THE 2019 AGM was, as usual, well attended.

Outgoing Captain Gerald Brady said it had been a busy but enjoyable year and thanked all who had supported him throughout his tenure, especially his Lady Captain, Pat Watts. He thanked his vice-captain, Neil Pickard, for his support and wished him a happy and enjoyable captaincy for 2019 as he helped Neil on with his Captain’s jacket.

Neil, in turn, introduced his Lady Captain, Julia Baker, and said he was looking forward to working alongside Julia throughout the coming year.

The Chairman, David Smith, thanked the secretary, Ed John, the Treasurer, Stewart MacDonald and all other club officers for their support throughout the year.. The present committee was voted in to continue their roles for another year so David added he was looking forward to working together in 2019.

Thanks went out to all those who have helped Masham not just “stay on the map” but increase its standing in the golfing fraternity, both locally and in a wider context.

Captains’ Cocktail Party

THIS annual event, open to members, friends and family, held in the Club House, is always well supported, but this year it was noted that numbers were up on previous years, an encouraging sign for the year ahead.

The purpose of the get together is to introduce the Captain and the Lady Captain to a wider audience; to present a cheque for the previous year’s Captains’ charity and to announce and introduce the new Captains’ charity.

This year’s Captain, Neil Pickard, began the proceedings by thanking the outgoing Captain Gerald Brady for all his good works throughout 2018 before introducing Julia Baker, the Lady Captain.

Neil then asked Gerald and last year’s Lady Captain, Pat Watts to present the Yorkshire Air Ambulance with their cheque. Gerald and Pat said they were very pleased to hand a cheque for £2,500.00 over to Olivia Mulligan from Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Giving thanks to the club for such a “generous donation” to their “very needy funds” Olivia said she was”thrilled” to receive the cheque on behalf of her organisation.

Neil and Julia then announced their charity for 2019 as The Marie Rose Foundation, a support network for young people who have become victims of abuse via the Internet.

They introduced Tink Palmer MBE, who founded the charity over twelve years ago.

Tink, who lives locally, explained that the charity not only functions locally and nationally but now has world-wide recognition. It was the first organisation to realise that the Internet was and remains so today, for some young people, a very dangerous and risky area to be involved in.

Tink explained that initially it was difficult to get any recognition from other agencies apart from the police who were building a portfolio of cases. Finally, after much pushing, it has reached a profile where governments from a lot of countries, especially the UK, are taking notice. Internet companies are now also on board,

Tink said she was very pleased and grateful that Masham Golf Club had agreed to make the Foundation their 2019 charity and told of three children and their families living within ten miles of Masham to benefit directly from the Foundation’s support.

This added to the poignancy of Tink’s story.

The audience were very interested to hear the Foundation’s role in this very serious area of work and showed their appreciation of Tink’s presentation.

To lighten the afternoon, the “Free Subscription Raffle” was drawn.

The lucky number was announced and a huge cheer went up from behind the bar as Arthur Franks, the Club’s primary bar steward, heard his name read out. Well done Arthur!

A fifty pound prize went to Leo Meeney who took second prize and a free hire day for one of the new buggies, when they arrive in April, went to Penny Nicolson, in third place.

Finally, the table of nibbly goodies provided by the membership, was opened for everybody’s’ enjoyment.

The first raffle of the year, organised by Julia, raised £180 for the Captains’ charity.