Rules of the Society

Rules of the Society

i. Designation

The name of the Society shall be “The Army Officers’ Golfing Society”

ii. Membership

1. Membership is open to all serving or retired Commissioned Officers of the British and Commonwealth Armies, including those who served on National Service Commissions. In 2004 membership was opened to serving and retired members of the Territorial Army, and officers serving on Full Time Reserve (FTRS) and Non-Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS) appointments. All applications are subject to acceptance by the Committee.

2. Officers of Commonwealth and Allied Armies filling appointments on the permanent staff of British Army units/establishments, or on courses of nine months duration or more, maybe admitted as Honorary Members of the Society without subscription during the period of their stay. They will be eligible to play in Society competitions during the Society’s Annual Meetings and in any Society match.

3. The Committee shall have the power to elect Honorary Members, not exceeding three in number, from among those distinguished in the world of golf.

iii. Subscriptions

The subscription shall be an amount determined by the Committee, and agreed by the Members at an Annual General Meeting. It shall be paid to the account of the Society by Standing Order on joining and on the 1^st October annually.

iv. Management

1. The affairs of the Society shall be conducted by a President, a Vice-President, a Captain, an Honorary Secretary (who shall have the power to act as Hon Treasurer) and a Committee consisting of these officers and not more than six members of the Society

2. a. The President and Vice-President will be elected by the Vice-Patrons and retiring President for a three-year term of office.

b. The Captain will be elected by the retiring Captain and Past Captains for a two-year term of office, which may be extended by one year.

c. Other Members of the Committee will be elected at the Annual General Meeting: they will retire after three years and will be eligible for re-election.

d. The Honorary Secretary shall be a retired officer member of the Society. There shall be no limit to the period of his appointment, except that it may be terminated by a year’s notice given or received. The Committee is empowered to grant him and his Assistant, a full refund of “out-of-pocket” expenses as applicable. They may also grant an honorarium as appropriate.

3. Vacancies on the executive of the Society shall be filled “pro tem” by the Committee, subject to confirmation at the next General Meeting.

4. At any Committee Meeting, four Members shall form a quorum.

5. A General Meeting will be held annually.

6. The Committee may at any time convene a Special General Meeting of the Society.

v. Matches

Any Member of the Society may arrange a match between the Society and any recognised Golf Club or other Society, after obtaining the permission of the Committee through the Honorary Secretary. The results of any matches so arranged, with details of the individual matches, should be sent to the Honorary Secretary. Only in exceptional circumstances may an officer who is not a Member of the Society be permitted to play in a match in order to make up a side. Members are requested to wear the colours of the Society when playing in such matches.

vi. Competitions

1. Meetings will be held annually at which Members shall compete for the following trophies:-

a. Summer Meeting

Individual Trophies

(i) Black Watch Challenge Medal.

b. Autumn Meeting

Individual and Team Trophies – The Generals Cup, the Society Autumn Medal, and the Jubilee Regimental Foursomes.

vii. Competitions

The committee cannot allot handicaps. Members will be asked to give their Club Handicaps when entering Society Competitions. However, the Committee is empowered to alter any handicap it considers necessary during Society Meetings.

viii. Trophies

Members and Regimental/Corps Golf Societies, who win trophies at Society Meetings, are responsible for their safe custody, whilst in their possession. They should also arrange for engraving as required, and ensure their safe return to the Honorary Secretary prior to the presentation at the next Meeting.

N.B. The Society’s Insurers cover all Trophies.

ix. Alteration to Rules

1. Any proposition which involves any radical alteration in the constitution or rules of the Society, or in the conditions under which:-

• The Black Watch Medals;

• The Argyll and Sutherland Challenge Bowl;

• The Ordnance Challenge Cup, the Royal Engineers Sunningdale Cup or the Egypt Cups,

are at present played, shall require the concurrence of at least two-thirds of the members present at a General Meeting, at which meeting, a minimum of 40 Members must be present and voting.

2. Any such proposition, should it be carried, will be adopted forthwith and will be confirmed or negated at the next General Meeting, at which the same voting rules as stated in para 1. above, will apply.

3. No such proposition shall be entertained at a General Meeting unless the terms thereof have been intimated in writing to the Hon Secretary at least two days prior to the General Meeting.

Competitions – The Black Watch Challenge Medal

i. Introduction

The Black Watch Challenge Medal was presented to the Society in Memory of Lt F G Tait BW, a former Amateur Champion, who was killed during the Boer War. It is the premier individual trophy to be played for by Members of the Society at its Summer Meeting.

ii. Rules

The Medal is competed for over two rounds and the winner of the Gold Medal will be the player with the lowest scratch score. The runner up will receive the Silver Medal. It is now the norm for the competition to be played over two days and in the event of a tie the Medal will be awarded to the player with the better score on the second day. Ties will be resolved in accordance with the Rules of Golf as periodically issued by The R&A.

Competitions

Conditions and Rules for; The Argyll & Sutherland Bowl, The Ordnance Challenge Cup, The Royal Engineers Sunningdale Cup and The Egypt Cup

i. Introduction

The rules have been amended significantly over successive AGMs in 2010 and 2011 in order to cope with the reducing number of entries in the Ordnance, Sunningdale and Egypt Cups. These amendments build on the 2001 revision which was made to reflect the unfortunate but inevitable weakening of the linkage between team members and the strength and size of parent Regiments and Corps. Allocation into Cup competitions is now based on the number of teams entered and on the standard of those who can attend the meeting. Arrangements for the A&S Bowl will also allow different formats of competition depending on the number of teams actually attending. The aim remains to have “serious fun” and as much golf as possible over equitable scratch matches.

ii. Administration

1. Entries.

Team Entry Form ‘A’ will be produced and circulated by the Hon Secretary, to all Regimental/Corps Golf Societies in early January/February. This entry form requires only the number of teams a Regiment/Corps Golf Society intends to enter. The entry should be returned to the Hon. Secretary, accompanied by the Entry Fee for each team, before the date indicated on the form.

2. The Argyll and Sutherland Challenge Bowl.

The Argyll and Sutherland Challenge Bowl is open to teams from all British Infantry and Royal Armoured Corps Regiments irrespective of size, and to the Infantry element of the Brigade of Gurkhas.

a. The format of play will be dependent upon the number of entries as follows:

i) 3 or 4 entries, then teams will play a Round Robin format (each Team play all other teams once).

ii) 5 or more entries, then teams will play under the Conditions and Rules as laid down.

b. A random draw to decide the Order of Play will be produced and distributed to competing Regiments by the Honorary Secretary.

3. The Ordnance Challenge Cup, the Royal Engineers Sunningdale Cup and the Egypt Cup.

a. These three Competitions are open to teams that are NOT eligible to enter the Argyll & Sutherland Challenge Bowl, (i.e. all non-Infantry, non-RAC Regiments and Corps and the infantry element of the Brigade of Gurkhas of the British Army). They are also open to the Golfing Societies of those Regiments/Corps that have been disbanded and/or amalgamated into larger Corps.

b. i) The composition of the three Competitions will be dependent upon the aggregate handicaps of the teams submitted by the Captain/Secretary of Regimental/Corps Golfing Societies.

ii) At the Summer Meeting, Team entries that had previously been submitted to the Honorary Secretary, will be divided equally into the three Competitions according to their aggregate handicaps. Where the total entries do not give an equal number for each Competition then the extra team/s will be entered into the Egypt and Sunningdale Cups respectively.

c. i) The Captain/Secretary of all competing Golfing Societies should submit to the Committee or Hon. Secretary, before 1700 hrs on the Wednesday of the Summer Meeting, the list/s of their selected team/s (with handicaps), showing the aggregate handicap of each team.

ii) The Committee will place Teams into Cup Competitions, based on their aggregate handicaps.

d. Order of Play will be decided by a draw, which will take place immediately after the AGM.

e. The format of play will be dependent upon the number of entries as follows:

i) If there are only sufficient for 3 or 4 entries in the competitions, then teams will play a Round Robin format (each Team plays all other teams once).

ii) If there are sufficient for 5 or more entries in the competitions, then teams will play under the Conditions and Rules as laid down..

iii) If there are not sufficient teams for three competitions then the Egypt Cup will not be played in that year.

iv) If the number of entries is very small, the Committee will decide how best to organise the competitions in order to maximise the enjoyment of those present – this latitude also allows for the entry of “hors concours” teams to make up the numbers.

f. All matches are to be played under the Conditions and Rules as laid down in the conditions below.

iii. Conditions

1. General

a. Teams for the Argyll & Sutherland Bowl shall consist of four officers, who may be either serving or retired.

b. Teams for the Ordnance Challenge Cup, Royal Engineers Sunningdale Cup or Egypt Cup shall consist of five officers, who may be either serving or retired.

c. All officers playing in these Team Competitions must be members of the Army Officers’ Golfing Society.

2. Serving Officers

a. Argyll & Sutherland Bowl.

Officers commissioned into Large Regiments (or into Regiments, which are now represented by Battalions thereof) will play for their Regiment. Other officers may play either for the Regiment (including Regiments formed by amalgamation) into which they were commissioned or the Regiment in which they are serving or last served, but the former shall have the prior call on them.

b. Ordnance Cup, Royal Engineers Sunningdale Cup and Egypt Cup.

Officers will play for the Regiment/Corps whose cap badge they wear, except that, if their original Regiment/Corps has been amalgamated, they may play either for their original Regiment/Corps or the Regiment/Corps into which it has been amalgamated. They may not switch from one Regiment/Corps to another during a meeting.

3. Members who are Doubly Qualified

Members who are doubly qualified should declare themselves for a particular Regiment/Corps on the first occasion on which they play in one of these competitions. They shall not thereafter play for any other Regiment/Corps at that Meeting, except, that they may play for the Regiment/Corps into which their declared Regiment/Corps has been amalgamated. They may not switch from one Regiment/Corps to another during a Meeting.

iv. Rules

1. Play will be by singles match-play over 18 holes. Teams will score by holes. In round-robin competitions the winners shall be the team winning the most holes over all their matches.

2. There is no limit to the number of teams which may enter from a Regiment or Corps, but an entrance fee, as determined by the Committee, must be paid for each team entered.

3. Within the rules of these competitions, when one team is entered, its composition may be changed as desired. When two or more teams are entered their composition may be changed. However, players may move upwards in team seniority but not downwards during the Meeting.

4. Prizes will be presented to the Winners and Runners-up.

5. The Trophies cannot be won outright.

6. In the event of a tie after all team members have completed 18 holes the result will then be decided firstly by the number of individual matches won. If this does not produce a result each Team Captain will nominate one of his team to play extra holes until the match is decided.

History

The Argyll & Sutherland Bowl

From 1925 to 1954, teams of four officers, being members of the Society, off the Regimental List, from British Cavalry and Infantry Regiments.

From 1955 to 1963, teams of five, not less than two serving, with National Service officers being eligible.

In 1969 Cavalry Regiments were excluded. (RAC being made eligible for Ordnance Challenge Cup).

In 1970 teams reduced to four officers either serving or retired.

From 2001 teams from Royal Armoured Corps Regiments were re-included. If less than 5 teams enter then the competition should be played as a Round Robin.

Ordnance Challenge Cup

From 1946 to 1953 teams of four officers for Regiments and Corps not qualified to enter the Argyll &Sutherland Bowl.

In 1954 teams of three and in 1955 it became teams of five, not less than two serving and National Service officers became eligible. Teams did not have to include serving Officers.

Royal Engineers’ Sunningdale Cup

The Cup was loaned to the Society by the Royal Engineers in 1991. The Cup, which remains the property of the Royal Engineers, was established for competition between ‘B’ Teams of Regiments/Corps not eligible to enter the Argyll and Sutherland Bowl. Conditions and rules of the competition are the same as for the Ordnance Cup.

Egypt Cup

In 1973 and 1974 open to teams of five officers from Infantry ‘Brigades’, equivalent to Large Regiments. Since 1975 “conditions” and “rules” as printed above and as amended from 1989 regarding the requirement for serving officer applied.

Note:- From 1975 “conditions” and “rules” as printed above for the Ordnance, Sunningdale and Egypt Cups applied. These were amended in 1989 to delete the need to include any serving officers.