Rules Of The Society – |The Lucifer Golfing Society

as amended and restated on and with effect from  21 November 2018  

 

  1. NAME OF THE SOCIETY

 

                The Society shall be called THE LUCIFER GOLFING SOCIETY.

 

  1. OBJECTS OF THE SOCIETY

 

                The object of the Society is to promote friendship through golf and in particular:

 

a) to enable Members to make and play golf matches and to provide facilities for Members to dine together;

b) to welcome and to provide hospitality for golfers normally resident overseas in Commonwealth countries and British Overseas Territories (including at the discretion of the Society any former Commonwealth countries and/or British Overseas Territories) when visiting the United Kingdom;

c) once a year to organise and hold a competition for the “LUCIFER COMMONWEALTH TROPHY” and afterwards entertain our overseas golfing friends at dinner;

d) to arrange overseas tours to promote the Society in Commonwealth countries and British Overseas Territories (including at the discretion of the Society any former Commonwealth countries and/or British Overseas Territories).

 

  1. THE LUCIFER YEAR

 

The “Lucifer” year shall commence on 1st January of each year.

 

  1. MEMBERSHIP OF THE SOCIETY

 

a) The Society shall consist of Ordinary Members (limited to 100 in number), Honorary Members (limited to 10 in number), Honorary Life Members (limited to 10 in number), Senior Members and Senior Playing Members.

b) Ordinary Members aged 75 and over shall not be taken into account in calculating whether the limit of 100 has been reached or exceeded.

c) Gentlemen who have rendered signal service to the game of golf or to the Society are eligible for election by the Captain’s Committee (on the recommendation of the General Committee) as Honorary Members. Ordinary Members over the age of 65, who have been Members of the Society for over 25 years and have rendered signal service to the Society, shall be eligible for election by the Captain’s Committee (on the recommendation of the General Committee) as Honorary Life Members.

d) Ordinary Members over the age of 65 (or at a lesser age with the agreement of the General Committee) who have been Ordinary Members for 10 years or more may upon application become Senior Members or Senior Playing Members. Both of these classes of Member shall have all the privileges of Ordinary Members, save that they may not play in the Society’s golf meetings, matches or competitions; provided that Senior Playing Members (having paid the Senior Playing membership subscription as provided in Rule 10) shall be entitled to play in the Society’s golf meetings (namely the Spring, Summer and Autumn Meetings) and in the Carlton Trophy and other internal matches but not in external matches.

e) The term “Member” as used in these Rules means any class of member as described in this Rule, unless the context otherwise requires, except in Rule 9 where it means Ordinary Member.

 

  1. PRINCIPAL APPOINTMENTS; OFFICERS

 

a) The principal appointments in the Society shall be a Patron, a President, a Chief Lucifer, and a Captain. No Member may occupy the office of Captain for more than two consecutive years.

b) The Officers of the Society shall be an Honorary Scribe, an Honorary Treasurer, an Honorary Commonwealth Scribe and an Honorary Match Scribe.

c) Each Officer shall be elected by vote of the General Committee (usually taken at a meeting held before the last dinner of the year, to take effect 1st January following) and shall serve for so long as the General Committee decides, usually until the end of the year in which his replacement in such office is so elected. The General Committee may, however, at any time determine to remove any Officer from his office with effect from some earlier date and/or elect a replacement for any Officer who is so removed or resigns or dies or otherwise leaves office otherwise than in accordance with the preceding sentence.

d) The duties of the Honorary Scribe and the Honorary Match Scribe shall, unless and until the General Committee decides otherwise, include having the custody, and/or ensuring that a bank or other appropriate depositary shall have the custody, of the following tangible assets for the time being belonging to the Society: (i) in the case of the Honorary Scribe, the Society’s collection of trophies and gifts and its stock of branded articles referred to in Rule 19 and (ii) in the case of the Honorary Match Scribe, the Society’s stock of Lucifer figures and other items for the time being available for use as prizes and/or gifts, and in each case exercising control over such tangible assets subject to such directions, conditions and/or restrictions as he may from time to time receive from the General Committee. So long as he is so authorised by the General Committee, either of such Officers may delegate all or part of his duties referred to above to one or more other persons approved for the purpose by the General Committee.

e) The duties of the Honorary Treasurer shall, unless and until the General Committee decides otherwise, include exercising control over all money, bank accounts and other funds for the time being belonging to the Society subject to such directions, conditions and/or restrictions as he may from time to time receive from the General Committee.

 

  1. THE CAPTAINS COMMITTEE

 

a) The principal advisory authority for the general policy in running the Society shall be vested in a “Captains’ Committee” which shall consist of the reigning Captain as Chairman and all past Captains, who will become life members of the same.

b) The Captain’s Committee shall be responsible for the appointment of all future Captains of the Society as well as each Captain Elect.

c) The Captain’s Committee shall be responsible for the election of any Honorary Members and any Honorary Life Members of the Society subject in each case to such election being recommended by the General Committee.

d) The Captain’s Committee shall be responsible for the selection of distinguished guests and speakers to be invited to attend Lucifer dinners. It may delegate such responsibility to the Captain. Such invited guests and speakers shall be the guests of the Society.

e) The reigning Captain shall act as spokesman for the Captain’s Committee at all General Committee meetings.

f) The Captain’s Committee shall have the power to co-opt the Patron, President or Chief Lucifer at its discretion.

g) The quorum for meetings of the Captain’s Committee shall be the Captain or immediate past Captain and two other Captain’s Committee members.

 

  1. THE GENERAL COMMITTEE

 

a) The general management and administration of the affairs of the Society shall be vested in a “General Committee” which shall consist of the reigning Captain as Chairman, the Officers and not more than six other Members of the Society who shall each serve for a period of three years and the Captain Elect (who shall serve out his year in such capacity) . The immediate past Captain shall stand down from and cease to be a member of the General Committee at the conclusion of his captaincy.

b) One-third (rounded to the nearest whole number) of the members of the General Committee (disregarding the Chairman, the Captain Elect, and the Officers and any member appointed under the second sentence of c) below to fill a casual vacancy) shall retire annually by rotation (that one or, if necessary, those two of such members who has/have been longest on the General Committee being the member or members so to retire) with effect from the end of that year and not be eligible for re-election for one year.

c) Vacancies in the General Committee which are to occur through the operation of b) above shall be filled by vote of the General Committee at a meeting held before the last dinner of each year, to take effect 1st January following. Any other vacancy in the General Committee occurring during any year may be filled by the General Committee appointing a Member of the Society as a member of the General Committee until 31st December of that year, without prejudice to the discretion of the General Committee whether or not to elect him under the preceding sentence with effect from 1st January following.

d) The General Committee shall have the power to co-opt additional Members at its discretion.

e) Members of the Captain’s Committee shall receive notices of General Committee meetings and are entitled to attend such meetings should they so desire.

f) The Honorary Scribe or the Honorary Treasurer, as the General Committee shall from time to time decide, shall be responsible for supplying copies of the agenda and the minutes of all General Committee meetings to each member of the Captain’s Committee.

g) The quorum for meetings of the General Committee shall be the Captain or the Captain Elect, two Officers and two other General Committee members.

h) The General Committee shall meet not less than three times each year.

 

  1. OVERSEAS LUCIFERS

 

The General Committee may appoint representatives of the Society to represent the Society in any Commonwealth country or any part thereof or in any of the British Overseas Territories for such period and upon such terms and for such purposes as the General Committee may at its discretion decide provided that the main purposes shall be for each such representative to promote in his appointed territory the annual competition for the Lucifer Commonwealth Trophy and to provide assistance with the organisation of any Society tour to his appointed territory. Such appointees shall not be members of the Society and shall not be required to pay any membership fee or subscription. They shall be known as Overseas Lucifers and shall be entitled to wear a Lucifer Representative tie as designed and authorised by the General Committee.

 

  1. ELECTION OF NEW MEMBERS

 

a) The election of new Members to the Society (as and when vacancies arise) shall be by invitation only, after a unanimous vote by the General Committee.

b) Subject to the provisions of d) and e) below, any Member wishing to introduce a personal friend as a new Member of the Society must first consult the Honorary Scribe as to the possibilities and supply him with such information as he may require, including the name of a proposed seconder.

c) Before a candidate may come up for election, the General Committee must be satisfied that he is likely to become an active Member of the Society and that he will be generally welcomed by and be agreeable to the Members of the Society.

d) A Member may not propose or second the election of a new Member until he has been a Member for three years.

e) A Member may only propose or second the election of one new Member in any one calendar year.

f) A new Member shall pay an entrance fee of £300 (or such other sum as the General Committee may from time to time prescribe) together with (if elected prior to 1st April in any year) the full amount of the annual subscription or (if elected on or subsequent to that date) an apportioned amount of the annual subscription calculated on a monthly basis.

 

  1. SUBSCRIPTIONS

 

a) The annual subscription for Ordinary Members shall be £150 (or such other sum as the General Committee may from time to time prescribe) payable to the Society on election and subsequently by Direct Debit or Banker’s Order on or before the 1st January of each year.

b) The annual subscription for Senior Members shall be £10 per annum (or such other sum as the Committee may from time to time prescribe) and for Senior Playing Members a sum being fifty per cent of the annual subscription for Ordinary Members, both being payable on the 1st January following their becoming Senior Members or Senior Playing Members and subsequently by Direct Debit or Banker’s Order on or before the 1st January of each year.

c) No Member who is in arrears with his subscription shall be eligible for the privileges of the Society until the same is paid. The Honorary Treasurer shall send such Member a request for payment and if payment is not made within two months he shall, if the General Committee so decides, be called upon to resign his membership of the Society.

 

  1. LUCIFER DINNERS

 

a) Lucifer dinners shall be held at such times and places as the General Committee may decide and shall each be at a fixed charge per head.

b) The President or Chief Lucifer shall preside at dinner, failing which the Captain or one of the past Captains shall preside.

c) Members may invite guests to dinner but the General Committee shall have the right to restrict or suspend such privileges on any occasion.

 

  1. ATTENDANCE AT FUNCTIONS

 

a) All Ordinary Members of the Society should endeavour to attend at least three Lucifer fixtures, meetings and/or events per annum.

b) If in the opinion of the General Committee the participation of any Member in the activities of the Society is inadequate, then the General Committee may draw this to the attention of such Member and, in the absence of any reasonable explanation, require of him more frequent attendance.

c) The continued failure of such Member to participate adequately in the activities of the Society after such notice, in the opinion of the General Committee, will, if the General Committee so decides, result in his being called upon to resign his membership of the Society.

 

  1. CONDUCT OF MEMBERS

 

a) Should the conduct of any Member be considered by the General Committee to have been unworthy of a Member of the Society he shall be called upon for an explanation and either should he not provide such an explanation within two weeks of being so called upon or should his explanation be unsatisfactory in the opinion of the General Committee or of the member of the General Committee to whom such explanation was given, the General Committee shall hold a meeting to decide whether such Member should or should not be called upon to resign.

b) No Member shall be called upon to resign under this Rule unless by the decision of a two-thirds majority of the members of the General Committee present and voting at such meeting.

 

  1. REQUIRED RESIGNATION OF A MEMBER; FORFEITURE OF CLAIMS

 

a) Any Member called upon to resign under Rule 10, 12 or 13 and failing to tender his resignation within 14 days shall cease to be a Member of the Society.

b) No member of the General Committee shall be under any liability whatsoever for or in relation to any decision taken by the General Committee to call upon a Member to resign (which decision shall be final and binding on him), nor shall the General Committee or any member thereof be obliged to give the Member in question any explanation for or other information in relation to such decision.

c) No Member, having ceased to belong to the Society for any reason whatsoever, shall be entitled to have any part of his entrance fee or annual subscription returned to him, and such Member shall forfeit any claim that he may have or allege against the Society or the General Committee or its members or the Officers or any of them in their capacities as such.

 

  1. AMENDMENT OF RULES OF THE SOCIETY; MEMBERS BOUND BY RULES REGARDLESS OF NOTICE

 

a) These Rules may be amended or added to by a decision of the General Committee which has been (i) made by resolution of a meeting of the General Committee passed by a majority of at least two-thirds of the members of the General Committee present and voting; and (ii) confirmed by resolution, passed by a simple majority of the members of the Captain’s Committee present and voting, of a meeting of the Captain’s Committee of which at least 15 days’ notice, accompanied by a copy of the General Committee’s said resolution, shall have been given to the members of the Captain’s Committee.

b) The Rules for the time being in force shall be binding on the Members, who shall be deemed to have notice of them and whose duty it is to be conversant with them, and no Member shall be absolved from their effect on an allegation that they have not, or that any amendment or addition to them has not, been drawn to his attention.

 

  1. RULES OF PLAY

 

The rules of play in the Society’s meetings, competitions and matches shall be those adopted from time to time by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, subject to the local rules of the Club on whose course any match may be played and any other rule that may be imposed by the General Committee of the Society.

 

  1. LUCIFER HANDICAPS

 

a) Without prejudice to any rule relating to handicaps that may be imposed by the General Committee under Rule 16, each Member must play on his lowest Club handicap, but the General Committee has the power to alter such handicap for the purpose of any of the Society’s meetings, matches and competitions. The term “Club Handicap” as used in this Rule means the Member’s lowest Club handicap for the time being in effect, as it may for the time being have been altered as provided in the previous sentence.

b) Without prejudice to the power referred to in a) above, a Member who, after 8th June 2011, wins an Eligible Competition (which expression as used in this Rule means the Spring, Summer or Autumn Meeting or the Carlton Trophy) shall, during the applicable period in (i) or (ii) below, have his handicap reduced by two shots from his Club Handicap for the purposes of playing in subsequent Eligible Competitions:

 

  • if the reduction arose from the Member winning one of the Meetings, for the period of approximately one year beginning immediately after that Meeting and ending immediately after the corresponding Meeting in the following year; or

 

  • if the reduction arose from the Member winning the Carlton Trophy competition in respect of a particular year (even if the final match therein is not played until the following year), for the period of one year (or such longer period as may apply under c) below) beginning 1st January of that following year.

 

In the event of a Member whose handicap has been so reduced winning another Eligible Competition during the currency of such reduction, a further reduction of two shots shall be made to his handicap as provided in the previous sentence, to run in addition to his then current reduction; and this sentence may apply more than once. Similarly, a Member who wins two Eligible Competitions on the same day shall have his handicap subjected to two such reductions, one to run for the period specified in (i) above and the other for the period in (ii) above. His Club Handicap as for the time being reduced in accordance with the three preceding sentences shall be his “Lucifer Handicap”.

c) If, while a reduction under b) above applies, the Member plays in the Carlton Trophy competition, his Lucifer Handicap shall apply to every match played by him in that competition after such reduction comes into effect until such time as such reduction expires under b) above; Provided that if the reduction in his handicap arose from his winning the previous year’s Carlton Trophy competition and the current year’s Carlton Trophy competition is not finished during the current year, then in any match that he plays in that competition in the following year the said reduction shall continue to apply to his handicap.

d) In the event of any question arising on the interpretation or application of this Rule 17, the decision of the Honorary Match Scribe shall be final and binding on the Members.

 

  1. LUCIFER TIES

 

a) When playing in or attending the Society’s meetings, competitions, matches or dinners all Members shall wear a “Lucifer” tie or bow tie as appropriate.

b) The penalty for breach of this Rule shall be a fine of £5.00 (or such other sum as the General Committee may from time to time prescribe), payable to the Society.

 

  1. LUCIFER BRANDED ARTICLES

 

The Honorary Scribe will maintain a stock of, and supply Members upon request with, “Lucifer” ties and other Lucifer branded golfing articles as approved by the General Committee.

 

  1. DISSOLUTION OF THE SOCIETY

a) If (i) the General Committee or (ii) a General Meeting of the Society shall so decide, the Society shall be wound up and dissolved. Such winding up shall, subject to b) below, be achieved by the realisation of such of the Society’s assets as are not in the form of money, the discharge of its liabilities (if any) and the costs of such winding up, and the distribution to the Members for the time being of the Society equally of its surplus funds. For this purpose and subject to b) below, any assets not in the form of money shall be disposed of to such person or persons, in such manner and for such prices as the General Committee may direct or approve.

b) Notwithstanding a) above, the General Committee may instead, at its absolute discretion if it considers that this would contribute to the preservation of the history and/or traditions of the Society and without incurring any liability to the Members, decide, with respect to some or all of the Society’s tangible assets, that it or they be returned to their donor or donors and/or be transferred (whether or not for valuable consideration) to one or more charities and/or to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and/or to some one or more other golfing societies, institutions, organisations, associations or museums, whether incorporated or not, as the General Committee may select.

For the purposes of this Rule, there shall be a decision of a General Meeting of the Society if and only if, at a meeting of the Members for the time being of the Society convened by written notice given by order of the General Committee to every such Member (addressed to him at his last known address or email address) at least 21 days before the day on which such meeting is to be held and attended in person by Members comprising at least 10% of the total number of Members, such decision shall be taken by resolution passed by a clear majority of those Members present and voting on it.

 

  1. INDEMNITY, EXONERATION AND INSURANCE

 

a) Without prejudice to any claim or liability that there might be against or on the part of any Member in respect of unpaid subscriptions or other sums owing to the Society, or expenses incurred for that Member’s account (or for the account of that Member and other Members) by the Society or any of its Officers or any member of the General Committee on behalf of the Society, every Officer and member of the General Committee shall be entitled to be indemnified out of the assets of the Society from time to time in respect of any loss, cost, expense, proceeding or liability of whatsoever nature that may be incurred or suffered by or brought or alleged against him arising out of or in relation to his office and/or his membership of or any act or omission of the General Committee, in each case in the absence of wilful default, gross negligence amounting to recklessness or bad faith on his part. However, nothing in this Rule shall have the effect of diminishing the rights of members in relation to negligence which causes or contributes to death or personal injury or gives rise to other consequences where rights of redress cannot by law be precluded or varied.

b) No Member of the Society shall have or make any claim or bring any proceeding whatsoever against any Officer or any member of the General Committee arising out of or in relation to his office and/or his membership of or any act or omission of the General Committee, in each case in the absence of wilful default, gross negligence amounting to recklessness or bad faith on his part. However, nothing in this Rule shall have the effect of diminishing the rights of members in relation to negligence which causes or contributes to death or personal injury or gives rise to other consequences where rights of redress cannot by law be precluded or varied.

c) In order to protect Members and Officers of the Society from the effects of litigation as a result of any injury to body or health or physical damage to third party property, occasioned by or contributed towards by a Member of the Society when participating in any Lucifer match, meeting or event including travelling to or from any such engagements (collectively “the Insurable Risks”), Members are required to be insured against the Insurable Risks.This insurance policy is to be held with a reputable company and for a minimum personal and third party liability of £3million. The Society cannot be held responsible for any claim against a member or a guest arising from participation in any match, meeting or event organised by the Society. By virtue of his membership of the Society, a Member shall be deemed to indemnify all Members and Officers of the Society against any liability arising from the Insurable Risks.

 

  1. STATEMENT re GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION (“GDPR’)

 

a) The GDPR came into force in May 2018 . This Statement applies both to the GDPR as enacted and as subsequently re-enacted and/or modified.

b) The Society through its website, via its banking arrangements with its members and in its biennial List of Members as periodically updated, and in records maintained by the Scribes, holds a certain amount of personal data relating to members, including postal and email addresses, telephone numbers and details of spouses and partners and dates of birth, all being necessary for the better administration of the Society’s operations. Accordingly this data needs to be accessible by members in order for the Society to be run more easily, economically and openly for the benefit of all.  In the case of members’ bank and credit card details, these are accessible solely by the members in relation to their own personal  accounts and by the Hon. Treasurer or any person(s) authorised by the Committee  to act in that capacity. These details, alike with other personal information available from the website, are accessible only via a personal password.

c) All the above information is used solely in furtherance of the Society’s activities and will not knowingly be divulged to any third party without the relevant member’s express consent (which consent will be deemed to have been given in relation to bank  account and credit card information to be passed to the Society’s bankers).

d) By the same token, members, by virtue of their continued membership of the Society: (i) agree to keep personal information in relation to other members, whether acquired via the website, the List of Members, email or by other means, confidential  and  (ii) undertake to use the same solely in connection with the Society’s legitimate purposes and activities.

(e)           Unless the Committee , via the Hon. Treasurer, the Hon. Scribe or the Hon. Match Scribe, hears from a member to the contrary in writing (including via email) the Committee will assume that  such member is comfortable with the expression of intent and the Society’s policy in relation to confidential data, as reflected in this Statement.  It  will at all times  be possible for  a member to withdraw his approval of, and consent to, the Society’s policy and approach by informing the Committee in writing (including via email) addressed to any one of the officers mentioned at the start of this paragraph e).