MINUTES OF THE REGIONAL ASSOCIATION COUNCIL S MEETING HELD ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2014, AT 1:00 PM IMPÉRIA HÔTEL & SUITES ROYAL HALL

Transcription

1 MINUTES OF THE REGIONAL ASSOCIATION COUNCIL S MEETING HELD ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2014, AT 1:00 PM IMPÉRIA HÔTEL & SUITES ROYAL HALL Present Absent Observers Employees Opening Jacques Bédard (Chairman), Denis Loiselle (Montréal), Robert Bissonnette (Ottawa), Ghislain Gélinas (replacing Dominique Gélinas / Mauricie), Louis Aubin (Saguenay/Lac St-Jean/Chibougamau), Patrick Loiselle (Abitibi-Témiscamingue), François Veillette (Eastern Townships), Rolland Côté (Lower St. Lawwrence/Côte-Nord), Pierre Fleury (Québec City). Rémi Bouchard, Lynn Bellocq, Marcel Paul Raymond. Jean-Pierre Beaulieu, François Roy, Michèle Raymond, Patrice Clément. Jacques Bédard welcomes everyone and confirms that we have quorum. Agenda Minutes Jacques Bédard would like to add items on the agenda: security/regional websites and BlueGolf. On a proposal made by Louis Aubin, seconded by Denis Loiselle, the agenda is adopted with the additional items. On a proposal made by Denis Loiselle, seconded by Robert Bissonnette, the minutes of the meeting held on October 20, 2013, are approved. On a proposal made by Louis Aubin, seconded by Patrick Loiselle, the minutes of the meeting held on November 27, 2013, are approved.

2 Business arising Jacques Bédard takes the opportunity to thank all those who renewed their mandates on the committee and welcome the two new members. As well, he congratulates all regional volunteers for their great work. Regional round table General news (post mortem of 2013 and planning of 2014) Ottawa Robert Bissonnette. In 2014, the region will hire 2 university students from the Physical Education faculty to help the regional players. He mentions the great work achieved by the volunteers during the 2013 golf season. The situation is still complicated with some golf clubs that have stayed members of Golf Québec and others that have aligned with the GAO. Many clubs are still unsure whether they want to stay or leave. The region had an $8,000 surplus in 2013, which is good. They will try to invest that money to cover for the years to come. The region is working hard on finding nice golf clubs for their regional tournaments. They try to maintain a balance between private, semi-private and public clubs. Currently, 78 of the 80 regional clubs are participating in the inter-sectional matches, which is great. Louis Aubin would like to know how much these students will be paid for the 2014 summer and where does that budget comes from. Robert Bissonnette explains that the money comes from surpluses of the past years and support from sponsors. These students will receive $5,000 each. Saguenay/Lac St-Jean/Chibougamau Louis Aubin. An important lack of new golfers was noticed in the region in the past 5 years. This is one of the main items to be improved in the coming years. Louis Aubin explains that the Golf in School program is one of the very popular projects. The regional association tries to find financial support wherever it is available to promote golf development. They have made agreements with regional newspapers to increase the media coverage of activity results and sponsors visibility. An agreement was also made with two radio stations. They will also try to get more players in their tournaments by increasing the number of prizes, adding prizes for playing statistics (example: number of greens in regulation, number of putts, longest drive, etc.). These prizes will be awarded at the end of the golf season. They are currently looking for a trip to give away at the end of the year. One of the ways to win this prize could be based on tournament participation and, the more players would have to travel from far, the more points they would cumulate. By creating this contest, the region is hoping to stimulate interest of players who are not currently playing in tournaments. They will also integrate a junior category in the men s competitions for the first two tournaments of the golf season. This will provide them with a new competitive experience; however, they will not be mixed in the men s foursomes. Another important item to be improved in the region is the visual displays used in tournaments (example: better course set-up, have a tent, signage, display scores). They are currently working on another project, trying to match golf with another sport, but Page 2

3 nothing is concrete yet. The objective of this initiative would be to promote these two sports towards a larger basin of potential players. Mauricie Ghislain Gélinas (replacing Dominique Gélinas) was a good golf season. However, the region is trying to find a solution to increase the number of participants in all tournaments (they keep on decreasing). They are also trying to find new sponsors. A new Regional Coach will be hired for Montréal Denis Loiselle. In 2014, Regional Coaches will each be asked to submit one project as discussed in the Regional Junior Development meeting held in the morning. There are only 14 regional directors and recruiting new volunteers has become very important. They found a sponsor who will be paying for the production of new tees. New in 2014, a super senior category (65 years old and over) will be added in the men s events. To accelerate pace of play in the inter-sectional matches, it was decided that caddies will no longer be permitted in men s competitions. However, the region will allow host clubs to accept caddies if they want to. If they chose to do so, they will have to advice the three other clubs in advance. The women s section will wait and see the repercussions of this decision before adopting it. They want to compare results before making a decision. The Champion of Champions tournament was deleted from the 2014 tournament schedule as there was not enough participation. They will keep on accepting women in men s tournaments. In 2013, they began the season with 4-5 women per tournament and, at the end, they had 8 women. They are experiencing difficulties to find new host clubs for their tournaments as it is always the same ones that accept hosting an event. Abitibi-Témiscamingue Patrick Loiselle. Participation was really good in adult tournaments, but junior participation went down. Patrick Loiselle mentions that many improvements are needed, but efforts will be done to get everything in line for A new Regional Coach will be hired. The region did not use all of its available funding. They are planning to use it in Their objective is to see each golf club adopt one school. If there are not enough grants provided by Golf Québec, the Regional Association will pay to register some schools in the program. Patrick Loiselle mentions that he likes the idea of prohibiting the use of caddies in the inter-sectional matches. He will verify if this could be implemented in his region for the purpose of improving pace of play. Unfortunately, the inter-sectional matches were cancelled in 2013 due to inclement weather. The region recently opened a new Facebook account and they already have 80 Likes. There was no advertising done yet. François Roy mentions that a Facebook account was already created for the region. Patrick Loiselle was not aware of it. They will have to work together to discuss this issue. Patrick Loiselle mentions that junior members have decreased in the region. However, this could be influenced by the change and retirement of a few professionals. Québec City Jacques Bédard (replacing Pierre Fleury). The region has 26 volunteers who greatly contributed to the successful 2013 golf season. Esther Thibault and her team did an amazing job in the development sector (ICT/RJT). These two tours are very representative of the regional character. Participation is increasing every year and the organization is great. They presented 27 tournaments in the season and participation has increased in the past two years. One factor that contributed to this improvement is Page 3

4 that host clubs accepted that starting times are every 10 minutes in threesomes. By doing so, the pace of play is faster and when players are happy, they want to come back. In order to facilitate the selection of host clubs for tournaments, Jacques Bédard reviewed the statistics of the past ten years and compared who hosted an event or not. In 2013, the region benefited from two grants provided by Golf Québec for the Golf in Schools program. They even had the chance to get additional funding as some regions did not use their grants. As a result, four elementary schools and three high schools were registered in the program and Jacques Bédard personally visited them. The Club de Golf Baie St-Paul presented a day camp for schools that are registered in the program. A total of 65 young players took part in it, and it was really successful. As usual, the inter-sectional matches are The happening of the year and they generate a lot of interest from players and golfers. Jacques Bédard thanks Golf Québec, and more specifically Eric Couture, for his help and support in the management of the website and BlueGolf which is a must. This is a great system once we are familiar with it. The regional financial situation is very good. A surplus was registered in 2013 and they have close to $25,000 in reserve. They also tried something new this year that was very successful: volunteers of the opposite gender helped in various tournaments. Jacques Bédard inquires about the financial situation of clubs within each region: Ottawa - Robert Bissonnette. The season was fairly difficult for many golf clubs. We expect that 2014 will be better. Saguenay/Lac St-Jean/Chibougamau Louis Aubin. There are no major changes in the past few years. The number of members decreases, but there are more public golfers. Montréal Denis Loiselle. 3 clubs are closing in the region: Mascouche, Deux- Montagnes and La Providence. Another club will remain a member only for 2014: Le Riviera. Unfortunately, many clubs with sole owners are at risk. Abitibi Patrick Loiselle. The bigger clubs of the region are good, but the smaller ones are experiencing difficulties. Patrice Clément would like to thank the regional presidents for attending his meeting of the morning on Regional Junior Development. Their participation is much appreciated. Provincial information Jean-Pierre Beaulieu highlights the great work done by volunteers in the regions and thanks them. A lot of efforts were made in the past few years, and it is noticeable. Spring meetings Jean-Pierre Beaulieu writes down the dates of all spring meetings and confirms that someone (if not him personally) will be representing Golf Québec. Page 4

5 Golf industry Jean-Pierre Beaulieu summarizes the presentation made on January 31. He mentions that, if everyone can join in and support this collective effort, we will move forward. Strategic plan Jean-Pierre Beaulieu verified and all four objectives of our strategic plan are still valid: 1- Renew and consolidate trust towards Golf Québec 2- Improve and promote programs that will revitalise golf in Québec 3- Increase and diversify our sources of revenues 4- Improve the efficiency of Golf Québec s structures Golf Québec/Golf Canada membership cards Jean-Pierre Beaulieu is inquiring if regions plan on demanding the membership cards in their events. All regions answer that they will. Action: Jean-Pierre Beaulieu mentions that an e-blast will be sent to clubs reminding them to order their membership cards. Rémi Bouchard specifies that clubs that will omit answering Golf Canada s question before June 1 will be put on the Option 2 list. Regional tournaments Jean-Pierre Beaulieu mentions that he will provide every region with a Golf Québec tablecloth. Action: Order a tablecloth for every region. It is important to verify the exact needs of each region (men, women, juniors). Regions also ask for beach flags and Jean-Pierre Beaulieu accepts their requests. Action: Order beach flags for each region. Miscellaneous Website Jacques Bédard mentions that in the Contact Us section of the Golf Québec website, the provincial and national organization charts are not up to date. Action: Guylaine Sirois will follow-up and make the necessary changes. Security Jacques Bédard would like to confirm if payments are really secure on BlueGolf and if other sections of the system are secured. Action: Eric Couture will inquire. Page 5

6 BlueGolf: Louis Aubin would like to be trained on the system, if possible. Action: Eric Couture will contact Louis Aubin and make an appointment for a training session. Next meeting Jacques Bédard wants to know if an informal meeting is really necessary (like it was done last year). If this is the case, an invitation will be sent by . Otherwise, the next meeting of the Regional Association Council will take place on October 19 or 29, at club de golf Le Blainvillier, at the same time as the semi-annual meetings. Termination On a proposal made by Patrick Loiselle, seconded by Denis Loiselle, the meeting is unanimously terminated at 3:07 pm. Page 6