IHCGA

Indian Hills Couples’ Golf Association

Constitution/Bylaws

Revised 11/11/2022

 

Constitution/Bylaws

  1. Purpose

The Purpose of the Indian Hills Couples Golf Association is to organize and promote couples golfing activities.

 

  1. Membership and Dues

Membership in the IHCGA is open to any male/female couple age 21 or older with a golf membership in Indian Hills Country Club, both of whom meet the following qualifications:

  1. Initial membership requires an established Indian Hills COURSE handicap of 39 or less, which equates to approximately a handicap INDEX of 37.  1. If you do not have an established handicap index, a handicap index can be established by submitting 3 scorecards from at least 3 completed 18-hole rounds of golf. 

2. These 3 scores will be averaged for your handicap index.  A handicap index of 37 or less (Indian Hills COURSE handicap of 39 or less) is required for membership)

  1. You must sign up as a male/female couple and play the whole season with the same partner with the following three exceptions:
  1.  Tournament format is a mixer (i.e., couples don’t play together).  For a mixer you may sign up as a male/female couple or as a single player (example: a male single player will be paired with a female single player.)
  2. In the event one person of the couples cannot play for several months due to illness or other extenuating circumstances, they may approach the Board to request another partner.  If approved, they can substitute their original partner with another male/female who has a full IHCC golf membership, and the following will be in effect:
    1. The substituted partner shall have membership into the IHCGA with no fees since the original member being substituted paid membership fees at the beginning of the season.
    2. The substituted partner must remain their partner for the balance of the season or until the illness or extenuating circumstance is resolved and the original member is reinstated.
    3. The substituted partner must meet the IHCGA membership handicap requirements.
  3. If one partner is unavailable to play because of a commitment or short-term illness, the other partner may solicit a member of the IHCGA to play with them remembering the Team must be comprised of one female and one male, except for the Member Member and Championship tournaments which must be played with your original partner.  An exception, see #2 above.
  1. Membership may be renewed yearly by payment of dues. 

1.  Membership renewal is not subject to any handicap requirements, and therefore continued payment of annual dues is considered to be ‘grandfathered in’.  However, if a member’s current handicap exceeds the original Indian Hills Course Handicap of 39, that member must play to the original handicap requirement of 39.

2. There shall be no limitation on total number of members.  Membership dues shall be established and collected from members each year.  The membership year shall begin on March 1 of each year and continue until February 28 (or 29) of the next year.

3. Lapsed membership of at least one golfing season negates the ‘grandfathered in’ clause; however, membership may be reestablished by meeting the initial membership requirements.

 

  1. Board of Directors
  1.  Function
  1. The primary function of the Board shall be to provide leadership and direction for the Couples Association in various golf associated social events.

 

  1.  Officers
  1. The Board shall be the following officers:
    • President
    • Vice President/Tournament Director
    • Assistant Tournament Director
    • Secretary
    • Treasurer/Membership Director
    • Social Director
    • Website
  2. Should a vacancy occur in the office of the President, the Vice President/Tournament Director shall assume the duties of the President for the remainder of the year.  Should a vacancy occur in any other office, the President shall appoint a replacement for the remainder of the year.

 

  1. The Board
  1.  The Board shall be composed of seven (7) members elected by a vote of the membership of the Association.
  2. Terms of Service on the Board shall be a minimum of two (2) years, not to exceed four (4) continuous years of service.  After the second year, the existing Board member may choose:
    1. To remain on the Board in another capacity for an additional one (1) or two years)
  3. Service on the Board shall be staggered, i.e., the members of the Board shall rotate off the Board in accordance with section C. 2. (above).  New Board Members will be elected accordingly to replace those rotating off.  However, the President and Vice President/Tournament Director may NOT rotate off the Board in the same year.
  4. Board members shall not be eligible for re-election until a period of one year after leaving the Board.
  5. Due to the specialized knowledge required of the Website Master, membership will be a two-year renewable position.

 

  1. Election
  1. Each year in September, the President shall appoint a Nominating Committee to select nominees for the vacancies on the Board.  The committee shall be comprised of three (3) IHCGA members of which one will be the Chairman.  These three (3) members can be a combination of both the Board and the Association.  The Chairman shall submit a list of nominees to the board for approval.  Additional nominations may be made by any member of the association by submitting the name(s) of the nominee(s) to the Nominating Committee.
  2. The Board shall review and approve the list of nominees, and the approved list of nominees shall be submitted to the membership of the Association, as follows:
  •  Prior to the last tournament scheduled for the year, the Nominating Committee shall announce the list of nominees.  This list shall be posted to the website.
  • During the dinner of the last tournament scheduled for the year, a vote from the membership will be taken.  This vote, by show of hands, will be to approve or disapprove the list of nominees as the incoming board for the next year.

 

  1. Duties of the Officers

PRESIDENT

  1. Overall responsibility for all association activities.
  2. Responsibility for the appointment of the Nominating Committee
  3. May appointment other committees or functions as necessary. 
  4. Communicate news to membership.
  5. Each year in December, the incoming President and Vice President/Tournament Director will meet with the Club Pro and plan the upcoming year’s dates for the monthly tournaments.
  6. By November 1st of each year, the President Is responsible for appointing a ‘qualified’ individual to review the accounting books.
  7. The incoming President must have served on the IHCGA Board either the prior year or served on the IHCGA Board in some capacity in a previous year(s).

 

VICE PRESIDENT/TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR

    1. Each year in December, the incoming President and Vice President/Tournament Director will meet with the Club Pro and plan the upcoming year’s dates for the monthly tournaments.
    2. Acts as President in the absence of the President. 
    3. Organizes and directs all tournament play, format, on-line Google sign-up sheets, pairings, tee times, presentation of awards, and arrangements with the pro shop. 

 

ASSISTANT TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR

  1. Will check and help enforce proper handicapping for the Couples.
  2. Shall be responsible for rules of tournaments and arising questions.
  3. Acts as Tournament Director in his/her absence.
  4. In charge of operation of the tournament by coordinating with the starter and collecting fees for all prizes and tournament expenses.

 

SECRETARY 

  1. Shall ensure the engraving of all trophies yearly which includes, Member-Member, Ryder Cup, Championship and Year Long Match Play trophies.
  2. Maintains Constitution/Bylaws of the Couples Association.  Assists the Vice President/Tournament Director in handling cash or gift certificates, prizes and purchases of trophies or other prizes to be awarded.
  3. Keeps minutes of all board meetings, arranges publicity for association    activities, conducts all official correspondence to membership.

 

MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR/TREASURER

  1. Solicits new members, collect all dues, maintains a membership roster, and is responsible for enforcement of the membership and/or tournament eligibility rules of the Couples Association. 
  2. Keeps accurate financial records of all association income and expenses. 
  3. The accounting books of the Association shall be reviewed yearly by a qualified individual which has been appointed by the President.  This review shall take place between November 1st and a reasonable time not to exceed February 28th.  The results of the review shall be communicated to the membership as soon as possible thereafter.
  4. This the only position that is a consecutive two-year service.

 

SOCIAL DIRECTOR

  1. Makes all arrangements for pre and post play functions, including menus, fees, locations and publicity for the social portion of an event.
  2. Ensures that the menu includes any dietary needs of the players staying for dinner.
  3. Ensures that the tables are set for groups of either 4, 8 or 12.  An exception is a spouse/partner, which is not a member of the IHCGA, can be included in the dinner and table arrangements are made accordingly.

 

WEBSITE MASTER

  1. Must have previous experience in current website software and language.
  2. Creates, adds, deletes and updates content on the ihcga.shutterfly.org website as provided by the committee members in a timely manner.
  3. This position is a two-year ‘renewable’ position.
  4. Is responsible for taking pictures and posting to the website after each tournament.

 

  1. Meetings

Meetings of the Board shall be held not later than February 1st of each year, and         thereafter as deemed necessary.  Board meetings shall be held at the discretion of the President, with concurrence of a majority of the Board.

 

  1. Tournaments
  1. All competition in the IHCGA shall be played in accordance with the Rules of Golf as adopted by the USGA or may be amended for certain tournaments as deemed necessary by the Tournament Director.
  2. In all tournaments, each member shall play to no more than a 39 Indian Hills Course Handicap.
  3. All disputes will be decided by the Tournament Director and/or Club Pro.
  4. Couples Golf shall be comprised of 18-hole play. 
  5. Ladies will play from the silver tees.
  6. The men will choose to play from either the white or gold tees.  Gold tees are reserved for men over the age of 70 years old.  This choice of white or gold tees shall be made at the beginning of the season and shall remain in effect throughout the entire golf season.
    1.  However, at the age of 80 years old, an optional choice can be made to play from the silver tees.  This choice of silver tees shall be made at the beginning of the season and shall remain in effect throughout the entire golf season. 
  7. Eligibility for participation in the annual IHCGA Championship shall be limited to members having participated in not less than two prior tournaments in the current year, one of which can be a match played in the Year Long Match Play tournament.

 

  1. Amendments to the Constitution/Bylaws

Amendments to these Constitution/Bylaws may be proposed and submitted to the Board at any time.  Proposed amendments, approved by the Board, shall be submitted to the Association for approval.  Amendments shall be effective following approval by a majority of those members present.

  1. November 2022 – revisions were made to clarify and ‘update’ the current and outdated Constitution/Bylaws.
  2. January 2024 - revisions were made to update IIA - to '3' rounds not '5', IIIC - to four (4) continuous years not four (4) years..

 

  1. Ratification of Golf Committee Actions

All actions of the Golf Committee shall be subject to approval and ratification by the Club Management.  Such approval shall not be unreasonable withheld.