CONSTITUTION

 

1. TITLE         

 

The Association shall be called

 

“ THE GOLF COURSE MANAGERS & GREENKEEPERS ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHERN AFRICA”

 

2. OBJECTIVES

                        The objectives of the Association shall be

 

2.1  To provide and maintain an organisation for the promotion of progress and general development amongst persons engaged as golf course managers/ greenkeepers in South Africa which shall:

 

Promote turfgrass and course management education;

 

Support and encourage turfgrass research;

 

Establish training schemes and certification courses for employees of the turf industry;

 

Collect and distribute validated data for the benefit of members.

 

2.2  To establish and maintain a headquarters facility.

 

2.3  To employ a director/ field extension officer who will:

 

Represent the interests of the Association and profession at the highest level;

 

Promote communication at all levels of memberships;

 

Provide an advisory service for members in return for fees as set out by the Committee;

 

Organise a regular turfgrass exhibition;

 

Organise meetings and seminars for members.

 

2.4  To co-operate and / or affiliate with any other Association having similar objectives.

 

2.5  To encourage good business practice and ethics

 

2.6  To provide and assist with the establishment of a Tournament Advisory Committee in conjunction with the PGA and SAGA.

 

2.7  To promote social activities for members.

 

2.8  To provide an employment counselling service for members.

 

2.9  To negotiate medical aid and insurance/ pension benefits for members.

 

  1. MEMBERSHIP         

 

3.1 The Association shall consist of members of the following categories:

 

CLASS A   Golf Course Manager/ Assistant Golf Course Manager/ Greenkeeper

 

      To qualify for this category an applicant must have at least 5 years experience as a Golf Course Manager/ Assistant Manager/ Greenkeeper and be employed in such a capacity. Class A members shall have all the privileges of the Association, including voting and holding of office.

 

CLASS B  Golf Course Manager/ Assistant Golf Course Manager / Greenkeeper

 

       To qualify for this category the applicant must be employed in such a capacity. Class B members shall have all the privileges of the Association.

 

CLASS C  Affiliate/ Trade Member

 

       To qualify for this category an applicant must be a business form or person interested in the growing, management or production of turfgrass, either individually or though employment by, or other affiliation with, a Company, Proprietorship or Association, who does not qualify for membership in another category.

 

CLASS D  Club Member

 

       To qualify for this category, the applicant must be a Golf Club affiliated to the South African Golf Union. A Club member may nominate as many delegates as it wishes to attend meetings of the Association. Club members shall have all the privileges of the Association except those of voting and holding office.

 

CLASS E Associate Member

 

       To qualify for this category, the applicant must be a Governmental department, Association or Body having a relevant interest in the turfgrass industry.

 

CLASS F  Retired Member

 

       To qualify for this category, the applicant must have retired from the profession as a Class A or Class B member.

 

3.2 Election to membership shall be by a majority vote of the members of the Association. An application for membership shall be on the prescribed form and shall be delivered to the Secretary who will place the application before the Association for consideration in the order in which it is received.

 

3.3 Every application shall set out such information as the Committee may require, and in addition to being signed by the applicant, shall be signed by a proposer and seconder.

 

3.4 The Association may refuse any application for membership without assigning any reason therefore and in the event of such refusal, at least one year must lapse before any further application shall be considered, unless the Association in its discretion is prepared to waive this condition.

 

3.5  Reclassification of Members

 

(a)  Voluntary Reclassification: any individual member may request a change in his/her membership. Classification to accord with a change in his/her qualifications for membership as set forth in Section 3 of this article.

 

(b)  Mandatory Classification: all members, upon renewal of their annual membership, must clearly state their current employment status. This statement of employment status shall be based upon the Association’s officially accepted job titles and golf organisation chart, or other commonly accepted listings of job titles. The Executive Committee shall upon receipt of this statement, determine the appropriate class of membership for each individual and shall be empowered to alter the individual’s classification to properly reflect stated qualifications.

 

4.     TRANSFER

 

The Association shall have power in its discretion to allow a qualified member to transfer his/her membership to Associate, although he/she may have ceased to be engaged in full time capacity as a Golf Course Manager/ Greenkeeper.

 

5.     HONORARY MEMBERS

 

The Association shall have powers to elect honorary members who shall not, however, be eligible for election to the Committee and shall not be entitled to vote at meetings of the Association.

 

6.     SUBSCRIPTIONS

 

6.1    Subscriptions shall be payable on election and thereafter shall be   payable on 1st June of each year.

 

6.2    “The Committee shall be empowered to increase Annual subscriptions by up to 15% when due. An increase greater than 15% to be approved at a Special General Meeting as per Clause 20.”

 

6.3    If any member shall fail to pay his subscription within three months of the due date of the same, or in the case of a new member, within one month from the date of his/her election, the Secretary shall call upon him to do so, if the subscription is not paid within one month of the Secretary doing so, such defaulter shall cease to be a member of the Association.

 

6.4    The Association may, in its discretion, reinstate such defaulter on payment of subscriptions in arrear or on such other conditions as the Committee may deem fit.

 

 

6.5    No member shall be entitled to any of the privileges of the Association if his subscription is more than three months in arrears.

 

6.6    Any member elected after 31 September in any year, shall pay only one half of the annual subscription.

 

 

7.     RESIGNATION OF MEMBERS

 

A member shall be entitled to resign upon giving notice in writing to the Secretary of his/her intention so to do and paying and paying all money which shall be due by him/her up to the time of the expiration of such notice.

 

8.     EXPULSION OF MEMBERS

 

If the conduct of any member shall in the opinion of the Association be injurious to the interest of the Association, then he/she shall be subject to expulsion under a vote by ballot of no less than two – thirds of the Association present and voting.

 

9.     MEMBER LOSING MEMBERSHIP

 

Any member ceasing to be a member or resigning or being expelled shall have no right or claim upon the Association or upon its funds or efforts.

 

10. MANAGEMENT OF THE ASSOCIATION

 

The affairs of the Association shall be governed by a Committee of seven people, five of whom shall be Class A or B members of the Association, two of whom shall be Class C members. One of the seven shall be elected annually as Chairman and one as Honorary Secretary. The remaining five Committee members shall also be elected at each Annual General Meeting.

 

At the Committee meeting the five General Committee members shall be allocated the portfolios of Education Co-ordinator, Social Organiser, Trade Liaison Organiser, Fund Raising Co-ordinator and Turfgrass Research Co-ordinator.

 

The members to be informed at the monthly meeting immediately following the Annual General Meeting as to the distribution of the portfolios.

 

11. HONORARY SECRETARY AND TREASURER

 

At each Annual General Meeting, an Honorary Secretary – Treasurer shall be elected who shall retire annually but shall be eligible for re-election.

 

12. AUDITOR

 

At each Annual General Meeting, an auditor shall be elected who shall retire annually but shall be eligible for re-election.

 

13. ELECTION OF COMMITTEE

 

13.1 Nominations of members to act in any office must be in writing and lodged with the Secretary at least fourteen days before the date of the Annual General Meeting. Should no nomination be received or should those received be insufficient in number for the vacancies occurring, the meeting may proceed to elect other members to any vacant office for which no nominations have been made.

 

13.2 Should any vacancy occur in the Committee during the year, the Committee shall appoint a member to fill such vacancy until the next Annual General Meeting.

 

14. POWER OF THE COMMITTEE

 

14.1 The Committee shall administer the funds and effects of the Association and generally direct and control the affairs and working of the Association.

 

14.2 The Committee shall have power to appoint sub-committees and to delegate to any of such sub-committees such duties as the Committee may deem fit.

 

14.3 Such sub-committees shall, in the exercise of the powers so delegated to them, conform to a Resolution that may be passed by the Committee but shall in other respects regulate their own procedure.

 

14.4 The Committee shall meet monthly or at such other times as the Chairman for the time being, may consider necessary. At all meetings of the Committee, the Chairman shall preside but in his absence, the meeting may appoint any other member of the Committee as Chairman. The Chairman shall have a casting vote in the event of an equality of votes. Four members shall form a quorum at all meetings. Any member who absents himself/herself from two consecutive meetings without leave shall be regarded as retired from the Committee.

 

14.5 The Committee shall be empowered to invite the Professional Golfers Association,  The South African Golf Union and the Gauteng Association of Golf Club Secretaries to appoint a delegate to serve on the Committee.

 

14.6 The Committee shall be empowered to set fees related to the Association’s aims and objectives.

 

 15.  SPECIAL MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE

 

A special meeting of the Committee shall be convened upon the written requisition of three members thereof, addressed to the Secretary and stating the object of the meeting.

 

The date and hour of such meeting shall be fixed by the Chairman, and not less than seven days notice with the object of the meeting shall be given.

Five members shall form a quorum at such meetings.

 

16. ASSOCIATION MEETINGS

 

16.1 The Association shall meet at the discretion of the Committee.

 

16.2 Notices of all Association meetings will be sent to each member of the Association at least 14 days before the date of the meeting.

 

16.3 The meetings shall be held at such time and place as the Association shall decide from time to time.

 

17. ACCOUNTS

 

The Honorary Treasurer shall keep or cause to be kept a proper account of receipts and expenditure of the Association and of the matters in respect of which such receipts and expenditure take place for the funds, assets and liabilities of the Association, in books to be provided for the purpose and shall produce the account books properly posted up whenever required by the Committee.

 

18. FINANCIAL YEAR END AUDIT

 

Once in every year, the Honorary Treasurer’s accounts, made up at the end of the financial year which, until the Committee otherwise determines, shall end on the 31st May, shall be duly audited by the Auditor or Auditors appointed for that purpose.

 

19. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

 

The Annual General Meeting shall, until the Committee otherwise determines, be held in July of each year at which the Committee shall submit a report of the transactions of the past year and a duly audited financial statement made up at the 31st May.

 

20. SPECIAL GENERAL MEETINGS

 

A Special General Meeting of the Association may be convened by the Committee upon written requisition of eight members addressed to the Secretary and stating the object of the meeting, shall be so convened.

The date and hour of the meeting shall be fixed by the Chairman at not less than seven days notice when the object of the meeting shall be given.

Restriction of business: no business other than that for which a Special General Meeting is convened, shall be considered.

 

21. QUORUM AT GENERAL MEETING

 

At all General Meetings of the Association, eight members shall form a quorum. Failing a quorum, the meeting shall stand adjourned to the same day of the following week, or if that day be a Public Holiday, to the next succeeding day other than a Public Holiday or a Sunday.

 

At the adjourned meeting, the members present and having the right to vote, may deal with the business for which the original meeting was convened and any resolution passed by a majority of such members shall be valid and binding, notwithstanding that less than eight members of the Association be present.

 

 

 

 

 

22. VOTING AT THE ANNUAL GEENRAL MEETING

 

At all General Meetings, Class A and Class B members shall have one vote for each of the five Committee Positions and Class C members one vote for the two C member positions.

 

23. BY-LAWS

 

The Committee shall make such By-Laws to the regulation of the proceedings of the Association as may from time to time be found necessary, provided that such By-Laws are not inconsistent with the Constitution.

 

24. ALTERATION OF THE CONSTITUTION

 

No alteration on or addition to the Constitution shall be made except at an Annual General Meeting or at a Special General Meeting called for the purpose and then only if two-thirds of the members present vote in favour thereof.

 

Notice in writing of any proposed alteration in or addition to the Constitution shall be lodged with the Honorary Secretary at least 21 days before any such meeting.

 

25. DISSOLUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION

 

The Association may be dissolved at a Special General Meeting duly called for that purpose and of which at least one month’s notice shall be given to members, provided that on a motion to that effect being duly made and seconded not less than two-thirds of the members present shall vote in favour thereof.

 

Upon the winding up of the Association, all its assets remaining after its satisfaction of its liabilities and costs, shall be given or transferred to some other society or Association having objects similar to those of the Association and in no circumstances shall the same accrue to or become payable to Memebrs.

 

26. COMPLAINTS

 

          All complaints shall be made in writing to the Honorary Secretary.

 

27. BENEVOLENT FUND

 

Creation of Fund: there shall be a Benevolent Fund which shall be created by allocating the sum of R10-00 (Ten Rand) from each of the annual dues paid by the Association’s members. Disbursement of fund shall be paid at the discretion of the Executive Committee to any disabled or distressed member.