PECAN GROVE PLANTATION
WOMEN’S GOLF ASSOCIATION
BY-LAWS
ARTICLE I - NAME
The name of this organization shall be the Pecan Grove Plantation Women's Golf Association (WGA).
ARTICLE II - OBJECT
The object of the WGA is to promote good fellowship and sportsmanship among its members and to encourage active participation of its members in playing golf and taking part in golf tournaments under United States Golf Association (USGA) rules and regulations.
ARTICLE III - MEMBERSHIP
Section 1 Persons eligible for membership in the WGA shall be women whose family heads (or who are family heads themselves) are golf dues-paying members of the Pecan Grove Plantation Country Club (PGPCC).
​
Section 2 Any regular member, with WGA and PGPCC dues paid to date, shall be in good standing and entitled to vote and to participate in events conducted under the auspices of the WGA.
​
Section 3 Regular membership dues are billed through the Club at the beginning of each year. Withdrawal from the WGA must be requested through the PGPCC Accounting Department by the end of the February billing cycle. The Membership Chairperson and Treasurer should be notified. Said member will be refunded full dues at this time; any time after February 28/29 there will be no refund. Any new member joining after July 1 shall pay half the membership dues for that year. Any change in the annual dues may be made by a majority of members present at any meeting. No golfer under 18 years of age is eligible for membership in the WGA.
ARTICLE IV - OFFICERS AND ELECTIONS
Section 1 The officer candidates of the WGA for the Board of Directors shall be selected by a nominating committee comprised of five (5) WGA members in good standing presented to the General Membership for a vote.
​
Section 2 The Board of Directors of the WGA shall be comprised of the President, Vice-President/Secretary, Treasurer, Wednesday Tournaments Chairperson, Major Tournaments Chairperson, Ways & Means Chairperson, Past President (honorary officer), Awards, Publicity/Communications, Ringer Board, 9-Hole Representative, Saturday Ladies Representative, Social, Interclub Representative(s), Charity Tournament Representative, and the Website Coordinator. All members will have voting privileges (except past president). The officers shall be elected for a one-year term at the November general membership meeting, installed at the December luncheon, and assume their duties at that time.
​
Section 3 Any vacancy in an elected Board position shall be filled by appointment by the remaining Board of Directors.
​
Section 4 A candidate for each office, to be voted on at the general membership meeting in November, shall be selected by a Nominating Committee. The President shall appoint a Nominating Committee comprised of five (5) members who shall select their own Chairperson. The names of the Nominating Committee shall be posted no later than October 15th of each year. The slate of candidates shall be presented to the membership and made available to membership at least fifteen (15) days before the election. The adoption of the entire slate of candidates by acclamation with a majority vote is acceptable. Before the election at the general membership meeting in November, other nominations may be made from the floor. When there are nominations from the floor, election shall be by separate written ballot for each contested office with a tally to be reported after each election. Members of the Nominating Committee may be candidates. The President may not serve on the Nominating Committee.
ARTICLE V - MEETINGS
Section 1 The Board of Directors shall hold three meetings per year, the date and time of which shall be at the discretion of the President.
​
​Section 2 The WGA shall hold three (3) general membership meetings per year to be held in the months of January, June/July and November.
​
Section 3 Special meetings may be called at any time by the acting President or by written petition to the Board by ten (10) regular members. The President shall be responsible for notifying all members of such special meetings. This should be done at least two (2) days prior to such meetings, informing members as to the time and purpose.
​
Section 4 The general membership meeting held in November shall be for the purpose of electing officers, receiving reports of officers and committees, and for any other business that may arise.
​
Section 5 Fifteen (15) voting members shall constitute a quorum. This quorum may be constituted from members present plus assigned proxies.
​
Section 6 All meetings of the WGA shall be held at the Pecan Grove Plantation Country Club, unless otherwise agreed upon.
ARTICLE VI - THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Section 1 The Board of Directors, shall have the general supervision of the affairs of the WGA between its meetings, fix the hour and place of the meetings, make recommendations to the WGA and shall perform such other duties as are specified in these By-laws. The Board of Directors has the power to handle business items of a time-critical nature between meetings, provided they do not modify any previous actions taken by the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors shall be subject to the orders of the WGA and none of its acts shall conflict with the actions taken by the WGA. Business items that are of a time-critical nature are allowed to be discussed and voted on (proxy voting not allowed) by the Executive Board via e-mail. All transmissions and actions taken via e-mail will be reported on and become a part of the minutes of the next regularly scheduled meeting.
​
Section 2 A quorum of two-thirds of the voting board members is necessary to conduct business at any Board of Directors meeting. This quorum may be constituted from board members present plus assigned proxies. Special meetings of the Board of Directors may be called by the President or can be called upon by written request to the President by at least three members of the Board of Directors.
​
Section 3 The Board of Directors shall have the power upon its majority vote to arbitrarily reduce or raise the handicap of any member whose abuse of the handicap system is indicated by facts. After a review of these facts with such a member, the Board of Directors shall determine the exact penalty and, in extreme cases, the Board may withdraw such player's handicap as recommended by the USGA (in USGA Handicap System, Section 8-4).
​
Section 4 Members of the Board of Directors shall attend all Board of Directors meetings. Three consecutive absences from the Board of Directors meetings by a member of the Board of Directors will constitute an automatic resignation from the Board.
​
ARTICLE VII - DUTIES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Section 1 It shall be the duty of the President to preside over all meetings of the WGA and of the Board of Directors. The President shall have general supervision of the affairs of the WGA. The President may call meetings or appoint committees necessary to expedite business to be conducted in the following year. Anytime during the year, she may appoint special committees as the necessity for them may arise, and in each case prescribe their duties and powers. The President shall be an ex officio member of the above committees. The president will represent the WGA at any club level meetings/activities/committees and convey the WGA membership ideas and views if/when requested.
​
Section 2 The Vice-President/Secretary, in the absence of the President, shall preside at all meetings of the WGA and of the Board of Directors. In the event the President is unable to continue in her office, the Vice-President shall succeed to the office. She shall act as Membership Chairperson, maintaining an accurate list of current members and contacting prospective members. In addition, she shall be responsible for managing the Sunshine Fund. She is responsible for recording the minutes from Board and General Membership meetings. She shall ensure that two years’ worth of records are maintained. She shall attend to the necessary correspondence of the WGA related to meeting minutes. She shall be responsible for forwarding by-laws and standing rules amendments to the Web Site Coordinator to be posted to the website.
​
Section 3 Duties of the Wednesday, Saturday, 9-holer and Major Tournaments Chairpersons
​
(a) The Wednesday, Saturday and 9-holer Tournaments Chairpersons shall be responsible for planning and conducting all weekly competitions. They shall insure that all play day scores are submitted to the Ringer Board Chairperson and are posted in the handicap system as well as payouts and charges are handled by the pro shop. They will consult with the pro shop on any rules and handicap questions throughout the year and shall make an official decision concerning any USGA or local rules during those competitions. She is also authorized to consider any complaint of any WGA member as to incorrect handicaps and/or breaches of the USGA.
​
(b) The Major Tournaments Chairperson shall be responsible for planning and conducting (including, but not limited to, their type and cost) all major competitions: the Handicap Tournament, the President's Cup, the Member Member, and the Club Championship Tournament. She shall ensure that all Major Tournament scores are submitted to the Ringer Board Chairperson. She will consult with the pro shop on any rules and handicap questions during the competitions and shall make an official decision concerning any USGA or local rules during those competitions. She is also authorized to consider any complaint of any WGA member as to incorrect handicaps and/or breaches of the USGA.
​
(c) The Wednesday, Saturday and Major Tournaments Chairpersons shall prepare a schedule of events for the year. When planning the events, they shall consult the Pro Shop to avoid conflicts with other golfing events. The season will begin in January and end on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, with the last events of the season being a Turkey Shoot to be held on both Wednesday and Saturday. They will be responsible for submitting calendar changes to the Website Coordinator to be posted to the website.
​
Section 4 The Treasurer shall keep the accounts belonging to the WGA. She will ensure that they are retained for a period of two years, which shall at all times be open to inspection. A report of the financial condition of the WGA shall be read at each business meeting. She shall act as Chairperson of the Finance Committee. All non-budgeted expenditures in excess of $25.00 must be specifically approved by the Board of Directors in advance. Expenditures in excess of $200.00 or more than allowed by the annual budget must be approved by the membership.
​
Section 5 The Ways & Means Chairperson shall be responsible for any fund-raising activities other than the collection of regular dues and shall report to the Board of Directors.
​
Section 6 The Immediate Past President shall serve as an honorary member of the Board of Directors without voting privileges. If the position becomes vacant for any reason, it is not necessary to fill it.
​
​Section 7 The Awards Chairperson shall work with the Major Tournaments Chairperson in purchasing awards for all WGA golf events. She shall purchase the year-end awards for winners designated by the Ringer Board chairperson. She shall be responsible for coordinating the WGA Club Championship plaque and picture, as well as keeping all trophies of each tournament up to date. She will also keep current the Interclub and Past President's plaque and order the Pecan Tree Charms and stones as necessary.
​
Section 8 The Interclub Representatives shall fulfill PGPCC responsibilities to the interclubs for which they represent and report to the Board of Directors and the membership. Each representative is responsible for selecting an assistant if they deem appropriate. An all-inclusive BEO contract must be completed and signed prior to any event that requires WGA funds. The executed contract must be submitted to the WGA Treasurer no later than 14 days before the event.
​
Section 9 The Publicity/Communications Chairperson shall be responsible for forwarding all WGA related matters to its members via e-mail, including, but not limited to, notification of meetings, play day and tournaments announcements, and other matters requested by the Board. She shall also be responsible for publicizing various WGA events on social media and maintaining the bulletin boards in the locker room (e.g. birdie tree).
​
Section 10 The Ringer Board Chairperson shall be responsible for recording weekly scores for Wednesday and Saturday play days and designated tournament scores. She shall keep records of any other yearly competitions and shall notify the Awards Chairperson of the winners of the year-end awards.
​
Section 11 The Social Chairperson shall be responsible for the menu, refreshments and decorations for all Major Tournaments and the December Awards Luncheon. The type and cost shall be reported to the Major Tournaments Chairperson for the tournaments and to the Board for everything else. An all-inclusive BEO contract must be completed and signed prior to any event that requires WGA funds. The executed contract must be submitted to the WGA Treasurer no later than 14 days before the event.
​
Section 12 The WGA charity event chairperson will have a committee consisting of at least a co-chair and a treasurer who are current WGA members. The committee will provide regular financial updates to the WGA president. The event treasurer will work closely with the WGA treasurer with money handling procedures. The Charity Event will keep its own account within PGPCC’s bookkeeping system, separate from the WGA account. An all-inclusive BEO contract must be completed and signed prior to any event that requires WGA funds. The executed contract must be submitted to the WGA Treasurer no later than 14 days before the event.
​
​Section 13 The Website Coordinator shall be responsible for all aspects of the WGA web site, including but not limited to, posting go-play sign-up sheets, preparing news items, maintaining a current membership roster, and publishing updated By-Laws and Standing Rules.
ARTICLE IX - FINANCE COMMITTEE
The Finance Committee shall be comprised of the Treasurer, President, Awards Chairperson, Social Chairperson and Major Tournaments Chairperson. The Committee shall prepare and present to the Board of Directors for approval an annual budget, which shall be posted at the beginning of the year. The Committee shall advise the Board of Directors and make recommendations concerning all financial matters of the WGA.
ARTICLE X - VOTING
These By-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote. All other matters require a majority vote. All voting requires a quorum, as defined in Article 5, Section 5 above, be present. Voting can be handled at a general meeting or electronically. The acting President will only cast a vote in the event of a tie.
​
​
[Amended June 2023]