Office Bearer Elections 2023-24: Candidates Profiles

The Club’s By-Laws provide the following direction for Director Profiles, being “only permitted to reference your golfing and professional backgrounds, no other statements are permitted (Word limit is 200)”. 

Elections will be conducted electronically by Vero Voting with unique voting details sent to eligible voting members (voting members under the Club’s Constitution) on 25^th September 2023, when the elections will be opened, and voting will be available through to 9^th October 2023 at 6pm when the election will be closed.

Election results will be announced at the 90^th Annual General Meeting of Oatlands Golf Club Ltd on Wednesday 11th October 2023.

Vice-President Election 2023-24

Two nominations for the Vice President position have been received for election for 2023-24. The following profiles have been provided by the candidates.

Candidates listed in alphabetical order by surname:

Debbie Jepson

After 28 years of membership, the winner of multiple Club Championships, two representative pennant flags and watching everyone else step up to volunteer for the Club, Debbie feels that it’s time for her to step up and make a difference.

Debbie has worked in various industries over the years, being a teacher to Real Estate agent to managing her own tennis coaching business. To say that she is passionate about anything she does and puts 100% effort into everything she does is an understatement and I would be extremely proud to be elected to the Board as your representative. 

Matthew Seamons

I am currently a Director of Oatlands Golf Club.

I grew up in Oatlands.  My golfing experience has been linked to Oatlands since joining the Club in 1984. I have been fortunate to represent Oatlands in interclub competitions and to win some trophies along the way.  Unfortunately, I have never had a hole-in-one at Oatlands, soon …  Recently I have been privileged to serve as Captain and Vice President, manage a number of representative teams, and referee major Club trophy events.  I have served on the Club’s Match, Greens, Operation and Membership committees.

I am an accomplished small business manager, operating my own Financial Advisory business for the past 25 years.  I have degrees in Accounting and Finance and am a Certified Financial Planner (CFP).

I am a husband and father of 2 adult daughters.

I pride myself on being a dedicated and hard-working individual.  My skills are expressing confidence, a quick learner, issue resolution, a team player focused on quality and a critical thinker.  Having served as Captain, I have a strong understanding of the rules of golf, organisational requirements, course maintenance and competition management.

I look forward to the opportunity to continuing my service to the Oatlands membership.  

Director Election 2023-24

Five nominations for the four Director positions have been received for election for 2023-24. The following profiles have been provided by the five candidates.

Candidates listed in alphabetical order by surname:

Mark Clout

Mark is an accomplished business leader with MBA qualifications and over 25 year’s senior executive and international and Australian Board experience, primarily in the medical device, consumer products and pharmaceuticals industries, including Hologic, Pfizer, Unilever, and Johnson & Johnson. He has an impressive record of successfully transforming businesses into high growth, profitable, customer focused operations. 

Mark is currently working as Chief Operating Officer for inSynergy, a full-service property investment advisory business located in Manly, offering premium property investment advice and education to Australian property investors.  Mark joined Oatlands in 2014 and is a regular Saturday player. He has been a Director on the OGC Board for 2 years.

Debbie Jepson

After 28 years of membership, the winner of multiple Club Championships, two representative pennant flags and watching everyone else step up to volunteer for the club, Debbie feels that it’s time for her to step up and make a difference.

Debbie has worked in various industries over the years, being a teacher to Real Estate agent to managing her own tennis coaching business. To say that she is passionate about anything she does and puts 100% effort into everything she does is an understatement and I would be extremely proud to be elected to the Board as your representative. 

Ben Mees

I am a current Director of Oatlands Golf Club and sit on the Membership and Operations Committee’s. These committee’s undertake overview of staffing, budgeting, procurement etc. As part of the team, it has been invaluable to learn from those experienced committee members and believe that I have a skillset which has supported the other members whilst carrying out the role.

I am a General Manager whereby my role encompasses Town Planning, Property Development and Strata currently with over 5.0 billion dollars under management. In these roles, I have approximately 100 staff / contractors under my responsibility.

Bill Mitchell

I am standing for the position of Director of OGC for 2023/24. I was appointed a Director in January 2015 and have held the position of Chairman of the Greens Committee since October 2015. My professional experience is in Project Management of the approval of complex large scale Urban Development Projects; this included positions of Company Directorships from time to time. Although retired for several years, I have kept my qualifications up to date by completing the mandatory Clubs NSW Director training and completed the Golf NSW Club level match official qualification test. My professional career and time as a Director of OGC have provided me with the technical skills and governance experience to represent Member and therefore Club interests. This includes:

• Representing OGC as required at meetings with Local and other Authorities including Infrastructure providers.
• Appropriate oversight of Course Works, Infrastructure and Assets.
• Match Referee and/or Marshall for Club Trophy events and Pennants when OGC is the home or host club.

I fully understand the obligations of the role of Director and the level of responsibility and time commitment that comes with the role.

Paula Skelton

My profession as a Registered Nurse for 44 years with a master’s degree in Health Science has enabled me to gain broad skills and experience across many areas of the health sector.

I have held Private Hospital Management positions as well as Operations Director within Residential Aged Care and finally Property Development Director, where I was responsible the growth and development of Bupa through new builds and acquisitions, with an annual budget of c.$300m.

I held a position on the Bupa Executive Leadership Board for 8 years until I retired in 2017. I was responsible for making all decisions collectively for Bupa Australia and reported through to the Bupa UK Board.

I have been playing and enjoying golf for 38 years, most of which I combined golf with my professional career and family commitments.  On retirement, I joined the ladies committee as Lady Vice-captain followed by Lady Captain and in 2022, I was elected as an Oatland’s Board Member.  Having a leadership role at the Club has enabled me to support development of strategies to ensure the future of the OGC and membership, as well as engage women and girls in golf, and work towards a fully inclusive membership. 

Men’s Club Championships 2023

The 2023 Men’s Club Championship commences tomorrow, Saturday 23rd September 2023, with over 200 members entered for the first 18-holes of the 36-hole medal qualifying for the top 16 matchplay in each grade.

Some important aspects of the Conditions of Play for the Championships are outlined below:

Grades (based on Daily Handicap)

• Club Championship: Hcp up to 7
• The Plate: Hcp 8 to 12
• Middle Markers: Hcp 13 to 18
• Long Markers: Hcp 19 and over

Note: Competitors are graded based on their Daily Handicap on the first round of qualifying and remain in that grade throughout.

 Format of the Championships

• Two consecutive qualifying Stroke rounds of 18 holes (Saturday 23rd September and Saturday 6th October 2023)
• Best 16 scores in the “Championship”, “Plate”, ‘Middle Markers” and “Long Markers” qualify for the matchplay
• All match play matches must be played on the date stipulated and at the time set down (see scheduled dates further down)
• Championship matches contested over 36 holes all other Grades are 18 hole matches
• In the event of ties for 16^th qualifying spot, this will be decided by count back on the 2^nd round cards (18 holes, last 9, last 6, last 3, then hole by hole from 18^th)
• Qualifying and matchplay is from the Black Tees
• Championship 36 holes matchplay on Sunday except final which is 36 holes match play on Saturday
• Other Grades 18 Hole matchplay on Saturday
• Ties decided by sudden death play-off on the same day, played on Holes 1, 17 and 18 in that continuing order until the winner is decided
• Rounds must be played on the stipulated dates and times – Competitors need to be available for all matchplay dates before nominating to qualify.

Motorised Carts

• Are not permitted if members compete in the 36 holes qualifying Championship Grade Gross event, unless prior approval is obtained.
• Any such request shall be in writing and accompanied by a medical certificate. 

Schedule:

• Saturday 23rd September – Club Championship Qualifying Round 1 of 2
• Saturday 7th October – Club Championship Qualifying Round 2 of 2
• Saturday 14th October – Club Championship Matchplay Round of 16 (Plate, Middle Markers, Long Markers)
• Sunday 15th October – Club Championship Matchplay Round of 16 (Open)
• Saturday 21st October – Club Championship Matchplay Quarter-Finals (Plate, Middle Markers, Long Markers)
• Sunday 22nd October – Club Championship Matchplay Quarter-Finals (Open)
• Saturday 28th October – Club Championship Matchplay Semi-Final (Plate, Middle Markers, Long Markers)
• Sunday 29th October – Club Championship Matchplay Semi-Final (Open)
• Saturday 4th November – Club Championship Matchplay Finals (All Grades)

From the Course