SENIOR MEN’S GOLF ASSOCIATION (SMGA)

at

Stonebridge Ranch Country Club

Hills Course

McKinney, Texas

BY-LAWS

Approved by Members – August 29, 2011

Effective September 1, 2011

Appendix A Revised November 3, 2010
Appendix B Revised September 7, 2011
Appendix C Revised December 22, 2011

 

Table of Contents

ARTICLE I. PAGEREF _Toc303191766 \h 1 INTRODUCTION.. PAGEREF _Toc303191767 \h 1 PURPOSE.. PAGEREF _Toc303191768 \h 1 ARTICLE II. PAGEREF _Toc303191769 \h 1 MEMBERSHIP. PAGEREF _Toc303191770 \h 1 ARTICLE III. PAGEREF _Toc303191771 \h 1 OFFICERS. PAGEREF _Toc303191772 \h 1 ARTICLE IV.. PAGEREF _Toc303191773 \h 2 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.. PAGEREF _Toc303191774 \h 2 ARTICLE V.. PAGEREF _Toc303191775 \h 2 SPECIAL MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS. PAGEREF _Toc303191776 \h 2 ARTICLE VI. PAGEREF _Toc303191777 \h 2 WEEKLY TOURNAMENT PLAY.. PAGEREF _Toc303191778 \h 2 INTERCLUB TOURNAMENT PLAY.. PAGEREF _Toc303191779 \h 3 SMGA CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT. PAGEREF _Toc303191780 \h 3 SMGA MATCH PLAY TOURNAMENT. PAGEREF _Toc303191781 \h 4 HANDICAPS. PAGEREF _Toc303191782 \h 4 ARTICLE VII. PAGEREF _Toc303191783 \h 4 PLAYER OF THE YEAR (POY) PAGEREF _Toc303191784 \h 4 WEEKLY TOURNAMENTS POINTS: PAGEREF _Toc303191785 \h 5 INTERCLUB TOURNAMENT POINTS. PAGEREF _Toc303191786 \h 5

SMGA MATCH PLAY POINTS. PAGEREF _Toc303191787 \h 5 SMGA CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS. PAGEREF _Toc303191788 \h 5 OTHER SMGA EVENTS POINTS. PAGEREF _Toc303191789 \h 6 ARTICLE VIII. PAGEREF _Toc303191790 \h 6 PRESIDENTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE (PAC) PAGEREF _Toc303191791 \h 6 ARTICLE IX.. PAGEREF _Toc303191792 \h 6 ELECTION OF OFFICERS. PAGEREF _Toc303191793 \h 6 ARTICLE X.. PAGEREF _Toc303191794 \h 6 PROPOSALS AND AMENDMENTS. PAGEREF _Toc303191795 \h 6 ARTICLE XI. PAGEREF _Toc303191796 \h 7 ACCOUNTING OF FUNDS. PAGEREF _Toc303191797 \h 7 APPENDIX A – SMGA Officers’ Duties and Responsibilities. PAGEREF _Toc303191798 \h 8 SMGA OFFICERS’ DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES. PAGEREF _Toc303191799 \h 8 PRESIDENT. PAGEREF _Toc303191800 \h 8 VICE PRESIDENT. PAGEREF _Toc303191801 \h 8 TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR.. PAGEREF _Toc303191802 \h 9 SECRETARY-TREASURER.. PAGEREF _Toc303191803 \h 10 APPENDIX B – Presidents Advisory Committee. PAGEREF _Toc303191804 \h 11 APPENDIX C – SMGA Local Rules. PAGEREF _Toc303191805 \h 12 SMGA LOCAL GOLF RULES. PAGEREF _Toc303191806 \h 12 GOLD TEE PROGRAM (Optional for eligible players) PAGEREF _Toc303191807 \h 13

ARTICLE I

INTRODUCTION

The Senior Men’s Golf Association will be referred to as the SMGA throughout this document.  The SMGA refers to the Seniors Men’s Golf Association whose golfing members belong to the Stonebridge Ranch Country Club-Hills Course.

PURPOSE

The purpose of the SMGA is to promote fellowship and sportsmanship among its members.  The SMGA will encourage the active participation of its members in golf tournaments played in a positive and competitive environment.  The golf tournaments will be conducted in accordance with the rules of the USGA as modified by any local rules and/or as modified by the Tournament Director and/or SMGA Officers.  The SMGA will also encourage the active participation in any social functions that they conduct and/or participate in as an organization.

 

ARTICLE II

MEMBERSHIP

Any male golf member of the Stonebridge Ranch Country Club-Hills Course who is 55 years of age or older and has an established USGA Handicap Index is eligible for membership.  Individuals who will become 55 in the current calendar year are also eligible for membership.  Individuals must also be current on the yearly SMGA dues to be a member.  The SMGA year is defined as October 1 to September 30.

Membership dues will be $30 per year or as modified by majority vote of the membership.  Dues are payable on or before October 1 of each year. If dues are not paid by October 1, then the member is not eligible to play in any Tournaments until the dues are paid. Dues will not be prorated for individuals joining after October 1, and will not be refunded if the member resigns from the SMGA.  Players who terminate their golf membership at Stonebridge Ranch Country Club-Hills Course are no longer eligible to play in SMGA golf tournaments.

 

ARTICLE III

OFFICERS

The officers of the SMGA will be a President, Vice-President, Tournament Director, and a Secretary-Treasurer who have been elected by the General Membership.  The duties and responsibilities of the officers are found in Appendix A.   Each officer will serve for the SMGA year.  Officers can be reelected if nominated for that Office and elected by the General Membership.  In the event an Officer cannot complete his term for any reason, the Executive Committee (Article IV) can appoint a replacement to serve out that term by majority vote of the Committee.  In the event a majority cannot be reached, then a special meeting of the membership will be called to elect a replacement.

 

ARTICLE IV

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The Executive Committee will consist of the four elected officers (Article III).  The Executive Committee will meet as necessary to conduct SMGA business.  Any member of the Executive Committee can call an Executive Committee Meeting and/ or a General Membership Meeting. The Executive Committee must meet with a minimum of three members.

 

ARTICLE V

SPECIAL MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS

A special membership meeting can be called by any Officer or by written request of 10 members or more.  The President or in his absence, any other officer, will call the meeting within 14 days of receiving such written request of 10 members or more.  The written request must include the reasons for calling the special membership meeting.

The regular scheduled meeting is the year-end meeting called by the President.

 

ARTICLE VI

WEEKLY TOURNAMENT PLAY

Tournaments will be held every Wednesday or as designated by the Tournament Director.  A sign up sheet will be placed in the SMGA sign up book located in the Pro Shop by the Tournament Director.  The tournament format to be played will be shown at the top of the sign-up sheet for review by the members before signing up for that Tournament.  Members must sign up for Tournaments at least 24 hours prior to the Tournament to be included in that Tournament.  Members who sign up the day of the Tournament will only be eligible for that Tournament if the Tournament Director can place that individual without disrupting the entire lineup.  Members who have signed up and cannot play must notify the Pro Shop at 7:00 AM or as early as the call can be taken in the Pro Shop that they cannot play that day.

If a member signs up for a tournament and fails to show up for play in the tournament, the member may be assessed the standard tournament fee, which will be charged to his member account and will be part of the tournament payout fund.  An Officer will notify the member of the charge.  If there were extenuating circumstance that caused the member to fail to show up for play, the Officer in charge of the tournament may waive the assessment provided the player notifies an officer or the Pro Shop prior to the end of the tournament.

If a member signs up to play in a Tournament, arrives to play, and then leaves without playing or finishing the Tournament in the absence of extenuating circumstances, then that member will be fined $10 and suspended from further Tournament play for four weeks.  An Officer will notify the member of this fine and suspension.  If the member does not pay this fine before the end of the four week suspension, then that member will continue to be suspended from Tournament play of any kind until the $10 is paid.  All fines should be paid to the Secretary-Treasurer.  If the Secretary-Treasurer is not available then the fine can be paid to any Officer.  If a member has extenuating circumstances that will cause him to leave the course without playing or finishing the Tournament, he should notify the Tournament Director, or any Officer, or any Pro Shop Personnel explaining the reason he must leave the club/course.  The Officer in charge of the tournament shall make the determination if the extenuating circumstances are warranted.

INTERCLUB TOURNAMENT PLAY

Interclub Tournaments will be held as designated by the Interclub Tournament Director (Vice-President).  Interclub Tournaments are played at home and away and special sign up sheets will be placed in the SMGA sign up book by the Interclub Director.  Members will sign up at least 48 hours before the Interclub Tournaments to facilitate the scheduling of the Tournament.  Interclub Tournaments include the tournament and lunch and the cost includes both.  Members who sign up at the last minute will only play if openings are available as determined by the Interclub Tournament Director.

SMGA CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT

A SMGA Championship Tournament will be held as close as possible to the end of each SMGA year.  This Tournament will be a two-day event and the SMGA Champion will be the member who has the lowest net score for the two day Tournament.  Eligibility for the SMGA Championship requires that dues are paid in full and the SMGA member has played in at least five weekly and /or Interclub tournaments.  The Executive Committee will consider special conditions such as illness, family problems, etc. if the SMGA member petitions for a waiver of the above “play in five weekly Tournaments/Interclubs” requirement.

SMGA MATCH PLAY TOURNAMENT

A Match Play tournament will be held annually during the SMGA year.  This tournament is open to any SMGA member.  Rules and time schedule will be determined annually by the Executive Committee.  The President will be responsible for the event and communicating results to the SMGA membership.  In the event there are not enough players to have a Match Play tournament, the Executive Committee may establish other tournament events during the season.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE DISCRETION:  The tournament rules established above are based on current tournament formats.  Should there be a need to change a tournament (e.g., lack of players to have a Match Play tournament), the Executive Committee may modify the format and POY points as long as they are consistent with the above formats and POY rules.

HANDICAPS

A local club handicap rule has been established to cap the maximum course handicap to 36 strokes for all tournaments.  Tournaments will be played at full allowed course handicap unless modified by the Tournament Director to fit various Tournaments such as Shambles.

 

ARTICLE VII

PLAYER OF THE YEAR (POY)

The Player of the Year (POY) award provides recognition to three players who have actively participated in SMGA golf events. Three such awards will be made annually based on a player’s age as follows:  Senior POY; Super Senior POY and Grand Senior POY. Age spreads will be determined annually based on the membership roster at the end of each SMGA year so as to place approximately 1/3 of SMGA members in each category.  A player’s age will be determined as of the end of the next SMGA year (September 30).

SMGA encourages its members to actively participate in as many SMGA events as possible.  POY points are awarded to members who participate in SMGA events open to all SMGA members.  The POY winners will be the SMGA Members who have won the most points playing in SMGA events such as weekly Tournaments, Interclubs, SMGA Championship and Match Play tournament.  Participation and Place points will be awarded as follows:

WEEKLY TOURNAMENTS POINTS:

Two Participation points with additional Place points as follows:

First Place:                     5 Points

Second Place:                 4 Points

Third Place:                    3 Points

Fourth Place:                 2 Points

Fifth or more Place:       1 Point

Place Points are awarded in relation to the Tournament payout in each flight for each Tournament.  For example, if a Tournament has four flights and three places are paid in each flight, then first, second, and third place points are awarded per the above schedule for each flight.

INTERCLUB TOURNAMENT POINTS

Two Participation points with additional Place points as follows:

Place points will be awarded to the individuals on teams that place in the top one-third of each flight in accordance with the weekly tournament place point scale

In match play competition, if a team does not place, but wins their match, then each player will receive two place points for winning their match or one point for a tie.  For example, if a two man team wins their match, but finishes in fifth place (i.e., not in top 1/3^rd), each player would be awarded two place points.

SMGA MATCH PLAY POINTS

Four Participation points with additional Place points as follows:

Place points will be awarded to the first (5 points) and second (4 points) place players in each flight.  For the championship round, an additional 5 points will be awarded to the winner and 4 points to the runner-up.

SMGA CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

The two day tournament is treated as one event.

Two Participation points with additional Place points as follows:

Place Points are awarded in relation to the Tournament payout in each flight just as in Weekly tournaments.

OTHER SMGA EVENTS POINTS

Should another SMGA event be established that is open to any SMGA member who wishes to participate, the Executive Committee is authorized to establish a point scale consistent with the other events described above.  The point scale shall be posted prior to the event.

 

ARTICLE VIII

PRESIDENTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE (PAC)

A Presidents Advisory Committee (PAC) shall consist of all past Presidents of the SMGA who are current members.  The PAC is available as a resource for the current Officers.  This group will meet to provide any necessary assistance to the current Officers.  The PAC will only function at the request of any current Officer.  A list of members on the Presidents Advisory Committee is shown in Appendix B.

 

ARTICLE IX

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Officers shall be elected at the scheduled year-end general membership meeting.  A meeting notice shall be posted at least two weeks prior to this scheduled meeting.  The current Executive Committee shall nominate a slate of Officers for election.  Additionally, any member may place his own name in nomination for a specific office by presenting a petition signed by at least ten other current SMGA members.  Such petitions must be received at least one week prior to the scheduled meeting.  Nominated individuals receiving the most votes from the membership present at this scheduled year-end meeting will be elected to that Office.

 

ARTICLE X

PROPOSALS AND AMENDMENTS

The officers may present for approval various proposals and/or By-Law amendments to the membership using email voting or at any scheduled meeting.  Any proposal and/or By-Law amendment can be presented for approval via email with the exception of the Election of Officers.  The Secretary-Treasurer will audit and verify the email vote tally.

This procedure will work as follows:

When a By-Law amendment is proposed, a special meeting will be called to allow discussion among the members present.  A meeting notice will be posted one week prior to this discussion meeting to facilitate attendance of the membership at this meeting. The By-Law amendment will then be emailed to the members for voting.  By-Law amendments will require a two-thirds approval of those voting.  Members without email can be given a copy of the By-Law amendment that was emailed to the membership and they can provide their vote in writing to any Officer.  The voting will be closed seven days after the day it is sent to the membership.  The results will be communicated to the membership via email with a copy of that email made available to those members without email.  If email is not used, then another membership meeting must be scheduled by the Officers to vote on the By-Law amendment.

Proposals that do not require an amendment to the By-Laws will be presented to the membership via email and voted on via email.  These proposals will require a majority approval of those voting to be approved.  Members without email can be given a copy of the proposal and they can provide their vote in writing to any Officer.  The voting will be closed seven days after the day it is sent to the membership.  The results will be communicated to the membership via email with a copy of that email made available to those members without email.

 

ARTICLE XI

ACCOUNTING OF FUNDS

The Secretary-Treasurer will present a full accounting of all SMGA funds at the last scheduled year-end meeting.  This accounting will include the year-starting fund balance, membership dues or other income for the year, total expenses expended during the year, total accounts payable and receivable, and year-end fund balance.  The President and the Secretary-Treasurer shall individually have signature authorization for the disbursement of funds.

APPENDIX A – SMGA Officers’ Duties and Responsibilities

Note:  This is an Appendix to the By-Laws and contains only administrative data.  Accordingly, this Appendix can be amended by unanimous vote of the Executive Committee without being subject to Article X approval by the full membership.

 

SMGA OFFICERS’ DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

PRESIDENT

1.                 Oversee all SMGA activities.

2.                 Resolve conflicts.

3.                 Buy and send get well cards.

4.                 Represent SMGA at monthly Club/Golf Committee meeting.

5.                 Arrange for and manage the Match Play tournament.

6.                 Coordinate year-end SMGA Championship tournament and dinner.

7.                 Present information to the membership for approval/direction/decision.

8.                 Fill in for SMGA Officers as needed.

 

VICE PRESIDENT

1.                 Determine schedule for Interclub Tournaments for the 12-month period from January 1 through December 31 and publish schedule.  Coordinate schedule with Tournament Director.

2.                 Coordinate and oversee all Interclub Tournaments.  Remind the Pro Shop that extra coffee will be needed, the maintenance of the restrooms will need to be completed, and extra stations are set out on the driving range as needed.  Determine cost and luncheon menu in cooperation with the Food /Operations Manager and remind the Food Manager/Operations Manager of the Interclub date.

3.                 Communicate Interclub Tournament results to membership (including participation and place points to Secretary-Treasurer for POY points)

4.                 Coordinate and oversee the Tin Cup Tournament between Eldorado Country Club and Stonebridge Ranch Country Club.  Verify team qualifications and selection of match teams for each day of play.

5.                 Work with the President in handling the year-end SMGA Championship Tournament and dinner.

6.                 Represent SMGA at the monthly Club/Golf Committee meeting if the President cannot attend.

7.                 Fill in for SMGA Officers as needed.

 

TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR

1.                 Determine schedule for Wednesday Tournaments for the 12-month period from January 1 through December 31 and publish schedule.

2.                 Coordinate schedule with VP for Interclub Tournaments.

3.                 Post sign up sheets each month for Wednesday Tournaments in SMGA sign-up book.  Sign up sheets shall be posted at least one month in advance of tournament.

4.                 Work with the Pro Shop staff to determine teams for Wednesday tournaments, announce any special rules for tournament, check score cards, determine winners, and post winners’ prize money / Pro Shop credits.

5.                 Communicate tournament results to membership.

6.                 Collect money for “closest to the pin” events before weekly Tournaments and present cash award to winners.

7.                 Develop and coordinate any special tournament programs for the benefit of the membership.

8.                 Maintain and update the SMGA Tournament Guidelines.

9.                 Maintain the SMGA Bulletin Board with current and relevant postings.

10.            Fill in for SMGA Officers as needed.

 

SECRETARY-TREASURER

1.                 Manage SMGA finances and bank account.

2.                 Insure that all players in the Tournaments and those that attend the Annual Dinner have paid their yearly dues.  Contact those members who have not paid.

3.                 Provide reimbursement to officers for out of pocket expenses.

4.                 Provide payment for approved SMGA Activities.

5.                 Maintain an up to date list of points for the Player of the Year Award and eligibility to participate in the SMGA Championship.  Communicate current POY status to members (may use any appropriate method, such as: website, email, post copy on bulletin board, etc.).

6.                 Purchase Donuts for all Interclub tournaments and Membership Meetings.

7.                 Collect dues.

8.                 Maintain the membership data, such as: Name, address, phone number, email address, age, other data such as “Hole-In-One” Club membership

9.                 Provide a final end of year accounting of SMGA funds.

10.            Act as custodian for the weekly Golf Professional Staff tip collection fund.

11.            Maintain SMGA Presidents Advisory Committee (PAC) membership list.

12.            Maintains a current copy of the SMGA By-Laws and is custodian of all past SMGA documents.

13.            Fill in for SMGA Officers as needed.

 

Approved:  11/3/10

 

APPENDIX B – Presidents Advisory Committee

Note:  This is an Appendix to the by-laws and contains only administrative data.  Accordingly, this Appendix can be amended by unanimous vote of the Executive Committee without being subject to Article X approval by the full membership.

 

Presidents Advisory Committee

Past Presidents of the SMGA that are current members of the SMGA are as follows:

·        Axel Swanson

·        Gil Lavey

·        Mike Maus

·        John Anthony

·        Bruce Cox

·        Chuck Oliver

·        Jerry Obenour

·        Stan Chavez

·        Don Holec

·        Larry Robicheaux

 

Approved:  9/7/11