1. 1. This constitution should be reviewed before each season (Summer / Winter) with any changes approved by a majority of the current Members (over 50%).

   2. All Members of the Society are expected to be members of WPGC and to support the club whenever possible.

   3. The following terms in this constitution shall have the meanings set out below:

“Member(s)”

All individuals who have paid and joined the Society, and are considered to be the current sixteen members. (See 'Membership' page)

“Miss Kitty”

As defined in Miss Kitty section of this constitution.

“Results Secretary”

A Society role responsible for managing results and league tables.

“Society”

The Mentnomore Golf Society as covered by this constitution.

“Society Secretary”

A Society role responsible for managing Society administration/website, tee booking, and weekly draws.

“Treasurer”

A Society role as allocated in Appendix II - List of current Members. Responsible for managing Miss Kitty.

“Weekly Competition(s)”

As defined in Competitions section of this constitution.

“Weekly Organiser”

A Society role rotated amongst all current Members to help with the Weekly Competition.

“WHS”

World Handicap System

“WPGC”

Whipsnade Park Golf Club

1. To prevent the need to administer a separate ‘society handicap’, all Society competitions will use the WHS handicaps administered by WPGC.

2. All Members must register their round before playing and submit cards for every Society round they play. This can either be as a general play round (in HowDidIDo or MyEG) or through a WPGC run competition.

3. To submit cards, all Society rounds must be played according to the Rules of Golf. For the avoidance of doubt, all shots must be holed out (no gimmes).

4. Members are expected to have their own devices for score entry if WPGC facilities are unavailable. 

5. Unless exceptional circumstances have been raised to the WPGC Handicap Committee to apply the score retrospectively, any person not submitting their score after the round will incur a fine of £5 for each round, to be paid to Miss Kitty.

1. The Society runs a Weekly Competition each Saturday morning for Members, unless it is superseded by a major WPGC competition e.g Captain’s Day, President’s Day, Club Championships.

2. If a WPGC competition falls on a Saturday morning our Members should support this whenever possible.

3. The Society will still run a Weekly Competition provided the WPGC competition is a compatible format where our Members can play together e.g. Monthly Medal, Monthly Stableford

4. The Weekly Competition format is an Individual Stableford using a handicap allowance of 95% as recommended by the R&A Rules of Handicapping. This also avoids using multiple handicaps when run in conjunction with a WPGC competition.

5. A minimum of four Members are required to participate for a Weekly Competition to be valid and contribute to the current league.

6. The entry fee for Members is £5 per Weekly Competition (payable to the Weekly Organiser immediately after each round), and is allocated to the following prizes -

   • £1 - Highest stableford points score on front nine

   • £1 - Highest stableford points score on back nine

   • £1 - Highest stableford points score for the overall round

   • £0.50 - Nearest the pin on each par 3

7. Any ties for front nine / back nine / overall round winners will be decided by a Scorecard Count-back as defined in section 5a of the Rules of Golf (last nine holes, last six holes, last three holes, last hole). Beyond this the prize will be shared equally amongst those still tied.

8. All nearest the pin winners must be on the putting green but there is no requirement for the subsequent score for the hole e.g. must make birdie or par. For any hole(s) where there are no winners, the prize money is awarded to Miss Kitty.

9. All Society scorecards should be provided to the Weekly Organiser immediately after the round for review to establish the winners, allocate prizes, and record the results on WhatsApp for the benefit of the Results Secretary.

10. All results by Members entered in the current league will then be added to the relevant league table by the Results Secretary.

11. The Weekly Organiser role should be regularly rotated amongst the Members.

12. Periodically there are also Society away days or trips. These are run as separate events. They are not covered by this constitution and do not contribute to the leagues.

1. A Society league is run each Summer and Winter season for the Members.

2. Members are required to pay a nominal entry fee of £5 to Miss Kitty each time they enter a league to contribute towards prizes and trophy costs.

3. Members will be asked to confirm entry to each league by 1st March (Summer league) or 1st October (Winter league) to allow time for a booking rota and league table to be created.

4. Entry fees must then be paid before or on the day of the first Weekly Competition for each league.

5. Members can join the league part-way through a season provided they pay the entry fee. Scores will be included from the point the entry fee is paid.

6. The Summer league winner is determined by the top ten stableford scores for each Member from the Weekly Competitions held between 1st April and 31st October.

7. The Winter league winner is determined by the top seven stableford scores for each Member from the Weekly Competitions held between 1st November and 31st March.

8. Temporary amendments may be made to any league in the event of unforeseen circumstances e.g. extended course closures. Any changes will need to be passed by a majority (over 50%) of those Members currently entered into the impacted league.

9. If any league ends in a tie, the winner will be the Member with the highest individual weekly score. If there is still a tie, countback will continue to the second highest second weekly score and so on until a winner can be determined.

10. Any person entering a league is also expected to form part of the booking rota for that season, in return they will get first refusal on available tee times over the remaining Members, and then any other guests.

1. Miss Kitty is defined as the Society funds held by the Treasurer. 

2. Funds will be received from -

   • New member joining fees

   • Unclaimed nearest the pin prizes

   • Entry fees to the Summer or Winter leagues

   • Fines for not submitting scores 

3. Costs will be charged for -

   • New member bag tags

   • Trophy costs

   • Prizes to Summer and Winter League winners

   • Website costs

4. Any additional costs should be approved by a majority of the current Members (over 50%).

5. The Treasurer should aim to retain a minimum balance of £100 in Miss Kitty to cover one year of trophy costs and prizes if required.

6. A record of transactions will be published at least once per year.

1. Friends / family of Society members are always welcome to join us if spare times are available, as are other WPGC members.

2. While guests are welcome to join us, as they are not Members, they are not eligible to enter and win any prizes in the Weekly Competitions.

3. Society tee times are published by the Society Secretary 7 days in advance and updated in BRS. After this, any guests may take the remaining spaces.

1. The membership of the Society is currently limited to 16 Members, primarily due to the availability of tee times and administration work of running the Society.

2. The society is open to new Members if -

   • The current Society membership is below the maximum of 16.

   • They have been referred by an existing Member.

   • They possess a valid WHS handicap with a minimum of 10 rounds.

   • They submit three cards whilst playing with the Weekly Competition before being eligible to enter and win weekly prizes or enter the current league.

   • They pay a one-off joining fee of £15 to Miss Kitty to cover the cost of a Society bag tag.

3. Existing Members are expected to confirm in writing to the Society Secretary if they wish to leave the society so their place can be made available.