Don't just complain, turn out to vote

Next Wednesday all bona fide members of the Bermuda Golf Association will have the opportunity to stand up and be counted, for it is once again Annual General Meeting time.

Annual General Meetings of the Bermuda Golf Association tend to be pretty boring affairs but that’s usually because members don’t come out and put in their two cents worth. 

All year long, there is a continuous cascade of criticisms concerning the efforts of the BGA, very few of which are complimentary, and even less of which are accompanied by a solution and or a helping hand.

But all of that can change and, as the saying goes, there is no time like the present in which to make that change. 

So come on out on Wednesday and make an effort to make a real difference. 

Riddles Bay Golf and Country Club is the venue for the AGM and the activities start at 6pm. 

I gather there will be some bits and pieces to chomp on and a cash bar to help wash down those bits and pieces. 

That to me seems quite exciting all by itself, but then maybe that just goes to show I don’t get out much.

If the truth be told, it would make a nice surprise if this year’s AGM took place in front of a large number of BGA members. 

Surprising

Even more surprising, and welcome, would be a ground swell of interest from amongst the membership to actually serve on the BGA board. 

There are a number of board members retiring by rotation and there is ample opportunity for anybody interested in putting their name forward for election to the board to do so. 

There are often many voices giving direction from the sidelines to suggest which way the boat should sail but very few of the owners of those voices ever pick up an oar to help row the boat. 

Now is your chance to make a real difference to golf in Bermuda.  The captain and crew of HMS Bermuda changed recently, bringing with it a real sense of optimism for us all. 

There is every reason to believe that that same sense of optimism can be brought to the Bermuda Golf Association, however, that will only be if those who truly care about golf put their hand up and commit to getting involved.

But enough of my soap-box antics, for isn’t this supposed to be a column about golf? 

The harsh reality, of course, is that without administrators, there would be no organized golf to talk about. 

Without the PGA, there is no PGA Tour, without the USGA, there are no major amateur events, without the BGA, there are no national Bermuda events to talk about.

In the end, as a community, we only ever get out of something that which we collectively put in. 

So, with the AGM upon us, here’s the question.  What are you willing to contribute?