IT is a more united Hamilton Golf Club after a big box was ticked at last week’s annual general meeting, ratifying a new constitution which brings together the ladies and men’s committees.

The move is part of a bigger strategic plan the club has been working through over the past nearly two years, with the change also set to reduce the load on volunteers around the club.

The club’s acting president, Adam Manson, who will remain in the role to finish former president, Ian Ferguson’s term for the next 12 months, told The Spectator it was an important process to tick off.

“We have definitely done a massive change in the club’s history with the help of Golf Australia,” he said.

“The working committee that was put together and it suggested we become gender neutral and just have the one entity, so the women’s’ committee and men’s committee amalgamated and become an alliance together.”

The decision removes significant strain on volunteers and administrators across the club, streamlining operations into a smoother process.

“When we wrote it down, there was 37 general board positions between both the main board, the ladies committee and men’s committee,” Manson said.

“We have also gone from a nine-person board to a seven-person board.

“The day to day running of the group is still the same, there are still sub committees and working groups in the background.”

With the change in governance processes, the structure will also be tweaked, which will also include a match committee, something the club has been missing for a number of years.

“The intent is to have a director of gold at board level, a match committee made up of men and ladies golfers,” Manson said.

Manson will serve the next 12 months in the acting president role, but will put his hand up at the end of the term to take on the presidency.

Other personnel changes at board level saw Anne Cass and Tim Lloyd elected to the seven-person group, following the retirements of Liz Nichol, Mal Goves and Di Raymond.

Raymond will still remain heavily involved in the club though, continuing to serve as ladies captain.

The rest of the board is made up of Manson, John Hill, Robert Vecchiet, Lyn O’Brien and Stephen Giles.

The club has a new men’s captain, with Trevor Wathen stepping up to take on the role from Groves.

Wathen said he has enjoyed his involvement in the club, playing and administering, and was excited for the challenge ahead.

“I have been a member for 30 years, I’ve been on the board before and I must acknowledge the job Mal has done for 12 years,” he said.

“They are big shoes to fill and a steep learning curve, but down the track once I get settled in I hope to introduce a few new things.

“We have already started working together, he (Groves) is more than happy to give me a hand and I hope to tap into that as much as I can without being a pest.”

The decision to take on the role was a matter of the planets aligning, receiving support from members, but also acknowledging it was time for a personal change for him at the club.

Wathen said the timing felt right and it didn’t take much to convince him to put his hand up at last week’s AGM.

“I had a few members approach me but I pushed it aside for a while,” he said.

“It is something I had wanted to do for a while, but with recent changes it probably made sense to have a bit of a change in position for me.”