2021 Membership – President’s Update
Dear Members, Your Board has a couple of very important things to tell you today, including the thinking behind next year’s Membership Fees. But first, it has been tough, very tough. None of us could have foreseen what has transpired.
Our comradery, mateship, our Aussie Spirit; how lucky are we to be playing golf in Sydney in 2020.
It is time to celebrate.
It is time to celebrate! Next Saturday night, 5th December sees the recognition of the Club Person of the Year which will be awarded to one of four worthy recipients: Gordon Edwards, Joan Flaherty, Jacky Parsons and Phil Town. If you don’t know them, find them and say “G’Day and thank you”. Each and every one of them has gone above and beyond and made Your Club a better place through their individual contributions. Thanks to the overwhelming support from members who have already taken the trouble to support them through the voting process.
If you have not made a booking to what will be a great night, please do so today. There is no Law which says we cannot do the “YMCA” sitting down. Further to this Grant Newsome will provide excellent sing-alongs and background music.
At the Meeting last night, Your Board spent some time considering where we are and what we need to do to progressively further Your Club – with the following conclusion:
Firstly, while we would like to make an easy choice and not increase subscriptions, Your Board recognises that these are turbulent times and the commercial realities of running a sustainable business must be understood and addressed.
For a long time, many improvement projects have been on hold as Your Club navigated its way through substantial financial debts. Last year, at this time, Your Club owed the Bank $800,000 which severely negated what could be done to improve Member benefits. Moreover, if anything went wrong, there were no reserves.
For many years, a very generous Discount has been applied to certain Membership categories which is not sustainable and results in the rest of the Membership subsidising the Fees attributed to these categories. Taking into account considerations such as ageing membership demographics, Your Board has no alternative other than to address this disparity and reduce the discounts applied.
Over the past few years, many Members have criticised the “House Levy”. In this vein, Your Board has reduced the Levy by $50. In a rebalance of member value and taking into the reduction in the abovementioned levy, the net result to the full playing membership is no net increase in the amount members will pay at subs time. That is, an actual fee increase of $50 is offset by the reduction in the House Levy. For less than 190 members in the Discounted categories, an increase of $150 is also offset by the House Levy reduction to result in a net increase of $100.
By way of tabular explanation, please see the Membership Subscriptions for three of the major playing categories below:
Full Playing Members:
2020/2021 Full Subscription Male $2,150 & Female $1,740
Add: Subscription increase of $50
Less: House Levy reduction of $50
2021/2022 Full Subscription Male $2,150 & Female $1,740
Discounted categories for example – Senior and Veteran:
Senior
2020/2021 Full Subscription Male $1,330 & Female $1,135
Add: Subscription increase of $150
Less: House Levy reduction of $50
2021/2022 Full Subscription Male $1,430 & Female $1,235
Veteran
2020/2021 Full Subscription Male $1,090 & Female $950
Add: Subscription increase of $150
Less: House Levy reduction of $50
2021/2022 Full Subscription Male $1,190 & Female $1,050
Lastly, in an important structural change, your Board has decided to implement a “user pays” model through the way our competition fees are charged. Some of this is as a result of the unprecedented increase in Bookings and some from a commercial reality of future sustainability. So, from 1 March, an additional $3 per Competition round will be charged. These funds will go directly to the bottom line and assist in the financial stability over this uncertain time.
I am confident that Members will understand that Your Board has not taken any of these decisions lightly and has the best interests of all Members at heart.
Mark Mathieson – President