MIDLAND GOLF UNION

GENERAL REGULATIONS

INDEX

No.	Content	Page
1	Name	1
2	Objects	1
3	Membership	1
4	Management	1
5	The Council	1
6	Officers	1
7	Voting at Council Meetings	2
8	Meetings of the Council	2
9	Subscriptions	2
10	Executive Committee	2
11	Selection Committee	2
12	Championship Committee	2
13	Chairmanship at Meetings	2
14	Meetings of the Junior Delegates	3
15	Meetings of the Senior Delegates	3
16	Duties of the Secretary	3
17	Duties of the Treasurer	3
18	Chairman of Junior Golf	3
19	Senior Organiser	3
20	EGU Representation	3
21	Midland Order of Merit	3
22	Matches	3
23	Bye-Laws	3
24	Quorum	3
25	Ties and Badges	3
26	Funds	3
27	Regulations	3
	Abbreviations used in text	3

APPENDICES TO THE REGULATIONS

A	Championships	4
B	Midland Order of Merit	10
C	Junior Champion of Champions	11
D	General Terms of Reference for Officers	12
E	Ties of the Midland Golf Union	14
F	Badges of the Midland Golf Union	14
G	EGU County Championships – Midland Qualifying	16
H	Health & Safety at Championships & events	17

1.             NAME

The name shall be the Midland Golf Union (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Union’).

2.             OBJECTS                                             

The Objects of the Union shall be:

2.1                To further the interest of amateur golf in the Midlands.

2.2                To assist and co-operate with the English Golf Union.

2.3                To encourage and assist the Counties within the Union.

2.4                To arrange such meetings, competitions and matches in order to achieve the above objects.

3.             MEMBERSHIP                     

Membership shall be restricted to : -

3.1   The ten Midland Counties of Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire & Herefordshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

3.2   Honorary Life Members – such persons as the Union may wish to honour on recognition of services to it.

4.             MANAGEMENT

The governing body shall be the Council, and the management of the Union shall be vested in the Council.

5.             THE COUNCIL

                The Council shall consist of:

Two representatives nominated by each Member County, one of those being the Voting Member for EGU Extraordinary Meetings.

The Officers appointed under Regulation 6.

Past Chairmen of the Midland Group.

Past Chairmen of the Midland Golf Union.

Past Presidents of the Midland Counties Golf Association.

Past Presidents of the Midland Golf Union.

5.1   Member Counties will notify the Union Secretary of the names, address, telephone number(s) and email address of representatives by the 31^st October for the following year.

5.2   In the event of death or resignation of a representative the Member County concerned will nominate a replacement forthwith and notify the Secretary of the relevant details.

6.             OFFICERS

                The Officers of the Union shall be:

                                The President

                                The Chairman

                                The Captain

                                The Secretary

                                The Treasurer

                                Chairman of the Championship Committee

                                Chairman of Junior Golf

                                Senior Organiser

                                President-Elect (normally every other year)

6.1     The Officers of the Union, with the exception of the Past Presidents and Past Chairmen, shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Union and shall hold office until the next Annual Meeting when they shall retire but shall be eligible for re-election subject to:

6.1.1        No President nor Captain shall serve in that office consecutively for more than two years.

6.1.2        No President-Elect shall serve in office consecutively for more than one year.

6.1.3        Other Officers shall not normally serve a continuous term of more than four years.

6.2                Should the Union decide, an individual may hold more than one office at any one time.

6.3                Nominations for Officers will be made in the following manner:              

6.3.1         The Past Presidents of the Union shall meet prior to the Annual General Meeting of the Council to nominate a President and President-Elect for election by the Council.

6.3.2         The Executive Committee and Member Counties have the power to nominate Officers other than the President for election by the Council.                               

6.4   In the event of the death or resignation of a President during his term of office the President-Elect, or if the President-Elect has not been appointed the Past President shall act until the next Annual General Meeting of the Council.

6.5   In the event of death or resignation of an Officer other than the President the Executive Committee shall nominate a replacement to act until the next Annual General Meeting of the Council.

6.6   All nominations must be received by the Secretary not later than the 31^st August preceding the Annual General Meeting. If no nominations have been received then nominations may be accepted at the Annual General Meeting.

6.7   General terms of reference for Officers are stated in Appendix ’D’.

7.             VOTING AT COUNCIL MEETINGS

7.1   A Member County shall have one vote at the Annual or Special General Meetings and on matters of future policy at Council Meetings. In the event of there being equal votes cast, the Chairman shall have the casting vote. The Officers, unless otherwise qualified to do so, and other Members of the Council shall have no vote.

7.2   All members of the Council have the right to vote on the day-to-day business at Council Meetings including the Chairman who shall also have the casting vote.

8.             Meetings of the Council

                8.1          Annual General Meeting.

8.1.1           The Annual General Meeting of the Union shall take place in October of each year at such time and venue as the Executive committee shall decide.

8.1.2                   The secretary shall give notice of at least twenty-one days of such meetings, together with an agenda, to all Officers of the Union and to the Secretary of each Member County for onward transmission to the representatives of such County.

8.1.3                   Member Counties wishing to put forward any proposal or nominations for Office must give notice of the same by written request to the Secretary by the last day of August preceding such meeting.

8.1.4                   The quorum shall be five Counties.

8.1.5                   Presidents and Secretaries of Member Counties shall be entitled to attend if not a member as stated in Regulation No.5.

8.2                Ordinary Meetings.

8.2.1                   Ordinary Council Meetings shall, if possible, be held one or two weeks before EGU Ltd Extraordinary General meetings, and items in the EGU Agenda requiring decisions shall be fully discussed.

8.2.2                   The Secretary, if possible, will give notice to Members of the dates of meetings for the whole year when preparing the fixture list for same towards the end of the previous year.

8.2.3                   An agenda together with any necessary communication(s) on matters to be discussed will be circulated to Members at least three weeks before meetings.

                8.3          Special Meetings

The Secretary will convene a Special Meeting of the Council at any time if requested to do so by not less than four of the Officers or by three Member Counties jointly – such request shall be in written form giving details of the business they wish to discuss, and  the Secretary shall show such detail on the Agenda. The quorum shall be five Counties.

9.             SUBSCRIPTIONS

The yearly subscriptions of the Member Counties shall become due on the 1^st day of January each year and shall be determined at the previous Annual General Meeting.

10.          EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

10.1  The appointed Officers of the Union shall form an Executive Committee who shall have full authority to carry out the day-to-day running of the Union.

                10.2        The Executive shall have power to co-opt non-voting members.

                10.3        The quorum shall be four.

10.4    The Chairman shall call meetings as required.

11.          SELECTION COMMITTEE  

The Selection Committee shall consist of the Captain, the Immediate Past Captain, the Championship Chairman and the Secretary. They shall have the power to co-opt further members.

12.          CHAMPIONSHIP COMMITTEE

12.1  The Championship Committee shall consist of the appointed Officers of the Union and four further members to be appointed annually at the Annual General Meeting of the Union, and shall have the power to co-opt further members.

12.2  A meeting shall be held at the beginning of each year to review the administration, terms and conditions for the MGU championships and events as stated in Appendices ‘A’ and ‘G’.

13.          CHAIRMANSHIP AT MEETINGS

13.1  The Chairman will preside at all Council and Executive Meetings, but in his absence the Immediate Past Chairman, or in their absence the President, will take the Chair. In the absence of all, the Meeting shall appoint a Chairman for the Meeting.

13.2  The Captain will preside at meetings of the Selection Committee. In his absence the Immediate Past Captain will take the chair.

13.3  The Championship Chairman shall take the chair at meetings of the Championship Committee. In his absence the Secretary will take the chair.

13.4  The Junior Organiser will take the chair at meetings of the Junior Delegates. In his absence he will appoint a deputy.

13.5  The Senior Organiser will take the chair at meetings of the Senior Delegates. In his absence he will appoint a deputy.

13.6  Chairmen shall have the right to vote at meetings in their capacity as Chairmen and to give a casting vote when so required.

14.          MEETINGS OF THE JUNIOR DELEGATES

There will be at least three meetings per year of the Junior Delegates from each of the ten Member Counties; one before the start of the Season, one during the Season, and one at the end of  the season.    

15.          MEETINGS OF THE SENIOR DELEGATES

There will be at least two meetings per year of the Senior Delegates from each of the ten Midland Counties; one before the start of the Season, and one during the Season. Other meetings may be called as and when necessary by the Senior Organiser or as directed by Council.

16.    DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY

The Secretary shall be responsible for the general administration of the Union as directed by the Council and within the terms of reference agreed by the Executive Committee. (General terms of reference are shown in  Appendix "D").

17.          DUTIES OF THE TREASURER

The Treasurer shall be responsible for the funds of the Union as directed by the Council and within the terms of reference agreed by the Executive Committee. (General terms of reference are shown in Appendix "D"). 

18.          CHAIRMAN OF JUNIOR GOLF

The Chairman of Junior Golf shall be responsible for the administration of Junior matters including coaching as directed by the Council. (General terms of reference are shown in Appendix "D").

19.          SENIOR ORGANISER

The Senior Organiser shall be responsible for the administration of Senior Matches, and other such Senior events as directed by Council (General terms of reference are shown in Appendix “D”).

20.          EGU REPRESENTATION

Each Member County is entitled to one voting member at EGU Ltd Extraordinary Meetings. Such representatives shall also be members of the Council of the Midland Golf Union. They shall carry out all the duties reasonably expected of a voting member at EGU Ltd Extraordinary General Meetings including regular attendance at these meetings and sub-committees (if any) and Council Meetings of the Midland Golf Union and shall report on all matters of importance to this Union.

21.          MIDLAND ORDER OF MERIT

A Midland Order of Merit shall be administered by the Midland Golf Union each year in accordance with the conditions as laid down in Appendix "B".

22.          MATCHES

The Midland Golf Union shall play matches against other representative groups or regions as directed by the Council.

23.          BYE-LAWS

Decisions made by the Council on matters of future policy shall be included in the Appendices to these Regulations, and such Appendices may be updated without the need to change the Regulations.

24.          QUORUM

For all meetings of the Council, the quorum shall be five Counties. For all other meetings a quorum shall be one half of those members entitled to attend.

25.          TIES & BADGES

The awarding of and the right to wear ties and badges of the Midland Golf Union are as detailed in Appendices "E" and "F".

26.          FUNDS

The Union is a non-profit making organisation and shall not make a distribution of any excesses of income over expenditure except to another non-profit making body. In the event of the dissolution of the Union the assets and property of the Union shall be distributed only to non-profit making bodies as shall be directed by the Council of the Union.

27.          REGULATIONS

No regulation of the Union shall be altered or repealed and no regulation shall be made save by a simple majority of the Member Counties present and voting at any meeting of the Council, and twenty-one days notice of such proposed alteration or addition shall be given by the Secretary to each Member of the Council.

End of regulations

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN TEXT

EGU – English Golf Union
MGU – Midland Golf Union