. No more than one provisional ball may be played per shot.
• No more than two minutes may be spent looking for a lost ball. Where a ball is lost the player will drop a ball within one club length of the point of entry incurring one penalty shot.
• No “gimmes” or “Mulligans” will be allowed in competitive matches.
• The marker's decision will count unless the player requests that the issue be considered by the Competition Secretary who will have the final decision.
10 SOCIAL EVENTS
An annual social event will be held each year after the last match of the calendar year has been played. The actual date, venue and form to be determined at the annual member's meeting. Annual trophies will be presented at this event.
Social events may be organised after competitions with other organisations, clubs or societies as decided by the Committee.
Further social events are not precluded.
APPENDIX 1
FEES
Joining fee:
Full member QAR 100
Social member QAR 50
Subscriptions:
Full member QAR 10 per month
Social member QAR 5 per month
The monthly subscriptions shall be paid in advance to 31 December each year. Part months will count as a full month for members joining after the first of any month or leaving during a month.
EXPENDITUREExpenditure will be for:
• Trophies as determined by the QACGS Committee.
• Stationary as required for the efficient running of the Society and the keeping of accounts.
• Part refund of subscription for members who leave the Society part way through the year. The refund will be the monthly subscription times the number of whole months left to 31 December.
• A contribution to the cost of the annual social event not to exceed the end of year balance for the year being celebrated.
• Any other expenditure subject to the approval of a majority of the members given at a member's meeting or by written response to a request for such expenditure.
Society funds are not to be used for green fees.
APPENDIX 2
COMMITTEE MEMBERS DUTIES
PRESIDENT
The President shall call and chair Committee and Member's meetings. He will represent the Society in dealings with other clubs and societies. He will also deputise for or arrange a deputy for absent committee members.
TREASURER
The Treasurer will collect all fees and make all authorised purchases. He/she will issue receipts for subscriptions and collect receipts for all purchases. The Treasurer will prepare and make available the Society's accounts for each annual meeting in December of each year.
FIXTURES SECRETARY
The Fixtures Secretary will make all tee bookings for official club matches. He/she will communicate tee times to all members playing. It is the responsibility of members to tell the Fixtures Secretary if they are NOT playing in any regular competition. In one off competitions the Fixtures Secretary will advertise the competition and set a cut off date for registration.
The Fixtures Secretary will liaise with his/her counterpart in other organisations, clubs or societies when arranging external competitions.
COMPETITION SECRETARY
The Competition Secretary will enter all results of cards submitted into the Society's database. He/she will print out and distribute a handicap listing prior to each weekly internal competition match.
The Competition Secretary will collect all cards immediately after competitions have been held and will confirm the scores, adjudicate in any disputes and confirm the winner(s).
The Competition Secretary will liaise with his/her counterpart in other organisations, clubs or societies when arranging external competitions.
SOCIAL SECRETARY
The Social Secretary will organise all social events including after match events.