The Avalon Golf League

Constitution

1.   Title

The League shall be known as the Avalon Golf League

2.     Objective

The objective of the League shall be to promote the game of Golf and create a League of friendly yet competitive companionship for amateur players within its member clubs.

3.   Membership of the League

3.1 Membership of the League shall be open to any Club that can provide the following facilities:

• One or more 18 hole Golf Course(s) on which to play League matches.
• Changing facilities with showers.
•  An after match meal for all participants, at reasonable cost.

3.2 Application for Membership shall be made in writing to the League Secretary. On receiving such application, the League Secretary shall notify all existing member clubs of the application, requesting a postal vote. All member Club's are required to respond to such vote, even if that response is an abstention.

3.3 Applicant Clubs that receive at least 70% vote in favour of acceptance shall be admitted to the league at the start of the following season, provided that their annual subscription is paid. In the event that an application is rejected, any fees collected from the applicant Club shall be refunded and the applicant club shall be advised of the reason for rejection.

3.4 All member clubs are to pay their annual subscription before the commencement of the playing season in each year.

4.        Committee

4.1 The Committee shall be responsible for:

• The smooth running of the League.
•  The arrangement of other competitions for the member Clubs.
•  The resolution of disputes between member clubs.
• The presentation of an Annual set of audited accounts at each AGM.
•  The selection of an Auditor

4.2 The members of the Committee shall be elected for a two-year period of office at the Annual General Meeting of the League. Members of one member club may fill not more than two seats on the Committee. Retirement from the Committee shall be in order of seniority but any retiring member shall be eligible for re-election.

4.3 The Committee shall consist of the following:

• Chairman
• Honorary Secretary
• Up to FOUR (but not less than TWO) other Members

4.4 At the first meeting of each year, the Committee shall appoint one member of the Committee as Treasurer.

4.5 Club representatives who are other than playing members of a club shall not be eligible for election to the Committee.

5 Protests and Disputes.  

5.1 Any protest or dispute between member clubs or individuals who are members of member Clubs, shall be made in writing to the Honorary Secretary within seven days of the event leading to the protest or dispute.

5.2 Within seven days of receipt of a written notification of protest or dispute, the Honorary Secretary shall call a meeting of the Committee to discuss the matter. Any Committee Member who is also a member of one of the Clubs in dispute shall absent himself from the discussion.

5.3 The Committee is empowered to call on any participant or witness to attend the meeting such that all of the relevant facts can be obtained.

5.4 In making its findings, the Committee shall be empowered to

• Impose Fines
•  Add or deduct points
• Suspend or expel a Club or player.

5.5  Any appeal against a decision by the Committee shall be made in writing within 14 days of the date of notification of such decision.

5.6 An Appeals Committee shall adjudicate all appeals. The Appeals Committee shall consist of three Club representatives from teams not in the same division or from any club involved in the protest or dispute. Any decision made by the appeals Committee shall be final and binding.

6. Finance

6.1   The Committee will raise funds by means of an annual subscription from each team in the league. The funds will be used for administration costs, purchase of trophies and such other proper expenses incurred in the running of the league.

6.2 The amount of the annual subscription for the season immediately following the meeting shall be decided at each AGM.

6.3 The Treasurer will present an audited statement of accounts at each AGM. An auditor is to be appointed by the Committee.

6.4 The Committee will administrate a bank account for all League funds. Two members of the Committee must sign all cheques drawn against the League account.

7. General Meetings

7.1 The Annual General Meeting will normally be held in October of each year. At least 21 days notice in writing of such meeting shall be given to all member clubs. Such notices shall include copies of any Resolutions or amendments to the Constitution to be presented at that AGM.

7.2 Any team not represented at the Annual General Meeting shall be fined ten pounds.

7.3 Any member club wishing to move a resolution at the AGM shall give notice in writing to the Chairman or Hon Secretary by 1^st September.

7.4 Extraordinary General Meetings (EGM) may be called by

• The Committee
•  At least five member clubs.

In either case, a written Resolution clearly stating the reason(s) for the meeting shall be submitted to the Secretary. The meeting shall take place within 35 days of the initiation of the procedure. The meeting shall confine any and all discussion and decision(s) to the business for which the meeting was called.

7.5 Voting shall be by a show of hands or, at the discretion of the Chairman, by a secret ballot. Each member team present shall have one vote.

7.6 Rules may only be altered or amended at a General Meeting. The quorum for a binding decision shall be at least 50% of member clubs present.

8. Matches

Definitions:

• A Game is the competition between two pairs of players from opposing teams.
•  A Match is the overall competition between two member teams.

8.1 Teams will comprise of 10 players. Two playing reserves may visit with the teams by agreement between the Captains, however, the score of the reserves game shall not count in the Match.

8.2 The arrangements for each match shall be confirmed by the home Captain at least 14 days prior to the date of the match.

8.3 Players must be male and 14 years of age or over on 1^st January of the current year. Only two players between the ages of 14 and 16 may play in any one team.

8.4 Matches will be 4-ball better ball with strokes allowed on a 3/4 handicap difference from the lowest handicap.

8.5 All matches shall be played at weekends unless otherwise agreed by both clubs. Once fixtures have been confirmed in writing to the Secretary, a fixture may only be changed by mutual consent of both teams and then only when a course is considered to be unplayable or becomes unavailable. Any such change(s) must be notified to the Secretary, in writing, by both teams within 14 days of the original fixture date.

8.6 Should a match be cancelled within the provisions of Rule and not able to be re-arranged, both teams shall be awarded six points.

8.7 Should a match be abandoned because of unexpected circumstances, all games still in progress at the time of the abandonment shall be considered to be halved and each pair awarded 1 point; all completed game results shall stand.

8.8 No matches may be played after the first Sunday in September.

8.9   Points will be awarded as follows:

• The winning pair in each game will receive 2 points for a home win and 3 points for an away win. In the event of a halved game the Home pair will receive one point, the away pair 1.5 points.
• The team winning the Match shall receive two additional points; in the event of a halved match each team will receive 1 point. (The Match result is by number of games won and halved)

8.10   The completed result sheet, signed by both team Captain's and including all player's names and handicaps, shall be communicated to the Secretary by the home team by first class post on the Monday following the match. In addition, all results shall be phoned, faxed or emailed to the Secretary in within 24 hours of the completion of the match. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in a fine of two pounds.

8.11 The home team captain is responsible for placing his team names and appropriate handicaps on the result sheet with handicaps and handing the sheet to the away team captain who will then decide his order of play. All players' handicaps must be entered on the sheet.

9. Divisions

9.1 Divisions may not extend beyond six teams per division. Should a point be reached whereby approved applications to join the league would take the number in a division beyond six teams, an appropriate number of Divisions shall be reduced to five teams and a new Division formed, the new Division having a minimum of three teams.

9.2 Any Club joining the League shall commence its first season in the bottom Division.

9.3 The maximum handicap allowable in each division is as follows:

• Division 1  10
• Division 2   12
• Division 3   14
• Division 4   16
• Division 5   18
• Division 6 and on,  20

Players with a handicap greater than the maximum appropriate to the Division shall be deemed to have the maximum permitted for that Division.

9.4 The bottom team in each division will be demoted to the lower division and the top team promoted to a higher division. In the event of a tie on points the following criteria will be used to ascertain the higher team

• The most match wins
•  The least match losses
•  The most away points scored

In the event of teams still tied, the order will be decided by a play-off. The winners of each division will be awarded a trophy. All trophies shall remain the property of the League.

10. Second Teams

10.1Clubs may run extra teams in the League. A player may move from one team to another but may not switch back during that season.

10.2  When there is more than one team from a club within the same division, fixtures between the teams must be completed before the end of June.

10.3  No more than two teams from any Club may operate within any except the lowest Division, even if this precluded promotion. In addition, should it occur that a team's relegation would increase the number of teams from the same club to three in other than Div 7, the lowest of the Club's three teams is to be relegated to the next lowest Division.

11. Dissolution of the League

In the event of dissolution of the League any remaining funds and assets shall be distributed equally among member clubs.

_{Amended at AGM 26th October 2007}

_{Match Fees}

1. The amount of the Match Fee is decided at the Annual General Meeting each year.

2. The basic fee is for the team (excluding reserves or extra players) regardless of how many less than ten team players attend. For each reserve or extra, a sum equivalent to one tenth of the Match Fee is payable in addition to the Match Fee.

3. The full Match fee (plus any extras as noted above) is payable on the day of the Match.

4. In the event of a Match cancellation by the Home team, no Match Fee is payable by the Away Team.