Club officers - would you do it?

[Hobbit]

Did it for 14 years. Not been President or Chair of Greens. Had a great year as Captain, and been asked to do it again a few times but declined as it needed more time than I could afford.

Always happy to listen and debate with other members, most of which wanted the same thing, i.e. a good club. In most cases good open communication made life for everyone a lot easier.

 

[upsidedown]

Yup on Greens committee and expect one day to be Chairman of greens when not so busy. No desire to be Captain though

 

[huds1475]

Done all that for 20 years at my Cricket Club. We did a lot of great stuff that will layou foundations for decades, buy it ground us all down in the end.

I won't be repeating that into golf. But won't be moaning about others who are giving up their time and doing their best for the club.

 

[Backsticks]

Was chairman and hon secretary. Took a fair bit of time but was both interesting and rewarding for a few years. Then became a chore and I had other pressures on my time so left. Its worth doing your bit for a while if you can. But you must be prepared to commit, do the job properly and contribute. Some like the idea of office but do very little - and by blocking a spot are actually harmful to clubs.

 

[Robster59]

I did three years on Council a few years back and served on the Handicap Committee. Last year I was asked to be Vice-Captain which I thought about carefully and discussed it with the other half before agreeing. So Vice-Captain this year and Captain next.
Since I moved to Glasgow, and joined my club I've always felt at home and so I see it as giving something back to the club.
It's not easy and pretty time consuming, especially when you work but it's only a couple of years and then someone else takes the helm.

 

[louise_a]

I have been on the ladies committee for 3 years and am currently handicap/comps secretary for the ladies, also on the clubs greens committee.
Being comps secretary does take up more time than just a committee member but I have the time so I think I should do what I can to help.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

By club officers I mean Captain, V Captain, President, competition/handicap secretary or committee member etc etc.

Are you prepared to take on these roles at your club or have you done so in the past?

Or do you prefer not to get involved and leave it to others (then whinge when they don't get it right )

Captain, VC and President are elected so it only leaves committee places to be filled which are sorted at each AGM. I would do it if I had the time to commit but I don't. I know it'll be thankless but if people don't grasp the nettle it doesn't bode well for the future of the club. It needs the help the committee's give, often long hours, and members need to take a breath before opening their mouths at times

 

[chrisd]

I did about 5 years on the golf committee. Have helped to run one of the largest football clubs in the area for about 45 years and was Chairman of a tennis club for a while

 

[Liverbirdie]

Nope, I don't agree. Why is it you think bursting peoples hot air balloon is part of the job? If you did it in business you would go bust. Be nice about it, be respectful and helpful or don't do the job.

I think part of the problem is getting the right people to do these jobs. All too often its the people who are a little too desperate to do it for their own ends.

Its easy judging the people who do these jobs when you've never done it yourself.

Be on the receiving end of an abusive, ill-informed, self interested golfer with too many pints down them many times and see if you can always keep your cool.:thup:

 

[351DRIVER]

Not for me, the last time I was a member at a club i was 30, so much younger than the average committee member.

The impression i got was that the people that wanted to be on the committee had not much else going on their lives, which is fine, but having meetings to discuss the type of fertiliser to be used or discussing pennies in budgets would cause me to pull my own fingernails out.

 

[sawtooth]

I was HC secretary for the last few years before my old club closed for good. Now thrown my hat into the ring at my new club, the HC sec there is stepping down for health reasons.

 

[LincolnShep]

I'm very grateful to those that give up their time (and money) to take up posts at my club. I wouldn't want to do it myself so I try to be supportive to them and not one of the moaners.

 

[Pathetic Shark]

I have been handicap and competition secretary at my club and was due to stand for captain a few years back. During the months prior, I caught a member cheating and three then members of the committee conspired to sweep it under the carpet because he was their mate. Out of principle I refused to stand as captain and will not return to the committee until all of those three have left the positions for good.

 

[351DRIVER]

I'm very grateful to those that give up their time (and money) to take up posts at my club. I wouldn't want to do it myself so I try to be supportive to them and not one of the moaners.

I am in this boat, i appreciate that others can enthusiastically take on the roles that I would not enjoy.

 

[Liverbirdie]

Not for me, the last time I was a member at a club i was 30, so much younger than the average committee member.

The impression i got was that the people that wanted to be on the committee had not much else going on their lives, which is fine, but having meetings to discuss the type of fertiliser to be used or discussing pennies in budgets would cause me to pull my own fingernails out.

they may have been also running NI golf shops.......you just never know.

 

[backwoodsman]

Am currently Chairman of Course committee - and therefore by default on Council - which is effectively our board of directors.

And no we don't sit around discussing fertiliser (that's what we pay the greenkeeper to do...) - we discuss how we're going to improve the course, how we can keep the course playable for longer, how we're going to manage the "non-playing areas" better and how we can screw more money out of the Treasurer for better plant, equipment and facilities. And how we can keep the members happy (and, no, we are not going cut all the bl**dy rough down...)

Yes, it is quite nice to give something back - especially when one's professional skills are useful to the club - but it's also darn interesting.

But the best bit is, if there's a tree out there on the course that starts to annoy me, then it's within my power to have it's card marked... So watch out trees!

 

[Green Bay Hacker]

At the moment I don't have the time to do the job properly, whether it be captain or committee. Turned down the chance to be captain last year and the year before due to full time work commitments so looks like my chance has gone.

 

[Foxholer]

Been there, done that! Not Captaincy...not my sort of thing!

Enjoyable, frustrating, insightful! Potentially very time-consuming!