Rabatterat medlemskap för "svalor" på Strand Golf Club

Nu händer det saker, minsann! Våra vänner Rolf S. och Hans L. har länge bearbetat Strand Golf Club, vår golfklubb i Kapstaden, för att få dem att införa ett rabatterat "Overseas Membership" för oss som bara bor ungefär halva året i Sydafrika. Det blir ju ganska kostsamt att betala fullt medlemskap i klubbar både i Sverige och i Sydafrika. Och vi har ju inte möjlighet att utnyttja vårt medlemskap året runt i Kapstaden på det sätt som sydafrikanerna själva kan göra med sitt milda klimat.

Ett förslag har nu tagits fram, och detta har mejlats ut till alla berörda medlemmar. Men från både Rolf och klubben har vi fått höra att många av oss inte har gått att nås via e-post, och de önskar därför vår hjälp med att sprida förslaget för att inhämta feedback från alla. Det är viktigt att vi alla meddelar vårt stöd och eventuella synpunkter, så klubben förstår att det finns ett stort intresse för detta rabatterade medlemskap.

Om du klickar på "Läs mer >>" här nedan så kan du läsa förslaget. Klubben önskar feedback så snart som möjligt på e-postadress winnie@strandgolfclub.co.za
Vi har just skickat iväg vår egen feedback till klubben, och om du tycker det är svårt att formulera dig på engelska får du gärna ta del av hur vi skrev, om det kan vara till någon hjälp. Mejla oss då på info@egi.se

Fotot här ovan visar vår vän Kai S. i full färd med att slå ännu ett vinnande slag ute på den vackra banan på Strand Golf Club.
PS. "AGM" som nämns i den engelska texten nedan betyder "Annual General Meeting", d v s årsmöte.

Good morning valued member,


At the 2010 AGM we undertook to look into an additional category of membership to accommodate our overseas members. After much negotiation we decided on the following proposal and we would appreciate your feed back on this.


To start off, we as SGC would like to emphasize and applaud the contribution that you make to the club. The monetary contribution is very important but you also enrich our already diverse cultural mixture with the contribution of the Irish, English, Swiss, German and other overseas cultures. We value this and we are proud to have you as members!


As explained at the 2010 AGM our problem is that, in order to bring in an additional category of "Overseas member", we are constrained by the club's constitution as the membership categories are part of the constitution. Changing this document is as explained to you below not a simple process. Be that as it may, I'm sure you have heard of the expression "'n Boer maak 'n plan", and we obviously need to resolve this to everybody's satisfaction. Changing the constitution is one issue but as important is the timings of events. The AGM is only held on 23 February 2011, but the subscriptions are invoiced in October and due already by latest 31 January 2011.


I have discussed all these problems with the President and Vice-president, (not yet with the full committee) and our suggestion would be to include an additional category of membership at the AGM. We have a committee meeting on 16 August 2010, at which we will get final approval from the full committee resulting in full support from the office bearers and committee for the following proposal.


Your job until the AGM would be to get as much support as possible for this change, should this go to the vote at the AGM.


The proposal reads as follows:


Overseas member


A visitor to South Africa not normally resident in South Africa can join as a 'Overseas member" for a period not exceeding 6 consecutive months in any calendar year, at the rate set by the committee from time to time, and shall be entitled to full privileges of membership except to take part in the Club Championship and league matches and will be subject to section 4 and 14 of the constitution, (dealing with voting rights and election of committee members). Such a member shall have the option to pre pay his or her green fees, but the at the normal prepaid green fee rate as determined by the committee with no prorate apportionment of the fees.


I believe that to price this category at 60% of the normal rate this would be fair. For example if the fees increase by 10% from R 3415.00 (excluding card fees and provincial and national levies) to R 3 755.00 this category will cost in the region R 2 250 (excluding card fees and provincial and national levies) for the 6 months.


Should a member opt for the pre-paid option which will be about R 4 600, the total cost will be R 6 850.00 for the 6 months for such a member. The break-even point for the pre-paid option is thus 7 rounds per month in the 6 months. Obviously if you play less than this, you will not go the prepaid route, but if you play more you will score.


We are reasonably certain that we will be able to convince the present full members of the benefits to both the club and the overseas members by changing the constitution accordingly. You will also appreciate that should the majority of members not support this change, there is very little I or the committee can then do about it.


You have also to realize that if you elect to migrate to this plan, you will loose the voting right at future AGM's.


All members are obliged to pay their subscriptions by 31 January 2011 at the latest, so to accommodate the possible change to the constitution, my suggestion would be to allow members not normally resident in South Africa to decide on their option of choice by way of e-mail to the manager before beginning of September. They should also indicate his/her intention to opt for the prepaid option or not. We will then bill the members whom opted for this category at R 2 250 and if they elect to pre pay with an additional R 4 600 (excluding card fees and provincial and national levies). We will then expect them to pay by 31 January 2011.


PLEASE NOTE THE RATES ARE FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY AND THAT THE COMMITTEE STILL HAVE TO DETERMINE THE RATES FOR 2011. HOWEVER I CAN SAY THAT THESE WILL NOT MATERIALLY DIFFER FROM WHAT I HAVE PROPOSED ABOVE.


Obviously we are pre-empting the approval of this, and would it transpire at the AGM that we cannot get enough support for this, we need to have a plan as to how we proceed from 1 March 2011, and in this instance we would value input.


Please contact me at the above e-mail address or the club if you have any comments or suggestions with regard to the above? I know that it is difficult but it could be a great value to us if you can indicate as to what you think the effect will be with regards to getting more overseas members to join our club via this new option.


Yours in golf
Stanley du Plessis