WESTPORT LADIES GOLF CLUB AGM NOVEMBER 4th 2013 ATTENDANCE; Nuala Moody, Maeve O’ Farrell ,Maura Jennings, Marie Farrell, Sal O’ Connor, June Mathestein, Dee Gavin, Mairéad Staunton, Jean Mc Aleer, Brigín Walsh, Mary Drumm, Dorothy Philbin, Anne Duffy, Nuala Hopkins,,Nuala Walsh, Abina O’ Flynn, Mary Manning, Margaret Madigan , Áine Kavanagh, Maureen Keane, Kathleen Keane, Maureen Jackson, Lorraine Porter, Fionnuala Nc Loughlin, Anne M Kelly, Marie Grimes, Cathríona Coffey, Maureen Flynn, Mary O ‘ Mahony, Joan Warnock, Bridie Hughes, Colette Fleming, Mary Barry, Marion Duffy, Lucy Love, Jackie De Lucia, Mary Mc Dermott, Ann Corcoran, Karen Cox, Pat Kelly, Bernie Bergin , Carmel O'Connor, Maureen Griffin, Sheelagh Ryan, Siobháin O Donnell, Josephine Mc Greal, Julie O Malley, Angela Costello, June Bourke, Mary Ward and Anne Campbell.

APOLOGIES; Bridie Moran, Mary Feeney, Gretta Murphy, Mary Mc Nicholas, Anne Kelly,( Kings Hill) , Nuala O’ Loughlin , Edwina Clarkin, Maureen Walsh, Marie Wilson, Maureen Walsh, Ann Mayberry, Daphne Guthrie, Pam Mc Intyre, Tina Whyte, Úna Mc Govern , Clare Hoban , Noreen Reddington and Mary Dolan The Captain Nuala Moody welcomed all present and declared the meeting open. The A.G.M. 2012 minutes were taken as read and their adoption was proposed by Maureen Flynn and seconded by Mairéad Staunton

MATTERS ARISING None CORRESPONDENCE None SECRETARY’S REPORT On behalf of all the ladies of Westport Golf Club Marie Farrell extended a very sincere thank you to the outgoing Lady Captain Nuala Moody for her outstanding year as Lady Captain. Nuala set out at the beginning of the year with certain goals in mind. These goals included introducing a newsletter to inform ladies of what was going on, new fun competitions, integration of beginners and intermediate members, more variety in competitions, to mention but a few. These goals were realised in style! – firstly, Bernie Bergin and Nuala started producing a brilliant newsletter both informative and humorous. New fun competitions took off, including ‘Santa Ball’ comp and Pancake Tues., and of course the New Moody Cup Summer foursomes match play Competition which was very popular and successful. During the Year, bridge classes and sessions were introduced, a new ladies Club Jumper was decided on and later on a very enjoyable Fashion Show was held. Early in the season, Lady Captain Nuala, organised a training night with Prof Todd O Reilly, followed up by group lessons in preparation for Inter Club Competitions. With her gentle persuasive and encouraging manner, Nuala succeeded to instil a renewed club spirit in the ladies.

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Marie Farrell was very touched by the humility and integrity of Nuala’s ‘Aacceptance of Captaincy’ speech at the 2012 AGM. Nuala fulfilled her role as Lady Captain representing the views of the ladies in a persuasive manner at committee and at Council. Nuala always acknowledged work carried out by the committee in their different roles in a gracious and appreciative way. As Secretary to Nuala, Marie felt that it was both a privilege and a learning experience to work with her and reiterated the appreciation of all the ladies to Nuala for a very successful and memorable year as Lady Captain. Marie conveyed her appreciation to all the ladies on committee for the reports during the year this all made her job easy to carry out. Sincere thanks was expressed to the ladies who dedicate their time to encouraging and helping Junior and Beginner Golfers – they are the Club of the Future. Congratulations and very best wishes for the coming year to Incoming Lady Captain, Maeve O Farrell – Marie wished Maeve a very enjoyable, “musical” and successful year.

TREASURER’S REPORT. Hon. Treasurer, Maura Jennings, presented a detailed summary of Income and Expenditure of Westport Golf Club Ladies Section for the year ended 30th September 2013, showing a Closing Balance of €1446.

COMPETITIONS REPORT. Mary Barry, Chair of Competitions began by thanking all the ladies who supported competitions and mentioned how great it was to see the ladies section continuing to grow in numbers. Team Events: Mary expressed her thanks to all the ladies who made themselves available for teams, all the caddies and those who volunteered as Team Captains. Team events require a lot of commitment, time and effort, all of which were greatly appreciated. Mary also wished to thank Todd for all the coaching in preparation for the team events. Thanks too due to Bridie Hughes who oversaw all the teams. Mary expressed her appreciation to Maura Jennings for the fund raiser which she organised for team expenses. Mary said that she felt that someday soon again the hard work would pay off. Teams were entered in the Junior Foursomes, Junior Cup, Minor Cup, Intermediate Cup, Challenge Cup, Miele Cup and the County Cup. Club Competitions: The year kicked off with the Captains Drive in on March 9 th. The Tuesday competitions continued and the weekend competition was extended to be played either on Saturdays or Sundays. A 9 Hole match play practice got underway in March/April in preparation for the interclub match plays. Unfavourable weather up to the month of June hindered some of the competitions in the early part of the year. Open weekend competitions took place in March, April (Easter), June and Open Week in August. Results of Major Competitions were as follows: Lady Captains prize was won by Marion Duffy in an exciting play-off on 27th July. The Maura Scott singles Matchplay Trophy was won by. Colette Fleming. Pauline Goggins was the winner of the Donie O ‘ Connor Competition On 9th June. Margaret Madigan won the Presidents Prize on 18th August.. Moody Cup Foursomes Matchplay was won by Maureen Walsh and Angela Costello. The Castlecourt Mixed Trophy was won by Gerry Hughes and Pauline Goggins

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Bridie Hughes was the winner of the Golfer of the Year. Mary Barry congratulated all the winners and everyone who featured during the year. Mary Mc Nicholas and Mary Dolan hosted a very successful past captains competitions on 18th October. An Insomniacs Gathering was held in June hosted by Paul O Neill and was well supported. A successful fundraiser was held on 30th April for Cancer Research in support of “Rainbow Runners”. The Senior Competitions were very well supported and thanks to Dee Gavin for organising these competitions during the year. Mary Barry expressed her thanks to Fionnuala Mc Loughlin for organising two outings during the year, to Mulranny and Castle Dargan and enjoyable time was had by all. Mary reported that the Winter League was very successful with some delays in hamper competitions due to adverse weather conditions. Winter league Winners: Mary Mc Nicholas, Mary Manning, Dee Gavin and Noreen Reddington. A successful Beginners Winter League also took place with 5 teams partaking. Mary extended her sincere thanks to all the sponsors for their generosity and continued support. Mary reminded the lady members to support the sponsors whenever possible. Mary thanked Maureen Keane for updating the website on a timely basis and for all her excellent reporting to the Mayo News. Thanks also to Sal and Mairead for all the help with competitions during the year and also to all the ladies for help with checking competitions cards and forwarding the results. Finally, Mary Barry extended a special thanks to Nuala Moody, outgoing Lady Captain – Mary said how lovely it was to work with Nuala on committee and congratulated Nuala on a fantastic year. Mary wished Incoming Lady Captain, Maeve O Farrell every success in the year ahead.

ADOPTION OF REPORTS. The adoption of the reports was proposed by Jean Mc Aleer and seconded by Anne Duffy.

ADDRESS OF THE OUTGOING LADY CAPTAIN. Lady Captain Nuala Moody thanked everyone for attending the meeting. Nuala particularly welcomed the Intermediate members.

Nuala said she was handing over the reins to Captain Maeve, but was taking with her

many memories and experiences, some of which she wanted to share. Nuala mentioned some of the ladies who had been ill in recent years and their attitude became an inspiration to her. Nuala played Winter League and even though it was cold and often quite wet, her team mates approach was " Is'nt it great to be here, Is'nt is great to be able to play”.

The get up and go and positive attitude was

amazing and Nuala wanted to thank everyone for taking part not only in the Winter Leagues but in all the initiatives which were introduced during the year.

Nuala felt overwhelmed by The Captain's Drive in on

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March 9 , not because she hit a reasonable drive, but her dearest friend who was experiencing the most painful time of her life took time out to wish her well. There aren't words to describe the enormity of this gesture. The Rainbow day couldn’t have been more perfect, the colour and great number taking part was a testament to the high esteem everyone held the organiser in.

Nuala said she would always be thankful for

the team spirit that came about from the Interclub training and subsequent matches. How proud she was to see the ladies display the new colours and play with a team spirit, positive attitude unconditionally. and advancing is important, but it was the taking part that counted.

Winning

To see Ann Duffy's smile when she got

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her new hose and the hive of activity that took place transforming the first tee box on a summer's evening was simply remarkable.

The Lady's Captain's day will always stand out in Nuala’s memories, from start to finish,

the organising and hands on approach from all concerned was truly amazing.

The vocalist and musician on the

evening, who spent many hours practicing, and the performance was indeed worth waiting for.

The outings,

the Christmas Party, the friendly banter across the fairways and indeed the club house, the social committee Jim and Michael, all made it such a valuable experience for Nuala. Outgoing Lady Captain Nuala said she felt indebted to her admirable committee. Their loyalty, dedication and friendship support and assistance has been remarkable. Nuala and committee worked hard and had a sense of purpose. They had a very busy and challenging year but together were able to make things happen and had the courage to make changes. Nuala with the committee began to look to the future and consider everyone's interest, for the betterment of the club as a whole. One of these changes was to the 6th hole.

This was an

attempt to make the course a little harder, and by making it a little more difficult to lose shots would put Westport Ladies in a better position to compete against other clubs. taken to change the 6th hole.

A unanimous committee decision was

The 6th hole has been tried and tested and all were in agreement that the

index 18 should change. Nuala said that this change would be happening in the near future. Nuala mentioned how very important our Sponsors are to the Club. At the beginning of the year Nuala was successful in securing sponsors to run competitions from March to September.

She felt it was no longer

possible nor expected for businesses in the town to provide for prizes. Therefore sponsors were asked to provide first and second prize and the ladies Club would buy 3rd and 4th. increase the entry fee for sponsored competitions from €7 to €8.

For this reason it was decided to

This has proved to be very successful,

first by gaining the respect of these businesses and securing their loyalty for years to come. From the start of the year the finish events were planned bearing in mind the inclusion of all our members. The Winter League was designed to encourage as many players of all categories to take part, and to make it convenient for all players. Nuala was delighted to report a record entry of 11 teams and equally delighted to see the beginners league in full progress.

Nuala asked everyone to be mindful that we all started at the

beginning. Nuala was conscious of the financial status of the club and endeavoured to keep this in mind.

The ladies

had indeed been very generous to the club throughout the year and Nuala insisted that all our bills were paid and that the ladies record was completely clean. Nuala expressed her appreciation to Maura Jennings, Hon Treasurer, for her outstanding contribution and her patience,as so too , to Hon Sec Marie Farrell, Handicap Sec Mary Drumm and Bridie Moran, Vice Captain Maeve.

Fionnuala Mc Laughlin on events, Abina with Junior

Girls , Dee Gavin with Seniors, Margaret Madigan on Integration, Mary Mc Nicholas Junior convenor, Competitions Sec., Mary Barry , Sal O Connor, Mairead Staunton and reporter PRO Maureen Keane. Nuala thanked all very much. Nuala also wanted to extend her genuine thanks to some active people off committee. To Bernie Bergin, whose News Letter has been received with great enthusiasm.

To Anne Duffy whose attention to the front of house

and the marvellous display of natural colour and beauty was outstanding, to Bridie Hughes representative for grounds and Mary Dolan head of house, Nuala thanked all, and to all of you whom when asked for assistance, or to Captain a team simply said " Id be delighted" So Nuala on taking her leave, expressed her heartfelt thanks and gratitude to all. However modest our achievement have been, Nuala considered it an immense privilege for her to have been the ladies Captain.

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Nuala said she felts she owed a debt to all the lady Captains who came before her and was very proud to follow in their footsteps. Nuala extended her warmest congratulations to Captain Maeve and wished her and Vice Captain Mary every happiness and success in the term ahead. A parting note from Nuala - “Whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times, it is only time we've got. So enjoy yourselves, enjoy your golf, encourage new friendships and be happy”.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS Lady Captain-

Maeve O Farrell

Lady Vice-Captain-

Mary Drumm

Hon. Secretary-

Marie Farrell

Hon. Treasurer-

Maura Jennings

COMMITTEE; Ex Officio Nuala Moody Dee Gavin,

Fionnuala McLoughlin,

Anne M Kelly,

Mary Barry

Maureen Keane,

Mairéad Staunton,

Áine Kavanagh

Noreen Reddington,

Cathríona Coffey.

ADDRESS OF INCOMING LADY CAPTAIN Incoming Lady Captain, Maeve O Farrell addressed the ladies. Maeve said she was delighted to be amongst the ladies, firstly, as Friends and secondly, as Captain for the year 2014. Lady Captain Maeve commended and thanked her predecessor Nuala Moody. Maeve said that Nuala had set the bar very high and was a perfect role model to inspire and enthuse. Maeve recalled her move to Westport 8 years ago and although she could have been called a “blow in”, happily the place where she immediately felt at home and now feels she firmly belongs is:- Westport Golf Club. Maeve said that her overall aim for the year ahead does not include starting new innovations but rather Maeve feels strongly that what is needed in a lot of organisations and clubs is to consolidate and strengthen what is already in existence. Maeve believes this most probably because in these recessionary times the world of golf could easily become a casualty.

Maeve feels certain that what everyone needs is lots of fun and enjoyment as we play, compete and socialise together. Our club is up there with the best but Maeve reminded us that we should always remember that the

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journey and engaging in a sport we enjoy, should be as fulfilling as holding a trophy. Maeve expressed her appreciation to, Mary Drumm who has come on board as Vice Captain and to, the committee. Maeve declared that we would merge what is best in all of us for the good of the Club. Maeve extended her sincere thanks to all members who have served on committee, giving their time voluntarily now and in the past years.

Finally Incoming Lady Captain Maeve O Farrell said she was looking forward to having fun together and thanked everyone for coming to the meeting.

A.O.B. Maureen Flynn brought up the matter of the cost of the Lady Captains Pin and there was a lengthy discussion about this. Maureen felt the cost was now exorbitant and perhaps it was time to have a perpetual pin. Brigin Walsh agreed. Ann Corcoran felt that the pin was a nice keepsake for a Lady Captain who had voluntarily served and given up so much time in her role and it was the least that the club could do as a gesture of appreciation to each Lady Captain. Jean Mc Aleer spoke about the competition entrance fees – she felt that instead of increasing entrance fees the prizes could be reduced. Marie Grimes noted from the Treasurer’s financial report that there was a loss made during the year. Marie also indicated that there was a reduction in the number of ladies entering competitions. Maura Jennings pointed out that sponsored competitions were always well supported, with members “coming out of the woodwork” to play! Brigin Walsh asked if anything could be done about the lights being left on in the Driving Range? This surely was a place where funds were being wasted. This matter could be brought up at the Joint AGM. Colette Fleming thought that the incoming committee should look at ways that savings could be made in the future. Mary Manning felt that there might be an increase in the number of people playing if there was more fun – maybe a draw could be used instead of the Time Sheet. Maureen Flynn suggested playing for prizes like 3 golf balls and the likes taking the emphasis from prizes to playing for fun! Marie Grimes mentioned that the new cards could not be written on in pencil and they were also inclined to disintegrate if they got wet – a matter which could also be voiced at the Joint AGM. This concluded the business of the evening

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Maeve O Farrell, Lady Captain

Marie Farrell, Hon Secretary Date:__________________ 6