Dear All,

We have noticed a growing trend of either late cancellations (cancelling once registration for an event has closed) and “no-shows” (Society Members or guests of Members not turning up on the day of an event). Although we acknowledge that there are genuine reasons for this happening, this has an impact on both the finances of the Society (unless we have reserves or are able to “phone a friend” to accommodate, more often than not we are charged for the slot) and the overall structure of an event.

Therefore, the Committee have decided to implement a penalty of Dhs 300 for any late cancellation or “no-show”, irrespective of reasons and/or whether we are able to fill the slot with reserves - note, if the cancellation and/or “no-show” is a guest of a Member, then the Member is responsible for the payment of the fine. Furthermore, the Member will not be able to register for future events until the fine is paid.

We understand that this is a draconian measure, but feel that we need to nip this growing trend in the bud to ensure fairness and hope you all understand the reasons for us taking this stance.

Kind regards,

Committee Emirates Golf Society

Dear All,

We are now coming to the end of the Golf Society’s “fiscal” year (1st April 2010 to 31st March 2011) and we hope that you have enjoyed the various tournaments organised thus far. With this in mind, we would like to remind our members that we are now collecting subscriptions for the next year (1st April 2011 to 31st March 2012). The rate remains unchanged at Dhs 250.

We would also like to bring to your attention of some significant policy changes that the Committee have agreed upon from 1st April 2011 – these have been made in part due to the growing membership base (increasing of staff numbers), together with the still restricted access to weekend tee-times (i.e. we are unable to increase the number of slots available). As the duty of the Golf Society is first and foremost a club setup to serve staff, the first policy change is to ensure that the Society first serves Emirates staff members above other membership categories for a Society event. Therefore:

• Fully-subscribed “Staff” Society members (i.e. those who have paid their subs!) will get priority over any other member category such as “Associates” (which includes spouse of staff). Note, however, once an event is “closed for registration” all staff lose their right to priority over non-staff. I.e. staff are unable to “bump” non-staff from an event once registration has been closed, which  will be a week before  the event .

The second policy change provides a new category of membership:

• “Honorary” membership: these are ex-staff who have either retired from duty or who have served the organisation for a significant number of years. Invitation will be based on whether the ex-staff member is entitled to “retiree” travel benefits as per the employee regulations. This membership category has less priority than “Staff” membership, but higher than the “Associate” member category.

The final policy change is in response to the fact that  due to the increasing number of non employee members participating in events many of the winners this year were non-staff. Therefore, our final policy change is:

• All main prizes (1st, 2nd, 3rd) for events can only be won by members in the “Staff” category (i.e. current EK Group employees). Where there are a significant number of “Associates” or “Guests” in an event, a separate prize will be provided. Nearest-the-pins, longest drives and other miscellaneous prizes can be won by any competitor, whatever membership category.

We realise these policy changes impact a significant number of our membership, but hope you can understand the reason for our decision. Although we will still provide subsidised golf to all our membership, whatever category, our duty first and foremost is in serving our staff. Therefore, if you are impacted, we hope you understand and continue to support the Society going forward.

Kind Regards,
Committee
Emirates Golf Society