Note: - The Seniors Section will operate within the overall constitution of the Leek Golf Club.

Objective

To promote and encourage competitive but friendly golf, for all Seniors Section Members. And to facilitate other social events and outings during the year.

Membership

Open to all members of Leek Golf Club aged 55 years and over.

Members to pay the annual fee, as decided by the Treasurer, before the first match of the season in order to qualify to play in matches or competitions

Entry to Seniors competitions will only be permitted if members have submitted a total of at least 5 Handicap Qualifying or General Play cards within the 12 months prior to the closing date for entry.

Free entry to Seniors competitions will be available to paid up members of the Seniors’ section. Non-members can enter on payment of £5 per competition. Non-members can win prizes on the day but cannot win any Trophy

Composition of the Seniors Section Committee 

Committee membership to comprise the current year’s Captain, Vice-Captain, Secretary, Treasurer and the previous year’s Captain

The Captain, Vice-captain and previous year’s Captain will serve for 1 year, the Secretary and Treasurer will serve for 3 years.

All elections will be at the Seniors’ AGM.

The Committee will meet as and when required by any Committee member.

Powers and Responsibilities of the Committee

To plan and organise the running of the Seniors Section and to take responsibility for the organisation of Golf Competitions, matches and social functions within the Seniors Section. To deal with any disciplinary matter as detailed in the Seniors Section Code of Conduct

Seniors Section Code of Conduct

In case the conduct of any member of the Seniors Section shall, in the opinion of the Seniors Committee, be injurious to the character of the Section or objectionable in any respect, or if he wilfully refuses or neglects to comply with the rules of the Seniors Section, or if a written complaint is made by a Member about the conduct of another Member, such member, after attending before the Committee to hear the evidence against him and to state his case, may be suspended from the section for such period as the Committee may in their absolute discretion think fit or may be expelled from the Section, and all sums which shall have been paid by such member shall be forfeited.

A member suspended under this code shall have the right of appeal by giving written notice of appeal to the Seniors Section Secretary within ten days of date of the suspension. Thereupon an Extraordinary Committee Meeting shall be convened within 28 days and if such meeting upholds the members appeal after giving the member an opportunity to state his case, they shall pass a resolution rescinding the suspension or expulsion and the member shall cease to be suspended or expelled as the case may be from the date of the meeting. If the appeal is not upheld the suspension or expulsion shall remain

Annual General Meeting

1. The A.G.M. will be held at 2.30 pm on the first Wednesday in November
2. Notice of the A.G.M. will be posted on the Seniors’ notice board not less than 28 days before the meeting.
3. The Seniors’ Captain will chair the meeting and will have a casting vote should one be necessary. In the absence of the Captain the Secretary will take his place.

4. The agenda for the A.G.M. to include the following: -

• Minutes of the previous year’s AGM.
• Matters arising
• Outgoing Captains report on his year in office.
• Treasurer’s report on the Financial Accounts for the year just ended.
• Secretary’s report on the present season, plus any plans and proposals for the forthcoming year.
• Election of officers for the new season
• To consider possible changes to annual fees following reports and recommendations from the Treasurer.
• To consider proposed amendments to the Section’s Rules and Procedures. (Such proposals to be submitted in writing to the Sections Secretary not less than 28 days before the meeting and in the names of at least 2 members).
• Notification of the next years fixtures
• Introduction of next year’s Captain and Vice-Captain.
• Any other business.

 Additional rules and procedures

• The Seniors Section Captain to have the power to call an extraordinary general meeting of the members at any time, having given 7 days’ notice posted within the Clubhouse. The meeting to consider only those items specified in the notice.
• The senior Captain’s blazer to be Green and paid for by the Seniors Section. In this way, we will differentiate it from that of the Leek GC Club captain. 
• The Seniors Section Captain will decide on the venue for his away day. He may invite up to 3 guests to play with him.  His invited guests will have no restrictions on grounds of age. They can win prizes on the day but cannot win the Trophy
• At the appropriate time, before the AGM, the Past Senior Captains to meet and select the incoming Seniors’ Vice Captain based on Senior Section longevity. The secretary will maintain a list of members and the dates when they joined the Seniors’ Section. He will produce a list of suitable members to be considered as Captain and the order in which they should be approached.

If any member approached declines the offer, it should be ascertained if their reply is a permanent no, or ‘a not at present’, reply.  Any member who declines on a permanent basis will be removed from the list of qualifying members.

Seniors Section Competitions

There will be 4 competitions each year

• 1 Pre-season
• 2 Wainwright/Anderson Trophy
• 3 Fred Carr Trophy
• 4 Christmas Competition

All competitions will follow these rules

A  Played from Yellow tees

B   Full handicap. Except for the Anderson Trophy where the members handicap will be his age

C   Stableford scoring system. Except the Anderson Trophy which shall be a medal.

D  Played over 18 holes (except the Christmas Comp – to be played over 15 holes)

We are looking forward to another action-packed year and would invite any member of 55 or older to join us.

There is a £10 membership fee, payable before the season starts. 

We play 16-a-side 4BBB matches on a home and away basis against 13 clubs:

                Stone                      Prestbury             Ingestre Park                      Buxton High Peak

                Newcastle             Cavendish            Trentham                             Trentham Park

                Congleton            Brocton                 Wolstanton                           Market Drayton

                Matlock

For home matches we have tea/coffee and a bacon bap beforehand and 1 course meal after.  Catering at away venues varies. The normal format is that the home players each buy a round of drinks for your opponents of the day.

So, if you play the home and away games you will only buy drinks at home. 

We do prefer players to play both the home and away games against the same club. 

The cost of the meal at the away matches is usually less than a green fee to play that course and, in some cases, considerably less.

Sheets where members can enter their names for consideration for any of the matches are normally posted 3 to 4 weeks in advance on the Seniors Notice Board and the selected team sheet will be posted at least one week in advance.  Should you be listed as a reserve for any game you will be given priority for the next match.

We also play internal competitions each year – entrance fees are included in your membership, or each competition carries a £5 entrance fee

Spring Pre-season – individual trophy.

The Mike Wainwright and George Anderton Trophies – individual Stableford – one with a twist.

The Fred Carr Trophy - individual stableford.

Christmas comp and dinner - individual stableford – please wear your Christmas jumpers

If you wish to join us, you would be more than welcome.  We often come across members who feel that their golf is not good enough to play in a match - you would be wrong.  If you have a handicap, you are good enough and, remember, you will be playing with a partner.

The social side to all seniors’ events is considered to be as important as the game itself, if not more so.  We pride ourselves as being as friendly a group of players as you could wish to meet.

For further details speak to

                Seniors Captain – Tim Heathcote

                Seniors Vice Captain – Peter Higton

                Secretary – Dave Toft

                Treasurer – Trevor Smedley

The season starts with the Pre-Season comp on Monday 30 March

Please come and join us.

The 2025 Seniors Section Christmas competition and party was held on Monday 8th December

The day started with a surprise visit from The Grinch. I wonder who it was?

Once again we (almost) got away with a great day weatherwise – only the last couple of groups getting a little damp

32 players entered the competition – the majority wearing Christmas hats and jumpers – a very festive sight indeed. And 7 older or injured members joined us for the meal. It was fantastic to see Tony Brindley, Wilf Bentley, Joe Smith, Andy Booth, Alan Yeomans, Jim Cumberbatch and Alan Bonehill on the day

We had 6 players scoring 34 points for the 15 holes scored with 3 more tied on 36. Excellent golf all round

The winner of the shield was Mick Hughes, with a score of 36 points, on count back from Spencer Henson, who just pipped Ken Harrison into 3^rd. Unfortunately Spencer could not stay for the meal so Ken kindly collected his prize on his behalf

Nearest the pin on 7 was won by David Harris

Martin Hall came good with his promise to provide a trophy for the best player of the season. Based on 2 points for a win and 1 for a half, first place went to Peter Clarke with 26 points. Second was Martin Hall – 25 points – and third Alan Lockett – 24.

Presentations were made to outgoing captain Martin Hall, Jim Cumberbatch – for his work in providing the tabletop booklets for each match, me, and the most popular one to Trevor Smedley – without whom the section would struggle. He will be greatly missed when he hands over his job as Treasurer to Paul Douglas at the end of next year

After an excellent 3 course meal provided by our new catering team Bailey’s – which was enjoyed by all – the proceedings ended with the formal handover of the Captain’s jacket from Martin to our new Captain for 2026 – Tim Heathcote

As always – new members are always welcome to join us for the 2026 season. Please talk to our Captain Tim, Treasurer Trevor Smedley, myself or any current member if you want more details

Merry Christmas and a wonderful golfing New Year to all

Dave Toft

Seniors Section Secretary

We are looking forward to another action packed year and would invite any member of 55 or older to join us.

We play a few internal competitions each year

Spring Pre-season - played in 4 ball teams.

The Mike Wainwright and George Anderton Trophies – individual medals – one with a twist.

The Fred Carr Trophy - individual stableford.

Christmas comp and dinner - individual stableford.

We also play 4BBB matches on a home and away basis against 14 clubs:

          Stone           Prestbury     Ingestre Park         Buxton High Peak

          Newcastle    Cavendish   Trentham               Trentham Park

          Congleton   Brocton       Wolstanton            Market Drayton

          Matlock       

All our matches are followed by a meal and a couple of drinks.  Where matches are concerned the normal format is that the home players each buy a round of drinks for your opponents of the day, so if you play the home and away games you will only buy one round of drinks. 

We do prefer players to play both the home and away games against the same club.  The cost of the meal at the away matches is usually less than a single green fee to play that course and, in some cases, considerably less.

Sheets where members can enter their names for consideration, for any of the matches, are normally posted 3 to 4 weeks in advance on the Seniors Notice Board and the selected team sheet will be posted at least one week in advance.  Should you be listed as a reserve for any game you will be given priority for the next match.

If you would wish to join us, you would be more than welcome.  We often come across members who feel that their golf is not good enough to play in a match - you would be wrong.  If you have a handicap, you are good enough and, remember, you will be playing with a partner.

The social side to all seniors’ events is considered to be as important as the game itself, if not more so.  We pride ourselves as being as friendly a group of players as you could wish to meet.

For further details speak to

          Seniors Captain – Tim Heathcote

          Seniors Vice Captain – Peter Higton

          Secretary – Dave Toft

          Treasurer – Trevor Smedley

 Please come and join us.

The 2023 season so far has been a bit of a mixed bag.

Our first home game against Trentham Park had to be cancelled as the course was closed due to flooding. It has been rearranged for Monday 11 September.

Our first away game was at Stone and unfortunately ended in defeat. This was followed by home wins against Prestbury and Ingestre Park but a loss to Buxton High Peak.

We continue to have plenty of interest from our members wanting to play the matches – on most occasions having reserves. Unless called upon to play these reserves are then guaranteed to play in the next match.

Players need to be over 55 and to have paid their £10 Section membership fee.

Please keep an eye on our Seniors Section notice board for booking forms and team sheets for upcoming matches. Add your names to those you would like to play.

For any more information about the section and upcoming fixtures please contact me, our Captain Mr Trevor Smedley or any other member.

Happy golfing,

Dave Toft - Leek GC Seniors Secretary