Palm Valley Men’s Club
BY-LAWS
ARTICLE 1
PURPOSE
1.1 The name of the organization (formerly known as Palm Valley Men’s Golf Committee), as of December 1, 2016 shall be Palm Valley Men’s Club, (hereafter referred to as “The Men’s Club”).
ARTICLE 2
NAME
2.1 To ensure its members derive maximum enjoyment from their membership by creating and producing a variety of golf tournaments throughout the season that allows its members with a wide range of handicaps to choose from casual participation to tournament competition. Further, to represent its members’ interests in all matters that affect their playing pleasure with the ownership and management of Palm Valley Country Club (hereafter referred to as PVCC).
ARTICLE 3
MEMBERS
3.1 Classification:
The Men’s Club shall have two (3) classes of members.
3.1.a. Active dues paying golfing member.
3.1.b. Honorary Member:
An Honorary Member is an Active Member or former Active Member chosen by the Board of Directors to be recognized as an Honorary Member. Honorary Member status may be bestowed on an Active Member or former Active Member whom the Board of Directors, in its sole discretion, determines to have served the Men’s Club in meaningful and consequential ways over several years. The Board of Directors, at its May meeting, may choose to consider Active Member(s) or former Active Member(s) for this status. An Honorary Member shall be invited to attend all Men’s Club events and shall be exempt from paying Men’s Club dues. The names of Honorary Members shall be enshrined on plaques hanging in the Palm Valley Country Club clubhouse.
3.1c. Senior Member:
A Senior Member is a former Active Member who has retired from playing golf and who has completed an application for Senior Member status.
A Senior Member shall be invited to attend all Men’s Club events and shall be exempt from paying Men’s Club dues.
3.2 Eligibility.
Any male age 21 years or older with a golfing membership and in good standing with PVCC is eligible for membership in The Men’s Club.
No person shall be allowed to join if they are less than 5 years from participating in an organized golf program, e.g., High School, College or Professional.
3.3 Admission.
3.3.a Any person eligible for membership under Section 3.2 that completes an application and pays the annual membership dues in full shall be admitted to membership.
3.3.b There will be no discrimination based on race, color, religion, disability, ancestry or national origin.
3.4 Annual Member Dues
The annual membership dues shall be reviewed and established annually by the Board and are payable annually by each member by June 1.
3.5 Membership Book
The Secretary of The Men’s Club shall keep in written form or in any form capable of being converted into written form a membership roster book containing the name, address, and class of each Member. The book shall also contain a list of past Members and Past Presidents categorized by year. The Men’s Club Secretary will transfer said book to succeeding Secretaries……This process was not renewed for the 2023-2024 season!
3.6 Fiscal Year – The fiscal year shall be from June 1 to May 31.
ARTICLE 4
BOARD
4.1 Composition – The Board shall be composed of Men’s Club Members.
4.2 Purpose – The purposes of The Men’s Club Board in keeping with the Purpose of The Men’s Club shall be to:
4.2.a Promote golf opportunities, appropriate golf etiquette, golf rule understanding, and social opportunities for members of The Men’s Club.
4.2.b Facilitate coordination, communication and good relationships between the members of The Men’s Club, owners and managers of Palm Valley Country Club, the Palm Valley Women’s Golf Association and Lady Niners.
4.2.c In cooperation with the Pro-Shop, arrange for tournaments and other golf and social events for The Men’s Club.
4.2.d Establish relationships with men’s organizations of other golf clubs.
4.2.e Take any and all additional actions deemed appropriate by the Board to enhance the Purpose of The Men’s Club.
ARTICLE 5
DIRECTORS
5.1 The Men’s Club shall be governed by a Board of Directors (“The Board”).
5.2 The number of Directors serving on the Board shall not exceed nine (9).
5.3 To be a Director, a person must be a dues paying member of The Men’s Club and a golfing member of PVCC in good standing; provided, however, that in the event a Director relinquishes his golfing membership in PVCC during his term due to an unforeseen circumstance such as ill health, he shall, at his discretion, remain a Director throughout the then current Fiscal Year of the Board.
5.4 The term of office for a Director shall be three fiscal years.
5.5 No Director can serve more than two (2) full consecutive terms of office except by the unanimous consent of The Board. Such consent to be determined by secret ballot at its March meeting.
5.6 There shall be three (3) classes of expiring terms. The intent is to have Board members elected such that three Board positions expire each year in order to provide continuity. If for some reason, this is not possible, The Board may realign the term of the current Director(s) to maintain the intent of the three (3) class structure.
5.7 In the event of a Director’s mid-term vacancy, The Board may select a qualified Member to fill the vacancy to complete the vacated term. Such selection shall constitute a partial term of office and not prevent that Member from serving two (2) consecutive full terms thereafter.
5.8 Election to The Board shall be by secret ballot. To be elected, a Member must receive a majority vote by a quorum of The Board at its March meeting.
5.9 In the event of a tie vote amongst candidates, and having satisfied 5.8, successive votes by secret ballot will take place until such a tie is broken.
5.10 Candidates for election to The Board shall be openly solicited commencing in the first week of January and for a period of four (4) weeks. Notices shall be posted on the Men’s Club website, bulletin boards, as well as any other means available, such as e-mail notice to the Membership.
5.11 At the conclusion of 5.10, if not enough Members volunteered for election to The Board, thus causing a vacancy, the President will appoint a Chairman of a Nominating Committee who will then select two (2) additional Directors to sit on the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee will recruit and recommend one (1) candidate for each vacancy at the March Board Meeting. If a Board position remains vacant, The Board will function Director(s) short until such time as the Nominating Committee is able to present a qualified candidate(s) to the Board for vote per 5.8.
5.12 If a board member has become an impediment to the board (i.e., through such things as, repeated failures to attend Board meetings, failure to perform his assigned duties, behavior not in keeping with the rules and regulations of PVCC), the President has the authority to meet with the member in question to seek a solution. The conversation can occur in person or on the telephone to remedy the situation. If a solution is not agreed upon, the President can specifically request a resignation or bring the issue to the Board for a majority vote of the quorum at a regularly scheduled or a Special meeting (8.2) where the item was placed on the written agenda distributed at least two weeks in advance. The Board member in question will have the option to address the Board at the meeting.
5.13 Candidates for Board positions shall be interviewed by the Board approximately two weeks prior to the March meeting.
5.14 Except to fill a vacated Board position as stated in Article 5.7, current Board members opting for reelection shall not be allowed to vote on prospective Board candidates.
ARTICLE 6
OFFICERS
6.1 The officers of The Board shall be President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer, all of whom will constitute the Executive Committee.
6.2 The Executive Committee shall meet at times as determined by the President.
6.3 Candidates for President shall make themselves known at the February Board meeting.
6.4 Election of the President by The Board shall be held at the March meeting of The Board.
6.5 The President Elect shall appoint the Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary and shall announce them at the April Board meeting.
6.6 The President Elect will assign Standing Committee Chairmen at the April Board Meeting.
A person must be a Director in order to be a Standing Committee Chairman.
6.7 The term of office for the President shall be for a period of two fiscal years. All other Officer appointments are for a period of one fiscal year.
6.8 The appointed Vice President will be the intended President Elect but must satisfy 6.3 and 6.4, if and when the current President vacates the Presidency.
6.9 The outgoing President shall become Past-President for a period of one (1) year, either as a Director if his term has not expired, or otherwise as an ex-officio Board member.
ARTICLE 7
EXECUTIVE AND STANDING COMMITTEE
7.1 Executive Committee.
The Committee will meet at the discretion of the President on either urgent or emerging matters and report the nature and results of the meeting to the Board when appropriate. The Executive Committee does not have the authority to make decisions without Board approval.
7.2 Standing Committees.
The standing committees shall be Tournament, Membership, Greens and Grounds, “45”, Handicap, Food & Beverage, Website. Committee Chairmen will annually review and revise the duties and responsibilities of their respective committees and present recommended revisions to The Board for approval at the April Board meeting.
ARTICLE 8
MEETINGS
8.1 Regular meetings of The Board shall be held monthly “in-season” (October-May) at the call of the President (or Vice President in the President’s absence).
8.2 Special meetings may be called at any time by the President (or Vice President in the President’s absence), or a majority of the Board with a one week notice to The Directors.
8.3 Any Board member may seek to resolve an issue between monthly meetings by emailing a motion to the President, or Vice President in the President’s absence. If the President determines the issue requires Board approval, he will forward the motion to all Board members for a second to the motion. Roberts “Rules Of Order” shall be followed. There will be a discussion period of three days for Director comments via e-mail after which the President shall call the question. All discussion comments must be distributed to all Board members. After the vote, the President shall announce the results to all Directors.
8.4 Five members of The Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
8.5 The Annual General Meeting of The Men’s Club membership shall be held in November of each year. All members of The Men’s Club are invited to attend. Notice of this meeting shall be posted on the bulletin board and website during the first week of October.
8.6 Any member is welcome to attend regularly scheduled Board meetings with notice given to the Secretary no later than one week in advance of a scheduled Board meeting.
ARTICLE 9
SUB-COMMITTEES
9.1 The President or Board has the authority to establish sub-committees as needed.
ARTICLE 10
AMENDMENTS
10.1 These bylaws may be amended at any regular Meeting of the Board by a two-thirds quorum vote of the members of the Board, provided the proposed amendment has been submitted in writing to all members of The Board at least ten days before the meeting; and further provided that Article 2 “Purpose” and Article 10 can only be amended by a majority vote of members of The Men’s Club attending the Annual meeting.
ARTICLE 11
PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY
11.1 The parliamentary authority shall be the latest revision of Robert’s “Rules of Order”.
ARTICLE 12
RULES AND REGULATIONS
12.1 Rules and regulations for the use of the golf courses, clubhouse and other facilities are issued and enforced by the owners and management of PVCC. Members of The Men’s Club are expected to respect and adhere to the rules and regulations of PVCC. Repeated violations of those rules by a member may result in a warning from the Board and/or suspension of the member from participation in Men’s Club events. Any such decision of the Board is final.