RTP Golf League : ByLaws
The intent of this document is to produce a set of "Bylaws" which accurately represents the "traditions" and procedures that are used as a guide by the officers in running the NT Golf League (NTGL) for its members. The Bylaws have evolved over the years and reflect changes to the NT Golf League since inception in 1981. The Bylaws provide the foundation for the next decade of growth for the NT Golf League. In addition to these "Bylaws," there are League Rules maintained in a separate document that are reviewed and updated as deemed appropriate by the elected officers.
This document defines roles of the elected officers and other positions required to successfully operate the NT Golf League. It also sets forth how elections are handled and the process required for changing League Rules and Bylaws.
- Elections of League Officers
Each year, an election for the League's four main offices must be held. The four elected officers are: President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. The specific duties of each officer will be defined in the next section. In recognition of electronic voting capabilities, elections will be held via electronic vote. Electronic voting will be conducted in such a way that votes can be cast anonymously.
Annual elections are to be scheduled at the end of the current calendar year. Notices of the election should be emailed to the current year's general membership at least one week prior to the election date. Election results will be emailed to the membership list upon closing of the voting process and final tally.
All meetings should be conducted with the President (or the next available ranking officer) from the previous year acting as the presiding officer. The meetings should be conducted in a business like manner with a person appointed to keep notes of the pertinent points of discussion.
The current elected officers are responsible for the nomination of candidates for each officer position required for the next season. The call for volunteer candidates for office is to occur in the fall of the year. Once a slate of candidates is determined, that slate is then offered to the current membership via electronic vote.
The elected NT Golf League officers have the authority to set the annual dues that must be paid to the NT Golf League to become an active member. The annual dues will be discussed and decided on by a consensus majority of the elected officials. The current league dues are set at $50 per member for the league season, which typically runs from April to September.
The key to having an effective ruling body for the NT Golf League is that four separate individuals should occupy the four main offices (i.e., President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer). This ensures that there will be enough "bodies" to run the league effectively. Should there be a lack of volunteers for elective office, some positions may be combined at the discretion of the current officers who are forming the next years slate of candidates.
If for some reason, there are no nominees for any of the offices at the time of the "official election meeting," then the previous year's person who held the office or one of the newly elected officers (not including the President) will be asked to serve as the "acting" officer until suitable individuals are identified as candidates. Should he/she decline, the Vice President, the Secretary and then the Treasurer will be subsequently asked to assume leadership.
If new candidate(s) volunteer after the official election, then the vacant office may be "appointed" by a majority vote of the newly elected officers. In order to provide the officers a chance to discuss an appointee, a one-week grace period must be observed after the first new candidate has been nominated before the appointment voting can be conducted.
A quorum is required of the officers already elected in order to have a valid appointment vote for a vacant office.
Email elections must clearly indicate a reasonable deadline for having ballots returned. Write-in candidates must be accommodated.
League officers are empowered to modify the Bylaws and League Rules in order to accommodate unforeseen changes and situations which arise. In order to preserve the integrity of the NT Golf League Bylaws and League Rules, and to provide consistency to the membership, such Bylaws and League Rules should not be altered once season play has begun. The exception is to add such League Rules as warranted due to unforeseen circumstances that were not presently covered in the existing procedures.
- Other (Non-Elected) League Officials
Nightly Coordinators
Each "group" of league golfers that are scheduled to play their weekly matches on a designated day and designated course, must have a "Nightly Coordinator."
Each Nightly Coordinator should be a member of their given designated group and must be approved by the elected President.
The Nightly Coordinator for a given course/day needs to have access to an IBM PC compatible computer and must be capable of managing the application selected and approved by the league officers for maintaining the handicaps and statistics of their respective group.
The duties and responsibilities of the Nightly Coordinators include, but are not limited to the following:
Distributing all materials and notices from the league officers to the members of their respective league group.
Collecting all scorecards after each week's matches in a timely manner, such that the match scores can be entered into the program, such that new sheets for handicaps and statistics can be produced.
Delivering updated handicaps and statistics sheets to the golf course and/or membership before each week's scheduled matches (this can be performed via email at the discretion of the coordinator.
Coordinating with course management for when and where the league golfers may tee off for their weekly matches and in situations where the course may be closed due to inclement weather.
Serving as a first point of contact for the group's members on all matters pertaining to rules, disputes, and questions, as well as for no show situations.
The Nightly Coordinator position is a "reimbursement" position in an amount that is determined (on a per active member basis) according to the league budget prepared before the season during the planning process. Such payments are considered reimbursement of general expenses incurred by the coordinator during the course of the season. The current reimbursement is based on $8 per player, times the number of players on a given night up to a maximum of 32 players.
All coordinator reimbursements are paid at the end of the season after the "final outing" and once all season end league and roster information has been submitted.
An elected league officer may also serve as the Nightly Coordinator for the group that they are playing with.
Tournament Director
The Tournament Director (TD) is appointed by the President, subject to approval of the league officers, and is responsible for negotiating the details of all aspects of setting up tee times, carts, food, prizes, and other arrangements with the golf courses chosen for any of the "outing" tournaments held by the league.
The TD must work closely with the league officers in planning all outings, such that all objectives are met with regard to the league's overall budget and spending plan.
The TD must also work closely with the league officers in developing a breakdown of all prizes and awards to be given out at each outing. (This does not apply to "season long" prizes, if any, and awards to be given out at the end of each league season.)
The TD is responsible for the collection and posting of all scores at the outings, as well as developing a breakdown of the prizes, prior to the outing date.
At the end of the outing, the TD should have all outing results available for publication no later than one week after the outing is played.
The TD must work closely with the league Treasurer for the disbursement of funds to ensure that all funds and prizes will be available when they are needed.
The TD must work closely with the Nightly Coordinators whenever prizes and awards from the outings need to be delivered to members who were unable to receive their prizes or awards at the tournament.
The TD should be responsible for the ordering and delivery of all awards and prizes under the guidance of the league officers.
The TD, as well as the other league officers, may be rewarded with play in the tournaments as guests of the league, only if the treasury is deemed to have sufficient funds to perform all the other annual league functions as a first priority. This is in recognition to their volunteer efforts in support of the league.
At the discression of the currently elected league officers, and if the treasury is deemed to have sufficient funds, former league officers may be invited to participate in NT Golf League Outings at the regular member rate in recognition of their past volunteer efforts in support of the league.
- Duties of the Officers
President
The President has the highest level of authority of the league officers. This means that the President may delegate reasonable requests to any of the other officers to assist in carrying out league objectives in the most efficient manner.
The President (or delegate) should be the main point of contact for any outside agencies and golf-related establishments for all business and/or concerns pertaining to the league as a whole.
The President (or delegates) should direct all negotiations with the golf course management for setting-up tee-time reservations and/or contracts or agreements for facilitating the NT Golf League membership for all regular season weekly play, as well as for outing tournament play. Typically, these duties are actually performed by the Nightly Coordinators and the Tournament Director, but the President should be made aware of all such negotiations made on behalf of the league.
The President should be the primary representative for the league in all matters pertaining to the coordination of league activities with other outside agencies or organizations.
Should any elected officer resign or be unable to fulfill their duties during the course of the year, the President has the authority to appoint replacements as needed and deemed necessary to continue the proper function of the league.
Vice President
The Vice President (VP) is next in rank to the President and is responsible for handling all reasonable requests delegated by the President. The Vice President would automatically assume the Presidency, if for some reason the President can no longer perform his/her duties.
The VP must assume the responsibilities of the President in all matters in which the President is unavailable to act and/or the President has acknowledged the situation.
The VP should work closely with the Nightly Coordinators and Secretary during the season to maintain the accuracy of the overall league roster to ensure that any membership changes after the season has started will be reflected.
The VP also serves as the chairperson of a "Rules Committee," a panel that is comprised of the elected league officers and all of the Nightly Coordinators.
Discussing and ratifying (by consensus) all revisions to the official "League Rules" for each upcoming season.
Producing a League Rules document for each upcoming season, prior to the beginning of each new league season.
If a revised rules document is not ready before the first day of the regular season, then the previous year's rules will automatically remain in effect.
The VP should also be the first league official contacted by the Nightly Coordinators with regard to any disputes or questions that may require a ruling by the Rules Committee.
If the Rules Committee must make a ruling, then the VP is responsible for polling each member of the Rules Committee (and calling for a meeting if necessary), such that a consensus can be reached to make the official ruling.
Secretary
The Secretary is the next ranking league official (after the VP) in all matters and situations requiring attention, in which the unavailability of the President and VP becomes a factor.
The Secretary is the "Chief" of the Nightly Coordinators, such that the following responsibilities are required:
Training the course coordinators with properly utilizing the league's computer program for maintaining the handicaps and statistics for their respective groups of players. This function may be designated to another individual who is more knowledgeable of the software.
Ensuring that all of the Nightly Coordinators have a good understanding of how the League Rules are applied to weekly play and what the proper procedure is for handling of disputes and questionable rulings among the members.
In concert with the other league officers, informing the course coordinators of what the proper league policies are concerning League Rules.
Distributing all materials to the Nightly Coordinators in support of the score keeping and handicapping functions of the league (in a timely manner). This includes: diskettes containing the computer program/data for each respective group, score sheets for the courses, and rosters/schedules for each respective coordinators group of members (see 2a above).
The Secretary is responsible for distributing the League Rules document to the league membership, prior to the beginning of the regular season. This may be done by giving copies to each Nightly Coordinator to distribute to their nightly league members, by direct mail/email and/or insuring that it is posted on an accessible Web site.
The Secretary should make sure that any documentation to be published to the league members is legible, well written, and contains all necessary information.
The Secretary is responsible for taking accurate "minutes" in all official league meetings in which the agenda pertains to issues that may have an impact on the league. The minutes document should be distributed to the attendees of the meeting in a prompt manner.
The Secretary coordinates the assignment of the league membership to their respective course/day groups as the membership applications of the league are received.
1st priority <== If member played on same Course/Day last year.
2nd priority <== Total number of years (seniority) in league (generally only one year of participation is looked at due to changing nature of people and events.
3rd priority <== First come / First serve (for new members).
4th priority <== If member misses the sign-up deadline, all Level 1 and 2 "seniority" will be lost and Priority Level 3 will be used.
Treasurer
The Treasurer is responsible for the accurate collection and the proper management of all funds, which are associated with the NT Golf League's budget.
The Treasurer must be responsible for opening an account (if necessary) in the name of the NT Golf League and maintaining the account exclusively for handling the finances for conducting all of the NT Golf League's business transactions.
The Treasurer assures that the account is set up such that at least two of the elected officers must sign each check that is written from the account. The Treasurer's signature cannot be the only signature needed for authorizing a check from the NT Golf League's account. The Treasurer will insure that current signature cards are on file with the accounting institution.
The Treasurer is responsible for keeping all receipts for expenditures, maintaining accurate records and bank statements, balancing the account, and responsible to represent the league in any audit of the league books.
The League Treasurer must work closely with the Tournament Director to ensure that funds needed for outing expenses are sufficiently estimated or anticipated in advance, such that the league is assured that it can cover expected costs.
The Rules Committee is responsible for:
The assignment of members to the various course/day groups will be based upon the following priorities, to the best extent possible, but is not a guarantee:
Eligibility
Eligibility to participate in the NT Golf League is determined by the following criteria. The NT Golf League is open to:
Regular full time (RFT) employees of Nortel Networks
Regular part time (RPT) employees of Nortel Networks
Nortel Networks retirees (pensioner status)
Former Nortel Networks employees
Full time contractors working for Nortel Networks
immediate families of each of the above
Each team of two players must include one player with the following status: RFT, RPT, full time contractor working for Nortel Networks, or retiree. The other team member may qualify under the NT Golf League eligibility requirements noted above.
Substitutes are eligible to participate in the NT Golf League based on the same eligibility criteria described above. A substitute can fill in as detailed in the yearly NT Golf League - Rules of Play. A substitute can fill in for either member of a qualified team. A substitute can be a member of another Nortel league night, but can not be a current member of the same league night.
In prior years, it has been the practice to give returning players a priority for the next years league on their scheduled night of play and in the league in general. This is done in order to recognize the support of the member in good standing with the league. Due to the complexity involved in trying to track members participation, the general rule of thumb is to only look at the preceding seasons roster.
League Playoffs
Nightly Playoffs
Overall League Playoffs
All newly elected NT Golf League officials begin their terms immediately after the general election has been completed and the vote has been announced to the membership.
Former Nortel Networks employees are individuals who have been outsourced, impacted by layoff, or who have voluntarily separated themselves from the company.
See NT Golf League Rules for nightly playoff detail description.
See NT Golf League Rules for League Championship playoff detail description.
This document last updated on 4/17/2006