Just to keep people like Boyce happy, here it is – the updated WHVGS Constitution.
In the spirit of transparency, I believe there are two unresolved issues with the draft – I also welcome all comments on the substance and integrity of the detail. I will propose matters I consider to have drafting merit to the board in due course…
The gaps I’ve found are:
C3.3 – right to vote was based on payment of annual dues, it should really be based on meeting the OoM qualification standard for the current or immediate previous year of the matter being voted on
T5.1.3 – we have a rule about fining people who don’t wear the shirt the cost of the shirt – we haven’t done this for a very long time, as most people seem happy just to get a shirt and will wear it. Unless you’re a crusty who looks like he’s been on a desert island for a decade
Some of the formatting has not come across from the Google Doc, but it would be a ball ache to replicate it here.
If you want to view the official document – here’s a link
The WHVGS Constitution & Rules
2019 With Changes Marked
Constitution
C1 The WHVGS Board
C1.1 Life Member – The President and Founder is a Life Member and has the casting vote on split decisions.
C1.2 Elected Appointments – other board positions are elected with defined areas of operation, as well as generally acting to improve the society’s well-being. Key roles include the following:
C1.2.1 The Captain is a key legislator, chiefly responsible for ensuring the consistent operation of society rules.
C1.2.2 The Tour Director is the chief operational officer, responsible for tour logistics and financial arrangements.
C1.2.3 The Player’s Representative is responsible for ensuring a balance exists between the evolution of the society and the requests of its individuals.
C1.2.3.1 The Player’s Representative must be nominated after all other elected positions have been filled.
C1.2.3.2 Board Members are not entitled to propose or vote for the Player’s Representative.
C1.3 Presidential Right – The President can choose to dissolve the Board without requesting a Vote of Confidence.
C2 Amendment to, and Implementation of, Constitution and Law
C2.1 Constitutional Change – A membership vote is required to enact any major change to the Constitution.
C2.2 Rule Change – Any change to the Rules of Tour or Competition occurs via Board vote.
C2.3 Effect – Changes take effect from the time the President notifies the membership.
C2.3.1 Notification can be via email.
C2.3.2 Notification can be verbal at a General Meeting.
C2.3.3 Notification can be by publication on the society’s website.
C2.3.4 The notification content need not be precise – it just needs to give the membership a general understanding of the change and potential impact.
C2.3.5 Any board member will explain the precise implementation of the change when requested to by a member.
C2.4 Enshrinement
C2.4.1 Rule changes must be enshrined within the Almanac by the AGM of the tour where they were passed.
C2.4.2 The Captain updates the literal Constitution and Rules.
C2.4.3 Rules enshrined within the Almanac must be sufficiently precise.
C3 Voting
C3.1 Proposals – Where a vote is required it must be first proposed by an eligible member and then seconded by a different eligible member else it is unlawful.
C3.2 Notice – a voting result is valid if all eligible participants were forewarned.
C3.2.1 If all eligible persons are present within the immediate physical locale on a Society event they are considered forewarned and a straw-poll is valid. Otherwise notification is required to forewarn and such notification must be timely (7 days in advance) and appropriate (the eligible member would be reasonably expected to receive the communication).
C3.2.2 Nominations must be seconded within 10 minutes (physical locale) or 24 hours (virtual – e.g. email) or the proposal is defeated.
C3.2.3 Proposals raised at General Meetings are automatically notified.
C3.3 Eligibility
C3.3.1 To be eligible to nominate, second, or vote, the member must have paid their membership fee be an active member of the society.
C3.3.2 Prospective voters are automatically ineligible by Absence. Absence means that any individual not attending a society event, or missing the timely and appropriate communication, is ineligible for that vote and cannot retrospectively influence the outcome.
C3.4 Carried Votes
C3.4.1 A Returned vote must be unambiguously either for or against the proposition or in the case of an Election Vote a single candidate.
C3.4.2 A Simple Majority Vote (SMV) is carried when more of the Returned and Eligible votes are in favour of a particular proposition.
C3.4.3 A Qualified Majority Vote (QMV) is carried by a minimum of two thirds of Returned and Eligible votes.
C3.5 Standard Votes – Standard voting is by QMV, considered under the constitution to mean a minimum Two-thirds Majority of Returned and Eligible votes. As an example, suppose vote membership consists of 8 persons, with 8 returns at least 6 votes must be for the proposition, with 6 returns at least 4 votes.
C3.6 Responsible Voting – all members are reminded of their responsibility to act in the interest of the society during any vote, in order to reduce the likelihood of frivolous proposals or that of the President having to dissolve a weakly elected board.
C3.7 Appeals – eligible members may appeal on grounds of polling validity or unlawfulness in proposal.
C3.7.1 Any WHV Society Member may appeal a proposal, rule change, appointment or direction on grounds of unfairness.
C3.7.2 Appeals are decided upon by the Captain after allowing for representations by the individual and/or the Players’ Representative.
C4 Elections
C4.1 Prospective membership
C4.1.1 Membership can be proposed and seconded by any Member at any Time.
C4.1.2 New Prospective Members must be agreed by a QMV of the Board.
C4.1.3 Players introduced at official WHV tournaments are automatically considered Prospective Members unless they do not wish it or any member of the board objects.
C4.1.4 Prospective Members become full members, with associated rights, on payment of their membership fee completion of their first WHV event.
C4.1.5 Membership grants right of entry to any Society event, and a vote on any proposal opened to membership. Members have a constitutional right to propose, second and vote in Votes of Confidence and Election Votes.
C4.2 Elected Board Positions – nominations may only arise at a General meeting.
C4.2.1 The President decides whether any arbitrary meeting is General. C4.2.2 There is always a General meeting at the End of Season Society bash (Annual General Meeting, AGM). All elected board positions are vacated at this meeting and a new board is elected.
C4.2.3 There is no bar on previous members being re-elected to the same, or a different, board position. All members are entitled to any voting proposition during the meeting.
C4.3 Board Candidate Votes – individuals may nominate (propose) themselves for election. Unopposed candidates are automatically elected. All WHV Golf society members have a single vote.
C4.3.1 Where competition arises, each round of balloting eliminates the candidate with the lowest amount of votes. If candidates with least votes have an equal amount they are both eliminated. Where the vote is tied across the remaining candidates, the President casts the deciding vote.
C4.4 Votes of No Confidence – a vote of no confidence in the board may be proposed by any eligible member. Should the vote be carried by SMV of all eligible members all elected positions become vacant immediately, an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) is held and re-election must start forthwith.
C4.5 Electioneering Behaviour – candidates must behave in a genuine and wholesome manner when electioneering. The President can cause a nomination to be cancelled – without the consent of membership or board – if as a core element of their electioneering the individual:
C4.5.1 Acts unlawfully or unconstitutionally
C4.5.2 Misrepresents or abuses an opposition candidate
C4.6 Manifesto Pledges – the incoming board will commit to implement items of the successful candidates’ manifestos as long as those pledges:
C4.6.1 Do not contravene the current constitution or rules
C4.6.2 Do not act to the detriment of the Society
C4.6.3 Do not unfairly favour or disadvantage a particular individual, or group of individuals, within the Society
Society Rules of Tour
Should a member or guest breach a Rule of Tour they may be subject to any penalty the board decides. This may range from the requirement to pay a forfeit or fine through to exclusion from Events or even the permanent removal of membership.
T1 Composition
T1.1 Tour Calendar
T1.1.1 The tour period is 1st January to 30th November.
T1.1.2 The tour comprises of 4 Major and a maximum of 7 minor events.
T1.1.3 Promotion to, or demotion from, Major Status is a board decision that can only be made during the close season prior to the Tour.
T1.2 Major Events
T1.2.1 The Brizzle Open – 18 individual Stapleforth holes in the West Country or Wales organised by the Idiot.
T1.2.2 The President’s Classic – Team event where the President challenges the Captain over at least 27 holes incorporating a Mutliball Scramble and 18 hole individual Stapleforth.
T1.2.3 The Son of the PEDRO Masters – An event of character incorporating an 18 hole individual Stapleforth and unique format devised by the Professor.
T1.2.4 The WHV Open (a.k.a. Claret Jug) – WHVGS Tour Showpiece event – 36 hole individual Stapleforth with stayover usually preceded by the Amy Austin minor.
T1.3 Minor Events
T1.3.1 Minor events must be forewarned 2 weeks in advance to the entire membership and can be proposed by any Member.
T1.3.2 At least 6 WHV members must have agreed to play, no matter how many actually make it on the day, for an event to qualify as minor.
T1.3.3 There is a maximum of 1 minor per Tour calendar month, except where events are combined into a single day or where agreed by the board due to the potential failure for a Minor event to meet T1.3.2 above.
T1.4 Competition entry
T1.4.1 All events must be open to the entire prospective membership.
T1.4.2 The competition sponsor can only close entry to a tournament in order to ensure a booking can be made.
T1.4.3 Venue and rough tee-times must be confirmed at least 2 weeks before the event.
T1.4.4 Entrance can not be closed until a minimum of 2 weeks following notification of venue and rough tee-times has passed.
T1.5 Clashes – tour events can not be scheduled to clash with other, defined, key sporting activities. These are:-
Football
Any pre-arranged WHV fixture
England International Football Qualifiers or Competition fixtures
The Football World Cup Final
The Football European Cup final
The FA Cup final
The Football League Cup final
The European Champions League final
Golf
The Ryder Cup weekend
The Open Sunday
The Masters Sunday
The US Open Sunday
The US PGA Sunday
Athletics
The Knowle Fun Run
Olympics track & field 100 metre final
Olympics track & field last day
Racing
The Grand National
Cricket
4th or 5th day of Ashes Test matches
England Cricket World Cup matches
England ICC Trophy matches
Cricket World Cup Final
ICC Trophy final
Rugby
England 6 nation matches
England Rugby world cup matches
Rugby World Cup Final
Tennis
The Wimbledon Men’s final
T2 Ranking Points
All Tour events lead to WHV Golf Society Ranking Points (WGSRPs). The member with the most WGSRPs is declared the winner of the WHV Order of Merit at the end of the season bash.
T2.1 Qualification
T2.1.1 To qualify for the WHV Order of Merit a member must have played in 2 majors that tour.
T2.1.2 Members are entitled to appeal to the board for clemency if extenuating circumstances have made this commitment impossible.
T2.2 Minor Events scoring
T2.2.1 1st place scores (2 x number of Members actually playing) points.
T2.2.2 Each subsequent place scores 3/4 the points of the previous place with a minimum points score for any competitor of a quarter of the winning points score. For a 10 player minor this would mean scores of 20, 15, 11, 8, 6, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4.
T2.2.3 In Mutliball competitions where individuals play their own ball for the duration, ranking between individuals on the winning team is decided on the basis of holes won/points contributed by the respective individuals.
T2.2.4 For skins tournaments, ranking between players with same number of skins is decided on the basis of most holes the individual has scored at net albatross (or less), then eagle, birdie etc. Sponsors of Minor Events can propose alternative and innovative scoring formats, which should be documented and published to the participating Members before the Event commences.
T2.3 Major Event scoring
T2.3.1 The points allocated to Minor Events (T2.2) are doubled.
T2.3.2 There is an assumption that at least 6 members play no matter who turns up, i.e. the minimum point allocation to the winner is 24.
T2.3.3 For the WHV Open, the points allocated to minor events are trebled.
T2.4 Bonus WHVGRPs
T2.4.1 Bonus WHVGRPs can be allocated to an event – e.g. the Ryder Cup format employed in the Presidents Classic often awards 10 WHVGRPs per winning team member.
T2.4.2 This WHVGRP value must be approved by the board before any such event is played.
T2.5 Countback – in the event of tied points, the OOM ranking is determined by count-back.
T3 Match Reports
Members are encouraged to report on their victories for the benefit of Members who were not present by writing Match Reports. Following a number of issues with non-provision of Match Reports and subsequent inconclusive membership votes on application of penalties, failure to provide a Match Report prior to the commencement of the next Tour Event results in a temporary single shot deduction from the Member who failed to provide the report. This deduction will be applied by the Captain until the omission of the Match Report is rectified.
T3.1 Guidelines for Match Reports
T3.1.1 The Match Report should be written by the winner, but use of an agent, who may be more capable of producing an engaging and accurate record of the event, is permitted if the winner notifies the board of the use of an agent.
T3.1.2 The report should be submitted to the board within a fortnight of the victory, but the board will consider distribution of a retrospective match report if it addresses a gap in the societies records.
T3.1.3 Report Format – the recommended constituent parts of a match report include:
T3.2.1 A brief description of what took place at the event.
T3.2.2 Details of all prize winners, including cash prize amounts and any other prizes awarded.
T3.2.3 A minimum of 250 words of text.
T3.3 Distribution – the board will determine how individual Match Reports will be distributed to the Members. Options include email, the society website or printed edition
T4 Lingo
Where appropriate, all written WHVGS communications must refer to ‘Stapleforth’ points and ‘Mutliball’ format instead of alternative descriptions members may have heard elsewhere. Members are further encouraged to use this correct terminology in conversation during Society events.
T5 Apparel
T5.1 Required Attire
T5.1.1 All members must wear an official WHVGS shirt at events unless explicitly authorised otherwise by the board. The End of Season Social and the AGM are not considered as events and therefore members are not required to wear an official WHVGS shirt unless they are the immediate past holder of the WHVGS red shirt. The immediate past holder of the WHVGS Green Jacket will be expected to wear this at the End of Season Social and AGM.
T5.1.2 If a member has lost, forgotten or mislaid their shirt they must purchase another one.
T5.1.3 If there is no shirt available, the Member must still pay the full purchase price.
T5.2 Shirt Colours
T5.1.1 A member may wear an official blue WHVGS shirt at any time, including outside of events.
T5.2.2 The Green (King of the Majors) and Yellow (Tour Leader) may not be worn outside of Tour Golfing events.
T5.2.3 The winner of the previous OOM wears the Yellow shirt at the first competition of the following season.
T5.2.4 The red shirt is reserved for the winner of the official sporting event at the End Of Year Social and may only be worn during the first golfing event of the next tour, or otherwise on WHVGS social occasions.
T5.3 Custodian’s Responsibilities
T5.3.1 Official WHVGS shirts must never be re-sold, loaned, leased or donated to another member or outsider.
T5.3.2 Yellow, Green and Red shirts must be laundered and returned to the President or Captain before entitlement passes.
T5.4 Customisation of Shirts:
T5.5.1 Only the individually procured blue shirts may be customised
T5.5.2 Winners of Major events may embroider the Legend “[Year] [Major Event] Champion” in letters no greater in height than 2cm on the sleeves only.
T5.5.3 Winners of the OOM may place the Official WHVGS star, purchased from the Society – above the WHV badge, one per OOM win per shirt.
T6 Funding
T6.1 Financial Model – Funds are generated by the incumbent board as they see fit.
T6.2 Revenue Streams – the following revenue streams are authorised:
T6.2.1 Competition Fees
T6.2.2 Sale of Goods
T6.2.3 Penalty Fines
T6.2.4 Sequestered Prize earnings
T6.2.5 Recompense for the loss of – or damage to – a Society Asset
T6.3 Major Punting” – The WHVGS will invest a small sum from the society coffers into wagers on the 4 official world golf major championships to boost society funds. The administration and operation of Major Punting is the responsibility of WHVGS Stalwart William Spittle, who has the support of the Board in determining the most appropriate approach for each event, and has the conclusive decision of who is the Champion Tipster, and who he decides to remove from proceedings for belligerence or shenanigans. If there is a dispute with a serving Board member, the remaining Board members are responsible for ensuring that William Spittle is not bullied into compliance.
T7 End of Season Social
T7.1 General
T7.1.1 The End of Season Social is organised by the President
T7.1.2 It must be held on a date after the competition calendar finishes in December.
T7.1.3 Attendance is for all WHVGS members between the start and finish times as formally notified by the President.
T7.2 Non-Attendance
T7.2.1 Any member who will not attend must supply the Board with a written explanation of the reason as soon as they are aware that they will be absent.
T7.2.2 The board will propose the penalty incurred; which typically as a minimum will be sequestering of the player’s prize monies. Only in rare exceptions will the board allow clemency and propose no penalty.
T7.2.3 If the member has supplied no written explanation for non-attendance, this penalty will be immediately applied. Otherwise the entire attending membership will vote for or against its application by SMV.
T7.2.4 Any member present at any part of the End of Season Social who has not qualified to be considered within the Order of Merit will be expected to make a financial contribution to the kitty for the evening at a level agreed by the Tour Director and President.
T7.3 Agenda – the end of season social must comprise as a minimum, in no particular order:
T7.3.1 AGM & Board Vote.
T7.3.2 Review of outstanding offences and allocation of penalties.
T7.3.3 Open discussion of membership suggestions for rule change.
T7.3.4 Payment of prize monies earned.
T7.3.5 A vote for the WHVGS SPOTY (Sports Personality of the Year).
T7.3.5 Some form of nosh.
T7.3.6 Some form of competition where the red shirt can be won.
T8 WHVGS Assets
T8.1 Asset Register
T8.1.2 It is the Captain’s responsibility to maintain a WHVGS Asset Register, the amendment of which must be approved by the board.
T8.1.2 the WHVGS Asset Register must contain an itinerary of all society material or intellectual property
T8.1.3 It is the President’s Responsibility to include the WHVGS Asset Register in the Almanac. The WHVGS Asset Register will be published electronically on the society website and updated from time to time.
T8.1.4 All assets in the register are solely owned by the society. Individual Custodians have no commercial, financial or intellectual interest in the Asset they have been loaned.
T8.1.5 The value of each asset, with the sole exception of the WHVGS logo, is down to an objective calculation via a series of “Evaluation Factors” as described in the register. The monetary values ascribed to Evaluation Factors are subject to confirmation or revision at the AGM.
T8.2 Loss of Assets
T8.2.1 The board undertake to replace all disposed assets as best as possible; but if this is due to:
- Loss or damage (beyond reasonable wear-and-tear);
- Caused by negligent or deliberate act or omission by Society Member;
- Outside of their performing an executive role;
said member (the “Custodian”, or “Interfering Agent”) is liable to pay the society the full WHVGS Asset Value as recompense.
T8.2.2 The liable party must never seek to directly replace the asset themselves without full board approval, as they can not be sure the replacement suffices.
T8.3 Notification of new assets
T8.3.1 Members can introduce new physical assets at any time. The board must approve conditions of use/access/accessibility
T8.3.2 Any new requirement to use the WHVGS logo must be sanctioned by the board before production of the asset.
T8.4 Attributes – the following must be recorded within the register:
T8.4.1 Conditions of use/access/accessibility
T8.4.2 Mandatory employment of
T8.4.3 Evaluation Factors
T8.4.4 Asset Value
T8.4.5 Acquisition date and donor
T8.4.6 Custodian if taken out of stock
T9 Handicaps For the 2011 Tour and thereafter
T9.1
Each group should nominate 1 person to record all of the players scores. Gross scores and stapleforth scores worked out for each player and cards handed to the Captain (handed to President if Captain not present).
T9.2
The Captain will record the scores in an XL spreadsheet. The spreadsheet will also be copied to the Web Donkey for display on whvgolf.com
T9.3
Players will receive strokes on the course subject to their handicap and taking the strokes on the lowest stroke indexes. Where a player’s handicap exceeds 18, the player will receive the extra strokes on the lowest stroke indexes (ie player of 24 will receive 2 strokes on holes with stroke index’s 1 to 6 and 1 stroke on holes with stroke index’s 7 to 18). Players whose handicaps are – (minus, but referred to as plus) will have strokes taken from them on the easiest hole, unless stated otherwise on the card of the course. (ie a player with a handicap of -2 will have a stroke taken away on holes with indexes 17 & 18).
T9.4
Current exact handicaps are rounded up (where X=whole number) from X.5 and down from X.4 to give member’s playing handicaps. In minus handicaps they are rounded up (where X=whole number) from –X.6 and down from -X.5 to give member’s playing handicaps.
T9.5
At the start of each Tour year, the incoming Captain has the option to propose an increase or decrease the starting handicaps of individual Members compared to the prior year’s closing handicap.
T9.6
The Captain has the right to vary exact handicap on general play.
T9.7
The Captain will undergo a mid season handicap review of every player and will make any handicap adjustments that he sees fit.
T9.8
There are 4 handicap categories, Category A, Category B, Category C, Category D. A is for playing handicaps of 0 (or better) to 9, B is 10 to 18, C is 19 to 27 and D is 28 to 36.
T9.9
Handicap categories reflect the amount player’s handicaps will decrease following an official WHV Event. The handicap revision following an event is taken from the number of shots above or below the CSS (refer to T9.10) a player finishes. Handicaps are then adjusted down by category at the following rates:
Category A 0.1
Category B 0.2
Category C 0.3
Category D 0.4
Handicaps going up will be at the rate of 0.1 x the number of shots over the CSS they finish, with a maximum increase of 0.5 per event. (For Example: If the average of the field is 26 points and Dougal Baxter wins the event with 41 points off a handicap of 22, he will be 6 under the CSS and therefore be cut by 6 x 0.3 = 1.8.
In the same tournament if Chris Gregory finished last with 18 points off a handicap of 20 he will finish 9 over the CSS and will go up by 0.5 as he will be rounded down from 0.9).
T9.10
A competition scratch score (CSS) will be calculated for every stapleforth event (not relevant for Skins or Matchplay Events). The CSS is important as players post-event handicap adjustments will be worked out from the CSS as opposed to the Par of the course. The CSS will be worked out by calculating the average stapleforth scores recorded by all players in the event and then an adjustment made from the par of the course up or down as follows:
Average of all Players Stapleforth Points:
36 or above -3
35 to 34 -2
33 to 32 -1
31 to 29 0
28 to 26 +1
25 to 24 +2
23 or below +3
T9.11
There will be no additional handicap cut or handicap increase for winning or finishing 2nd.
T9.12
The handicap adjustment process remains the same for every tournament regardless if the tournament is a major or minor.
T9.13
The Captain reserves the right to introduce a Buffer Zone mechanism into the handicap structure half way through the year. The principal of the buffer zone is to help players handicaps not increase. The Captain should review the new handicap at the half way point at the same time as the half year general handicap review.
T9.14
New members handicaps will be allocated based on the information supplied by the introducing member, to a maximum value of 24. In order to prevent recurrence of the Milmore Debubandit debacle, the Captain will apply a 2 shot reduction to all declared handicaps for new members, regardless of whether the value is informal or supported by an official handicap. If an informal handicap proves to be lenient, the introducing member will be penalised as will the new member suitably as agreed by the Board.
New members will have their WHVGS handicap calibrated by the official handicap system following the submission of cards from five Tour Events contested as Stapleforth events.
T9.15
WHV has a male member maximum handicap of 36, there is no low handicap limit. As there are no current female members there is no allowance for female handicaps. Should a female be permitted to join the WHVGS the Captain reserves the right to introduce a female member handicap system.
T9.16
Any WHV member who is also a member of a golf club is expected to declare their maintained CONGU handicap to the Captain, who will record detail of it in the WHV Handicap System. Members with a WHV and CONGU handicap will contest events on the lower of the two handicaps. The WHV Handicap System will record both values independently to ensure that any WHV handicap adjustments for victories, late match reports or other imposed penalties are appropriately accounted for. If a member is found not to have declared his latest CONGU handicap to the Captain and that has resulted in an advantage for that member, then the Board will consider an appropriate penalty, which may include, but is not limited to, the removal of WHVRPs and victories from the member.
T10 Practice Rounds
T10.1 Members must inform the board if they intend to play a Major course in the 2 weeks before that Major Event. A failure to do so may result in a charge of ‘Sharking’ being invoked and a member is likely to be subject to a disciplinary charge.
T11 Tour Penalties
T11.1 In the event of a clear or alleged breach of this constitution the accused member(s) are entitled to a fair review and hearing before any remedial measures are applied, except where T11.2 below applies.
T11.2 Where the member is clearly guilty of egregious or fundamentally terrible acts – a ‘Serious Act’, it is within the gift of the President to remove that member from the society and request the immediate return of any society assets. Behaviour that would be classified as a ‘Serious Offence’ could include theft from the society or any of its’ members, physical assault, wanton destruction of a society asset, deliberate and persistent cheating or unwanted sexual touching.
T11.3 Any member found guilty of a ‘Serious Act’ is entitled to present a plea for clemency at the annual WHVGS social event. The matter will be heard by the gathered members and shall include a clear explanation for the ‘Serious Act’ and a proposal to remedy the injured party or asset. In order to gain reinstatement to the society a clear majority of members is required, and the member will serve a minimum of a 12 month probation before regaining full rights as a member of the society.
T11.4 For all other disciplinary matters, all members are responsible for ensuring the good reputation and general camaraderie of the Society. If they are party to, or witness acts which they believe are in contravention of this constitution or the accepted norms of society, they are duty bound to report their concerns to the Board.
T11.5 A disciplinary charge form is available at the society website. Any member is entitled, at any point, to raise any charge against any member. These forms are electronically notified to all board members and collated into a disciplinary log automatically. The form allows the plaintiff to recommend a penalty or redress for the alleged offence. The Society greatly encourages originality and creativity in recommended punishments,
T11.6 Any member found to be raising fictitious, superfluous or biased charges against other members could be found guilty of the offence of ‘Wolfspidering’ and face disciplinary issues of their own.
T11.7 As part of his duties, the Captain will monitor and review charges as they arise. He will clarify any ambiguities with the plaintiff, in confidence if necessary, to ensure the Society has a full understanding of the issue.
T11.8 The Captain shall, if required, undertake an investigation of the alleged offence. This may involve the gathering of evidence and deposition of witnesses. He may even request a member to act as an independent arbiter. The Captain will ensure that material details are recorded in the disciplinary log.
T11.9 The Captain will review the disciplinary log in the period between the Masters event and the WHV Open. He will make proposals relating to disciplinary matters arising since the previous Society disciplinary hearing and record these in the log.
T11.9.1 As some allegations may involve the Captain himself, or the President or other board member, he will review elements of the disciplinary log with the board selectively to ensure there is no preferential treatment
T11.9.2 Where the allegation involves the Captain himself and is relatively serious, he should recuse himself from the matter and request that the Players Rep, unless similarly accused, undertake the review of the charge
T11.9.3 Where the board are collectively or individually accused of malfeasance, the President will be responsible for determining corrective action
T11.10 The Captain will present the disciplinary log and his recommendations for redress during the WHV Open weekend, in front of the assembled members.
T11.10.1 Members can still be found guilty if they are not present at the disciplinary hearing – they are required to make good on their penalty or face a potential charge of
Dubious Practice – the penalty for dubious practice that may enhance a member’s OOM standing will be the docking of a number of WHVGRPS or removal from membership as decided by the board.
T11.2 Behavioural Offences – The penalty for behavioural or contemptuous offences are determined by the board. Typically – but not necessarily – they will employ the Port scale:
T11.2.1 An insignificant offence will result in the individual purchasing a standard glass of port for the offended member(s).
T11.2.2 A cheeky offence will require the offender to procure and down a Cheeky Vimto.
T11.2.3 A cheeky and naughty offence will require the offender to procure and down a Motown Bolton.
T11.2.4 A serious offence will require the purchase of a bottle of Port, perhaps with standard cheese board, for the society.
T11.2.5 Out-of-order behaviour will require the purchase of a bottle of 20yr old Tawny Port, perhaps with a connoisseur’s cheese board, for the society.
T11.2.6 In the event that the gross amount of Port generated from fines exceeds the society’s consumption capacity, the board will request the monetary value of the Port fine to be paid into society funds in lieu.
T11.3 Breach of Law – it is the responsibility of members to be fully conversant with the Constitution and Rules as published on the website. Ignorance is not a defence and if demonstrated will, in fact, increase the severity of any penalty.
Competition Rules and Scoring
The Rules of Tour supersede any other formal law. Where they don’t apply, Local Rules and the Royal and Ancient Rules of Golf are the sole authorities in that order, with the following exceptions:
R1 Recording of Scores
R1.1 Scores can be recorded on a single unsigned card by a single person if everyone within the recorder’s playing group accedes. Responsibility for checking any score before submissions lies and remains with the individual player. In the event of any subsequent scoring error being discovered, then the entire competition results will be adjusted accordingly to reflect the true position.
R2 Sponsor’s Competition Rights
R2.1 Core Rights – for the avoidance of doubt, the Competition sponsor has the right to vary the following for their events:
- Event format.
- Event scoring method.
- To allow or disallow the sharing of clubs.
- To allow or disallow the granting of gimmees/tap-ins in a non mutliball format.
- The selection of spot prizes (Nearest the Pin and Longest Drive).
- Implementation of impromptu prizes/forfeits [e.g. hulk, krupnik/niblik challenge should it arise again].
R2.2 Marking balls for spot prizes
R2.2.1 The position of the ball must be marked using the official WHVGS marker if available.
R2.2.2 In any event, the ball must be suitably identified as the current leader of the spot prize competition before the player walks away from the position where the ball has landed having played his next shot, else that player is not entitled to claim the prize.
R2.3 Sharing of clubs – the Competition Sponsor may allow the sharing of clubs, including the borrowing of clubs for shots, under situations other than those allowed by rule 4.4 of the R&A Rules of Golf, but must stipulate the conditions that allow this.
R3 ‘Gimmees’ and ‘Tap-Ins’
R3.1 Gimmees
R3.1.1 The Competition Sponsor may allow ‘gimmees’. He will stipulate the conditions under which they are given, but a player may never grant a ‘gimmee’ to themselves or someone on their own team.
R3.1.2 Scorers for groups should encourage the granting of gimmees if it will speed up play and the recipient is not the group leader at the time.
R3.2 Tap-ins – On the accedence of another player whose ball lies off the green, a player may ‘tap-in’ from the green while the flag is in place in order to not slow the game down.
R4 Lost Balls – the Society notes that the R&A has now followed WHVGS practice for R4 and R5
R4.1 Provisional – if a player considers there is any chance their ball in play may not be found, they must play a provisional ball. This especially applies if it is suspected that there is any chance the ball may have entered any hazard.
R4.2 Ball in play – in accordance with the Rules of Golf unless a ball is declared lost by a player before being discovered by any player, that is the ball in play and any replayed shot was provisional and is now dead.
R4.3 Strength & Direction – if a ball is looked for, declared lost and no provisional was played, the player has the option of the ball being dropped at a position where the ball would most likely have finished due to the Strength and Direction of the shot.
R4.3.1 The player must have expended appropriate effort and care to look for the ball.
R4.3.2 The player scores as if his replayed shot had landed at this location. This is the equivalent of a 2 stroke penalty – i.e. If the ball was lost from the tee then the shot following the drop will be the 4th; if the ball was lost from the second shot on the hole it will be the 5th, etc.
R4.3.3 The ball can never be dropped in a cut of the course where the ‘lost’ ball would have been plainly visible; e.g. fairway or first cut rough. The ball must always be dropped on the nearest surface where loss is likely.
R4.3.4 If the lost area is a copse or similar where there will be natural obstacles to the flight of the next shot, the ball must be lobbed into this area, attempting to mimic the flight of the lost ball to ensure the lie is fair in terms of obstruction to the next shot.
R4.3.5 If the group agree the ball has been pilfered or moved by a 3rd party then the drop is allowed on any surface without penalty
R4.3.6 If the strength and direction would have most likely placed the shot in a Hazard or Out of Bounds, then the usual scoring and placement options apply under the Rules of Golf or Local Rules.
R4.3.7 The ball must be dropped or lobbed by a person other than the player instigating the rule (or indeed any team-mate of theirs).
R5 Avoidance of Slow Play
R5.1 Pick Up – If the player cannot score Stapleforth or has lost a match play hole they must pick their ball up if not caused to wait by the group ahead.
R5.2 Maximum time looking for lost balls – if the ball is lost in a place where it would be hard to find the member can only spend 3 minutes looking for it if not caused to wait by the group ahead.
R5.3 Derestricted honours – players can and should take shots outside of the honours format from tee to green to speed up play. This includes the temporary removal of a flag (or not if R5.4. employed) to putt while waiting a player to walk to his ball.
R5.5 General competence – when on the green buggies, trolleys and bags must be parked between the green and the route to the next tee.
R6 WHV Specials
R6.1 This section of the WHV Constitution records the practices established by the Society over its storied history. It is expected to be updated by future Boards as new traditions and improvements are established.
R6.2 Dog to Dog. For any longest drive competitions at a WHV event, the winner has to have used their driver, or ‘Big Dog’.
R6.2.1 The Dog to Dog requirement applies to all WHV competitions where the Big Dog, or Hulk are to be awarded as a result, except where a tournament sponsor has declared that the longest drive competition is not a Big Dog. For example, a longest iron, or lady driver challenge.
R6.2.2 If a player using a club other than his Driver hits a ball, on the fairway, longer than the existing marked longest drive, they may move the marker forward, but they must note ‘No Dog’ on the marking token.
R6.2.3 In the event of a ‘No Dog’ being the longest drive on the fairway after all members have attempted their drives, then ‘No Dog’ will be awarded for the event.
R6.2.4 Any longest drive competition requires drives to finish on the fairway, ratified by the player and a minimum of one other member of the society – especially where the boundary or existence of fairway is difficult to distinguish, such is the quality of some of the courses the society may visit.
R6 Board decisions
As the only guaranteed member of any annual WHVGS Board, the responsibility for updating the constitution with all Board decisions for the year prior to any AGM lies with the President. The President is also responsible for updating and maintaining the WHVGS Almanac and it is the President who supplies copies of both updated documents for publication on the WHVGS website.
2010 Board Decisions
2010-1 Claret Jug Weekend Structure and Location
The board reserves the right to delimit the structure and/or location of the flagship Claret Jug weekend to a prescribed standard which the defending CJ champion’s proposal must satisfy. They will invariably do so for important milestones. For example, in celebration of 10 years of the Society’s establishment, it has been decided to hold the 2013 CJ weekend abroad.
2010-2 Annual Membership Fees
Annual membership fees have been introduced. The reasoning behind this is to ensure all Members invest in the future of the WHVGS, not just their own individual golf requirements. It also means that the society is collectively investing in the attempt to make Rob a better golfer, so that he can fully understand and appreciate the rules and the finer aspects of the game. To avoid confusion the Annual Membership Fee must be paid by all Members, annually. Monies collected via membership during 2010 are currently ring-fenced to fund the 2013 CJ weekend.
Failure to pay the annual membership fee during the tour calendar will result in revocation of membership and all associated privileges.
2010-3 Compulsory End of Season Social, including AGM
The compulsory nature of the End of Season Social has been clarified. All members must attend; or submit their reasons for non-attendance in writing to the board as soon as they are aware of non-attendance. The board will decide the penalty incurred; which typically as a minimum will be sequestering of the player’s prize monies. Only in rare exceptions will the board allow clemency and apply no penalty. The membership will vote to pass the penalty.
2010-4 Payment of Competition Prize Monies
All monies due to tour competition prize winners will be paid in person at the AGM as the last item on the agenda. A member’s non-attendance during this final agenda item therefore has significant implications. Clemency may result in the player being paid some of their due monies after the AGM, but the most likely result is transferral of said cash into society funds.
2010-5 Use of Annual Profit
It has been decided to carry a percentage of annual profit forwards into the next tour, rather than spending it all on the end of season social.
2010-6 Voting Members are responsible for the society’s future
Members are reminded to hold the society’s welfare as the most important consideration during a vote. For example, during an election vote, they are advised to consider the candidate’s track history and manifesto pledges.
2010-7 Electioneering Behaviour
Candidates must behave in a genuine and wholesome manner, or the President can cause their nomination to be cancelled.
2010-8 Pledges
All lawful and non-discriminatory manifesto pledges that do not act to the society’s detriment must be honoured by the incoming board.
2010-9 WGRPs for Skins Tournaments
For skins tournaments, ranking between players with same number of skins is decided on the basis of most holes the individual has scored net 5-under, then 4-under, albatross, eagle, birdie etc.
2010-10 OOM Stars
OOM stars must be purchased from the society at the advertised cost.
2010-11 WHVGS Asset Register
As a result of the shambolic and shameful loss of the Pedro Fiver by C. Gregory at or around the time of the 2009 AGM, the Board have decided that there is a requirement to keep a proper register of all Society assets and enshrine liability for funding best replacement within the Constitution.
The liable party must never directly replace the asset themselves without full board approval, as they can not be sure the replacement suffices (ref “Son of the Pedro Fiver” shambles).
2010-12 R4: Implemented by person other than the player subject to rule
During the application of R4, the ball must be dropped or lobbed by a person other than the instigating player or their team-mate.
2010-13 Clarification of plus handicaps
When a persons handicap is reduced below 0, the handicap is written as a negative (e.g. “-1.6”) but referred to as “plus”. The rounding of precise handicaps into playing handicaps applies in the same direction (i.e. -0.5 is a playing handicap of 0; -0.6 a playing handicap of -1).
2010-14 One minor per tour calendar month
There is to be a maximum of one minor per tour calendar month, and 7 minors in total during the tour calendar year.
2010-15 Events open to all: Notice before closing booking
The Competition Sponsor has the right to close bookings for an event 2 weeks after informing the whole society of the date, time and venue. The sponsor can not reject applications from interested members within this timeframe on the basis of not having booked sufficient tee-times.
2010-16 Days & Times not open to Tour Calendar
As a result of the 2010 WHVGS Tour clashing with both the FA Cup and Ryder Cup, it has been decided to protect key sporting events in future and bar any WHVGS event from being organised so as to clash with them.
2010-17 Tour Standings on Count-back
OOM standings are awarded on count-back when tied.
2011 Board Decisions
2011 – 1 : WHV Handicap System For 2011 Season
The Board enacted a series of major revisions to the handicapping system in order to move away from the previous system to a refined system, whereby competition participants not featuring in the top 3 and scoring below 36 stapleforth points were more likely to receive increases in their playing handicaps.
2011 – 2 : “Major Punting”
The WHVGS will invest a small sum from the society coffers into wagers on the 4 official world golf major championships to boost society funds,. The amount agreed by the Board is a maximum wager of £12.50 per major.
The player(s) selected for the WHVGS by a vote of the Paid up Membership at the time of the Official World Golf Major Championship taking place.
2011 – 3 : The PR Skins Engraved Pewter Hip Flask, (the “PRSEPHF”),
The PR Skins Engraved Pewter Hip Flask** : NB – the 2 former organisers of the PR Skins have agreed, which has been ratified by the Board that the following rules should apply to the PR Skins Engraved Pewter Hip Flask:
The PR Skins Engraved Pewter Hip Flask, (the “PRSEPHF”), must be present and fuelled up with a suitable, (but undefined), drink of the Holder’s choice with an alcoholic beverage, with a by volume rating of 20% or more, (the only exempted beverage to this rule being port (tawny, aged or otherwise), at the commencement of each round of the Any Austin and WHV Open Championship and at the AGM / End of Season Social and therefore available for anyone to have a “nip” from until it is consumed on that day – It is not mandatory for it to be consumed each day. It is not compulsory to have the PRSEPHF at any other WHVGS event, but the PRSKPHF can be utilised at any event (WHVGS related or otherwise), that the current holder sees fit. It is also the responsibility of the Holder’s to get the back engraved with winner’s name and the year, this will not be retrospective for 2010 – because the PRSEPHF was not in circulation in 2010.
