Windyhill Golf Club
Minutes of the 117th
Annual General Meeting of Members
held in the Clubhouseat 7.30pm
on Tuesday 24th February 2026
- Welcome and Opening Remarks
Michael McKeown took the chair and welcomed the members to the meeting.
- Attendance and Apologies
Only 35 members were in attendance, their names being noted in the Register of Attendance. This number is lower than the specified quorate of 40 members. As a consequence, no binding decisions could be taken at the meeting.
Apologies were intimated to the meeting from Kevin Smyth, Tom Mooney, Ian Thomson, Alex McAulay, Colin McGregor, Jason Miller, David Farquharson, Ian Drummond, Stevie Gallagher and Rudy Hanel.
- Minutes of the 116th AGM held on 25th February 2025
The meeting was not quorate; therefore, it was not possible to approve the minutes of the previous AGM. These will be referred to the next meeting of the Executive Board.
- Executive Board Report for 2025
Once again, as we were without a captain for 2025,the Executive Board had asked Board member Michael McKeown to present a Summary Report on the 2025golfing year at Windyhill.
Michael opened his report by asking all present to take a moment to remember thosecurrent and former members who had passed away in the last year. These were –Joe Harris, Peter McFarlane and Ian McLellan.
In opening his report, Michael first focussed on golf at Windyhill.He congratulated the winners of our premier competitions who this year were Kevin Smythour Club Champion, Paul Gallacher our Handicap Champion, and David Menzies our Senior Champion. Our teams had had limited success in 2025, but these are important elements of Clubparticipation, and members were encouraged to get involved. Members were also encouraged to take part in our regular medals and competitions. Last year, we added a monthly series of midweek Open Stableford competitions, which started slowly but picked up interest as the year progressed. These will continue in 2026.
Moving on, Michael referred to the impact of Storm Eowyn in late January 2025. The fallout from this had lasted well into the season, with tree damage and debris affecting many parts of the course. The damage to the Clubhouse foyer from the loss of the flat roof had been extensive, but the refurbishment had been well received, and the Clubhouse was brighter and more welcoming as a result.
Turning to the course itself, Michael reported on the significant investment made to bring in new machinery for the greens team. This should greatly improve the efficiency of the team, with any breakdowns dealt with promptly through our ongoing maintenance contracts. Alex McAulay, who has taken on the role of greens convenor, is planning to improve the working patterns of the team, to maximise productivity and achieve the best possible presentation of the course.
Key changes proposed this season included
- declaring the left side of the second fairway as GUR
- closing off the steps at the 10th white tee, for safety reasons
- declaring the ‘pit’ between the 9th and 10th fairways to be a penalty area
- Replacing the open bins at each tee with a few larger covered bins around the course
- Tackling the infestation of moles (5 caught so far)
- Improving the 7th and 16th tee areas.
Turning to the Clubhouse sale, Michael stated that this had beena long and tortuous process through 2025, but we were now down to two issues – the need for a formal asbestos report and a formal fire safety report. The owners wished the deal to be completed in time for their financial year end, which is 31 March.
In conclusion, Michael thankedeveryone on the Board for their work over the past year. He also extended his thanks to all the volunteers who had helped with the clearance of the storm damage, to the greens staff and to Caroline our bar manager.
- Presentation of the Annual Accounts for the year
to 31st December 2025
Douglas Gibson gave an overview of the Annual Accounts for 2025. These were printed in the AGM Booklet, together with a detailed Financial Report. The Accounts had been prepared in conjunction with our Accountant, formally approved by the Executive Board and audited by members of the Club. The main points highlighted at the AGM were:
Overview–Storm Eowyn had had a major impact on the Club financially, and this had been reflected in the AGM booklet, where the income and costs associated with this had been extracted for clarity. By careful management of the refurbishment work, we had been able to almost fully offset the deficit which would have been incurred had the storm not happened.
Income –Subscription income compared to 2024 was down by over £18k, reflecting the reduction in membership numbers. This was a major concern, which the Board is actively trying to redress through membership promotions, but it is an uphill struggle. On the flip side, our visitor income rose by over 50% in 2025. This is one area where there is considerable potential for growth. To facilitate that, however, we will need to improve our offering in respect of buggies and catering. This year we will be leasing additional buggies to meet this demand. We are also exploring options to improve our catering provision.
Bar and catering income held to the levels of 2024, but this remains primarily due to functions and funeral wakes. The member usage of the bar as a 19th hole remains worryingly low.
Our golf shop continues to offer basic golf accessories, and this year we will be extending our range of golf clothing to include the entire Glenmuir and Sutherland ranges. We will guarantee to meet or better the standard online price of any item in their catalogues.
One Lottery continues to operate, and recently we have used that income to purchase a new spiker for the greens, and a new cooker and oven for the kitchen. Members were encouraged to join the Lottery, to make a further valuable contribution to the Club with a good chance of winning one of the monthly prizes.
Expenditure–Expenditure has generally been kept to budget across most categories, with the exception of the course, where the leasing contract for the greens machinery adds an annualised cost of almost £30k to our outlays. Lounge expenditure has been closelycontrolled, while overheads have risen only by inflation.
Balance Sheet – As previously stated, our deficit for the year would have been almost £28k had it not been forcareful management of the Storm Eowyn income and costs. This reduced our deficit to £6k before depreciation. After advice from our Accountant, it was decided to recognise the sale in the accounts of 2025. As a consequence, we have been able to allocate a portion of that sale income to create a small surplus, and to cover for lawyer’s costs that were incurred in 2025 but not yet billed. The sale figure of £200k is included in the Prepayments element of our Assets and a corresponding figure of -£180k included in the accounts line to recognise the fact that this money has yet to be received.
Budget for 2026 – A summary budget has been included which is based on a projection from the 2025 figures. To balance this budget, a figure of £50k will need to be taken from our cash reserves. It will be a clear objective of the Board to ensure that this figure is reduced over the year through maximising all our income streams.
Questions - In response to a question on Visitor Fees, Michaelconfirmed that our Visitor Fee will increase in the summer to £30 weekday and £40 weekend. Currently, the winter green free is £15, but this will increase to £20 in March before the full fees are charged from April onwards.
- Auditors’ Report &Appointment of Auditors for 2026
George Munn reported on behalf of the auditors that a sample audit had been undertaken successfully, and that the books continued to be well presented and maintained.
- Elections to the Executive Board
There were no formal proposals for membership of the Board, but Alex McAulay had been co-opted to the Board in August 2025, and Alex was willing to continue to serve on the Board in 2026. Michael emphasised the necessity for new members to join the Board, as the current members had all served for a number of years and were not getting any younger.
- Appointment of Captain for 2026
Unfortunately, once again the Executive Board had been unable to bring forward a candidate for the position of Captain of Windyhill Golf Club for 2026. The role of captain is essentially a figurehead for the Club, and the Executive Board will endeavour to cover theseduties as they arise over the coming year.
- Questions to the Executive Board
Michael the opened the meeting for general questions to the Board.
What will buggy hire cost this year? –The cost of buggy hires this year will be determined by the Board at its next meeting in March. With the introduction of leased electric buggies, we may charge more for the electric buggies than for our own petrol buggies.
Do we have pull trolleys for hire? - We have some old pull trolleys, but a very limited number of bag cradles to go with them. Members were asked if they had any surplus pull trolleys that could be given to the Club to allow us to hire these out to visitors.
Do we have clubs for hire? – Again, we have a few sets of clubs available for hire, but the Club would be happy to receive any surplus club sets from members to increase our stock of hire clubs.
Can tee divot boxes be properly filled? - It was agreed that this would be a task allocated to one of the greens staff who would be given responsibility for the upkeep of the tee areas including the divot boxes and trowels.
Could we introduce a simulator to the Club? – This had been considered in the past, but the sticking point was finding a location with sufficient headroom to allow a club to be swung. The Clubhouse does not have that luxury, other than in the lounge itself.
Do we use the winter greens? – These are sparingly used, due to the good drainage of the course. They are used when a green needs to be rested or treated, and when there is a heavy frost.
Would Open events on a Sunday attract more visitors? – This has not been our experience in the past.
Can we fix the water-logged area between the 17th green and 18th yellow tee? – This has been a perennial problem due to water coming off the hills above, and it seems to be getting worse due to weather changes in recent years. The water needs to drain away under the road to the burn on the other side. One option proposed was to build a raised path.
Can we cut the heavy rough on the banking by the 12th green? – This will be emphasised to the greens staff that this needs to be kept under control. This also applies to the area to the right of the path on the 5th fairway.
Can we improve the paths to allow the buggies to be kept on for more of the year? – There is a point in the year at which the course becomes too wet for safe use of the buggies. This is independent of whether there are paths or not. The safety of members is paramount.
Can we not find corporate sponsors to sponsor holes etc ? – We have tried this in the past but to no avail. This requires someone to trawl around local businesses, which is a time-consuming task. There are simply not enough Board members to allow this to be done. Any member wishing to take this on would be most welcome.
Can’t we do something about the moles? – We have employed specialist contractors, and to date they have caught 5. However, the soft wet earth makes it difficult to access their runs. One option suggested was gassing, but this would require the course to be closed while this was done.
- Closure
There being no further questions from the floorMichael McKeownthen thanked the members for their attendance and contributions andclosed the meeting.
The meeting closed at 8.30pm.