Oake Manor Golf Club - Disciplinary Procedures
 
Disciplinary Committee:

Oake Manor Golf Club will appoint a Disciplinary Committee to oversee the complaints procedure set out below and to conduct investigation, hearings and impose penalties within the guidelines in Appendix 2 as may be deemed necessary.

The Committee will be made up of:

The Club Captain, the Lady Captain and the Senior Captain.
A Director/Member of The Oake Manor Golf Club Management Team
The Club Committee Secretary will act as Secretary to the Committee but take no part in the decision process.

The Disciplinary Committee will be responsible for implementing this policy in a fair and impartial manner.  The Club Captain will act as Chairperson.

In the case of issues relating to Handicapping under the WHS, disciplinary action is delegated to the Handicap Secretary who will take the place of the Club Captain for such matters and the Handicap Committee who will act as the Disciplinary Committee for such issues.  The appeals procedure (as outlined below) will remain the same for such matters.

Complaints and Protests:

Complaints may be made by any person including a competitor, member, visiting guests, other associated golf club members, and members of the public.

Complaints must be made in the first instance to either the Golf Club Management or the Club Captain and, normally, within 3 working days of the matter occurring.  A complaint can be verbal but must then be followed up in writing in an acceptable timeframe.

Once received the Club Captain will determine the nature of the offence and grade it in accordance with the section “Grading of Complaints” below.  The Club Captain will then take the following actions.

If the matter is Grade 1 & of a minor nature the Club Captain will discuss the complaint with the person(s) involved and deal with the complaint by either dismissing it or by way of the first step for a Grade 1 offence in Appendix 2, whereupon the matter will be closed;
If the matter is Grade 1 but the person involved has already had step one  for a Grade 1 offence in  Appendix 2, then the Club Captain will discuss the complaint with the person(s) involved and either dismiss the complaint or deal with it by way of the second step in Appendix 2;
If the matter is a Grade 2 or 3 offences, or involves a possible Grade 1 suspension the Club Captain will carry out a preliminary investigation and gather all the facts of the complaint as is reasonably available within seven days from the receipt of the Complaint notice.  This may include speaking to the accused person and getting a written report from that person.  The matter will then be referred to The Disciplinary Committee.

The Club Captain will be responsible for keeping all parties involved informed about the complaints process.

Grading of Complaints:

All complaints and charges are to be graded 1 to 3 with 1 being the lightest grading and 3 the most serious.  This is done by reference to Appendix 1 and the following notes.

The Club Captain is required to determine the grading of the offence.  The grading allocated will determine the action to be taken and the potential penalty a player may receive.  Therefore, consistency of grading across offences is important and it is a requirement that records are kept supporting the grading process.

On some occasions, the Club Captain may not recommend a grading because of the seriousness of an incident and may automatically refer the charge to the Disciplinary Committee.

Penalties:

There is no penalty under the Rules of Golf for failing to act in the Spirit of the Game, except that the Committee running the competition may disqualify a player from a competition for acting contrary to the spirit of the game if it finds that the player has committed serious misconduct (See Appendix 5).

However, in adopting the Oake Manor Golf Club Code of Conduct as a Local Rule Oake Manor Golf Club may impose the penalties shown in Appendix 2 for player misconduct

If a complaint is upheld by the Disciplinary Committee, it shall give its decision in writing, within 5 days, with reasons for the decision, any penalty imposed and details of the appeals procedure.  The Committee may also stipulate a review period during which the performance of the individual will be monitored to determine compliance with any decision made.    

It would be expected that the Disciplinary Committee will deal severely with proven cases of serious misconduct and in some cases the conduct may constitute a criminal offence in which case the matter should be referred to the Police.

Disciplinary Committee Functions:

The disciplinary committee will meet on an as required basis to perform the following functions:

Review complaints information & notices given in relation to grade 1 offence and ensure consistency in application
Consider all grade 2 and 3 complaints and appeals to a grade 1 penalty (other than suspension)
Where necessary hold investigations, including a hearing into the complaint or appeal
Disciplinary Hearing procedures are at Appendix 4.

Notice of any hearing of the Disciplinary Committee shall be given, in the case of a complaint, to the person or persons the subject of the complaint and the complainant; and in the case of an appeal, to the persons affected by the appeal and the appellant.

The notice will specify the date time and place of any hearing and will be accompanied by copies of all material relevant to the complaint.  The notice will also specify if the hearing is to be attended by written submissions or whether the parties are required to attend in person, with the opportunity to have a representative attend also.  Hearings will be in private with only the subject of the complaint and his/her representative and the Disciplinary Committee present.

No formal legal representative or counsel shall be entitled to attend, notwithstanding that the Disciplinary Committee may receive such legal advice as it deems necessary.

Any participant to the hearing will advise if a conflict of interest could be lodged by any party.

A clean slate policy will apply to any offence after a twelve-month period from date of the last penalty

Appeals Procedure:

See Appendix 3

Miscellaneous Provisions:

The standard of proof in all cases before the Disciplinary Committee and the Appeal Committee is the balance of probabilities.

Any time frame required to be implemented in respect of the Procedures may be amended on a case by case basis with consideration all the circumstances of the case and the setting of such time frame shall be at the discretion of the person/body who has the power to impose a deadline pursuant to the Procedures.

If the Chair of the Disciplinary Committee/Appeal Committee deems it appropriate, bearing in mind all the circumstances surrounding the case, the appropriate Committee may, at its discretion, request an independent person to act as adviser to the Disciplinary/Appeal Committee.

The Disciplinary Committee/Appeal Committee are not obliged to follow strict rules of evidence.  They may admit such evidence as they think fit and accord such evidence such weight as they think appropriate in all the circumstances.

The Disciplinary Committee and Appeal Committee shall decide any issue by majority and no member of the Disciplinary Committee or Appeal Committee may abstain from voting.

The Club will not be liable to any person, Member, or body for any loss, however caused, whether direct, indirect, financial or consequential arising out of or in connection with any disciplinary action taken under the Procedures.

Any relevant contact details for the Disciplinary / Appeal committees shall be available from the Club and communicated to Members from time to time.

Appendix 1

General examples of grading of complaints of conduct likely to bring the game & or Club into disrepute (not an exhaustive list)

Grade 1 Offences

• Bad language
• Improper treatment of equipment, including throwing of clubs
• Use of club other than within the intentions of the game e.g. damaging trees/greens with clubs etc
• Ill/-mannered behaviour
• Failure to complete a round when representing the club in any sanctioned tournament/interclub match
• Failure to return scorecards in any Club (Men’s, Lady’s, Senior’s or Junior’s) Competitions or for pre-registered General Play Rounds.
• Failure to comply with Terms of Competitions
• Breach of the Club Code of Conduct

Grade 2 Offences

• Behaviour bringing the club into disrepute
• Theft of minor items
• Excessive or offensive bad language or repeated use of bad language over a period
• Verbal abuse or threatening behaviour to another player
• Breaking clubs or repeated use of clubs or equipment causing damage to the Course.
• Repeated failure to return scorecards in any Club (Men’s, Lady’s, Senior’s or Junior’s) Competitions or for pre-registered General Play Rounds
• Repeated Failure to comply with Terms of Competitions
• Repeat breach/s of the Club Code of Conduct
• Serious misconduct (see Appendix 5)

Grade 3 Offences

• Any serious misuse of alcohol or drugs on the course or club premises
• Serious theft
• Assault of a player, official, member, guest or member of the public
• Sexual or verbal harassment

 
Appendix 2
 
Penalties

Grade 1 Offence

If no previous offences any one of the following 3 steps will be adopted:

1. Verbal warning with notice on file.

2. Written warning issued to member.

3. Recommend to the Club management the imposition of a penalty of suspension from the Club.

Grade 2 Offence

If no previous offences any one of the following steps will be adopted depending on the seriousness of the offence:

1. Written warning issued to member.

2.  Recommend to the Club management the imposition of a penalty of suspension from the Club.

3. Penalty of Suspension from playing in any competitions run or submitting pre-registered General Play Rounds within the Club for a defined period

4.  Penalty of Suspension of Handicap/Handicap Index for a defined period following a prior period of suspension from competitions if the offence repeated.

5.  Recommend to the Club management the imposition of a penalty of expulsion from the Club.

If the offence is considered serious, or there are other recent or repeat offences, then a step can be passed at the discretion of the Disciplinary Committee.

Grade 3 Offence

Depending on the seriousness of the offence any one of the following steps may be adopted.

1. Written warning issued to member.

2. Recommend to the Club management the imposition of a penalty of suspension from the Club.

3.  Recommend to the Club management the imposition of a penalty of expulsion from the Club.

Step 1 will only be taken if the offence is of a lesser scale otherwise a penalty of suspension will usually be imposed.

Appendix 3

Appeals procedure

If a member wishes to appeal a decision of the Disciplinary Committee, they must lodge the appeal to the Club in writing within 14 days of the decision being notified to them.

They must set out the grounds of appeal in as much detail as possible including the nature of any new evidence he/she seeks to rely upon which may be considered by the Appeal Committee if deemed appropriate.

APPEAL COMMITTEE

The Club shall establish an Appeal Committee on an “as required basis” consisting of 3 members who are appointed by the Club, including, wherever possible, a Past Captain.

No member of the Appeal Committee shall have any interest or any previous involvement in a disciplinary matter which is to be considered by the Appeal Committee nor be a member of the Disciplinary Committee. In the event that a decision is appealed to the Appeal Committee and a member of the Appeal Committee either declares an interest or is deemed to have an interest by the Club Management, then such member shall be replaced on the Appeal Committee for that matter only.

APPEAL HEARINGS

The Appeal Committee shall have jurisdiction to conduct appeal hearings and have the power to:

Dismiss the appeal.

overturn any finding and any sanction imposed by the Disciplinary Committee.
remit the matter for a re-hearing by the Disciplinary Committee.
substitute an alternative finding
reduce or increase the original sanction; and/or
make such further order as it considers appropriate.

The Appeal Committee may hear an appeal by way of oral hearing or consider the appeal based on written submissions received from the Appellant and the Club / Complainant as appropriate. Where an appeal is considered by way of written submissions then the Appellant’s consent must be received in writing prior to such consideration.

The Appeal Committee shall determine at its absolute discretion and on a case by case basis, whether an appeal of a Disciplinary Committee decision shall be by way of review only or a full re-hearing of all the evidence presented to the Disciplinary Committee.

The procedure for an Appeal Hearing shall be flexible and shall be at the discretion of the Chair of the Appeal Committee, who may make such decisions as necessary to ensure the orderly and effective conduct of the hearing, subject to the overriding requirement of fairness. The Chair of the Appeal Committee will then outline the basic procedure of the Hearing

.The Appeal Committee shall either communicate its decision to the Appellant at the end of a hearing or it shall be notified in writing later as set by the Appeal Committee.

Appendix 4

DISCIPLINARY HEARING PROCEDURE

• If deemed to be required, prior to any hearing, the Disciplinary Committee shall set appropriate deadlines for the submission of any written evidence / representations from any person/persons involved in the matter under consideration.
• The hearing shall be convened by the Disciplinary Committee at a time suitable to the parties and communicated to the parties by the Chairperson.  The hearing can either consider written evidence or personal testimony at the discretion of the Chairperson.
• The case against the Respondent (Person against whom the proceedings have been brought) will be resented by the Chairperson, together with relevant evidence, including witness evidence, if appropriate.
• The Respondent will be granted the opportunity to present its case, challenge the evidence presented against them, submit their own evidence, call witnesses and make representations to the Disciplinary Committee. The evidence of further witnesses not notified in accordance with the Procedures be admitted only at the sole discretion of the Chair of the Disciplinary Committee.
• Those representing a Respondent at a hearing may present and sum up their case, but they are not permitted to answer questions put to the Respondent.
• Before being called, witnesses will not be allowed in the room while evidence is being given, this shall not apply in relation to the Complainant or Respondent.
• Questions may be put by the Disciplinary Committee to the Respondent and each witness on conclusion of their evidence.
• The Respondent shall have the opportunity to raise questions in cross-examination.
• The Disciplinary Committee may limit cross-examination as it deems appropriate.
• The Respondent and the Chairperson will be allowed to make a closing statement to the Disciplinary Committee.
• The room will be cleared, and the Disciplinary Committee will deliberate and determine whether, on the balance of probabilities, the disciplinary charge has been proven.
• The hearing will reconvene and the Chair of the Disciplinary Committee shall either communicate its decision to the parties at the end of a hearing or notify the decision in writing at a later date as set by the Disciplinary Committee.
• Where a charge is proven the Respondent shall have the opportunity to present arguments in mitigation.
• The Disciplinary Committee will review the Respondent’s previous disciplinary record, where relevant, to consider sanctions.
• The room will again be cleared, and the Disciplinary Committee shall determine the appropriate sanction in accordance with the Regulations.
• The hearing shall be documented in writing by the Secretary and a record kept of all disciplinary proceedings and hearings.

The above procedure may also be followed by the Appeal Committee whereby the Respondent is the Appellant and the Disciplinary Committee is the Appeal Committee.

Appendix 5

Meaning of Serious Misconduct

The examples given below apply in all forms of golf at Oake Manor Golf Club

The phrase "serious misconduct" in Rule 1.2a of the Rules of Golf  is intended to cover player misconduct that is so far removed from the expected norm in golf that the most severe sanction of removing a player from the competition is justified. This includes dishonesty, deliberately interfering with another player's rights, or endangering the safety of others.

The Committee must determine if the misconduct is serious considering all the circumstances.  Even if the Committee determines that the misconduct is serious, it may take the view that it is more appropriate to warn the player that a repeat of the misconduct or similar misconduct will result in disqualification, instead of disqualifying him or her in the first instance.

Examples of actions by a player that are likely to be considered serious misconduct of include:

• Deliberately causing serious damage to a putting green.
• Disagreeing with the course setup and taking it on himself or herself to move tee-markers or boundary stakes.
• Throwing a club towards another player or spectator.
• Deliberately distracting other players while they are making strokes.
• Removing loose impediments or movable obstructions to disadvantage another player after that other player has asked him or her to leave them in place.
• Repeatedly refusing to lift a ball at rest when it interferes with another player in stroke play.
• Deliberately playing away from the hole and then towards the hole to assist the player's partner (such as helping the player's partner learn the break on the putting green).
• Deliberately not playing in accordance with the Rules and potentially gaining a significant advantage by doing so, despite incurring a penalty for a breach of the relevant Rule.
• Repeatedly using vulgar or offensive language.
• Using a handicap that has been established for the purpose of providing an unfair advantage or using the round being played to establish such a handicap.
• Examples of actions by a player that, although involving misconduct, are unlikely to be considered serious misconduct include:
• Slamming a club to the ground, damaging the club and causing minor damage to the turf.
• Throwing a club towards a golf bag that unintentionally hits another person.
• Carelessly distracting another player making a stroke.