BRAGS

Annual Board Meeting Minutes

November 14, 2023, 10:30 AM

Location – Horse Creek Golf Course Conference Room, Dora, AL

Attendees:

Gary Rowe, Secretary, Treasure, Webmaster

John Jaye, Vice President 2024

Lewis Moore, Board Member

Randy Alford, Tournament Coordinator

Charles Matthews, Board Member

Bill Griffin, President 2023

Tommy Burleson, President 2024

Hugh Bandy, Board Member

David Pike, Board Member

1.    Outgoing President Bill Griffin verbally tendered his resignation from the Board and from the BRAGS organization.  He wished all well, but expressed concerns about the viability of the organization with the aging of the membership and said it would be imperative for BRAGS to add new members to be able to continue in existence.  Bill thought the best move would be for our members to do as he has done and join the Southeastern Seniors Golf Association, which has a comparable cost, larger membership, and significantly more tournaments to play, and someone else handling all of the administrative burden.  Bill then left the meeting.

2.    Remaining Board members discussed the concerns raised by Bill Griffin.  After discussion, the majority of the Board was in favor of continuing to operate BRAGS in its current form for 2024.

3.    Operating considerations discussed:

a. Consider doubling up our events in June and September, or other months if needed, and potentially skip July and August, due to the hardship of the extreme heat on our aging membership in the July-August months.

b. Explore introducing Venmo or other electronic payment method to simplify our processing of member payments.  It was recommended to have this as an option, but not a requirement, to allow our membership time to get comfortable with the process.

c. Consider a different format for one or more tournaments – potentially an ABCD scramble to get more members playing with and getting to know different people.

d. Slow Play – we have had an issue with some groups finishing as long as 1.5 hours after the majority of the groups have finished playing.  This makes it difficult for everyone to stay to see the final scores and receive prize money for the winning players.  Several options were discussed, but it was decided to set a time limit for each tournament (set for individual tournaments based on the golf course) so that if a group is not finished with their score card turned in by the required time, their scores will not count and they will be ineligible for any prize money.

4.    Schedule of events for 2024:

a. Mike Smith has agreed to work with the individual BRAGS club representatives to negotiate dates and rates with the various golf courses.

b. The Board stated that all courses played were acceptable, except that Trussville Country Club should probably be dropped from our list of venues.

c. Other options were discussed and replacements for Trussville, as well as any other events/dates needed:

                                          i. Cullman:      Terri Pines and Cross Creek

                                         ii. Moulton:      Deer Run

                                        iii. Tuscaloosa: Old Colony and North River (Gary may have N.R. contact)

                                       iv. Bham:         RTJ, Inverness, Ballantrae

                                         v. Farmlinks

5.    Elections – the following positions were voted and passed with unanimous approval:

a. Vice President 2024   John Jaye

b. Board Member 2026   David Pike

c. Board Member 2026   Randy Alford

d. Board Member 2026   Mike Smith

e. Board Member 2026   Tommy Burleson

6.    Review of individual club representatives – all remained the same, except Tommy Burleson was appointed as the representative for Riverchase Country Club.

7.    It was agreed the Gary Rowe will immediately send out request for renewal and payment of 2024 dues:

a. Will set a requested response date so we get a feel of our 2024 headcount as soon as possible.

b. Ask the membership for any concerns they would like addressed.