Incorporation the next step for OLCGA?
01 September, 2025
At the last County Delegate Meeting one of our Agenda items was Incorporation, it was agreed that the Executive Committee would take this further.
Below are the documents that will help inform you and your club members in advance of the vote to formally take this forward.
Important: Incorporation Consultation Paper for Members
Background
The OLCGA mission is to support and promote women’s and girls’ golf. The current OLCGA Constitution outlines the objects of the Association as follows:
- To further the interests of Women’s and Girls’ golf (herein referred to as “Women’s golf”) in Oxfordshire
- To employ the funds of the Association in the best interests of Women’s golf in Oxfordshire
- To organise the County Championship
- To select and support all County Teams, to organise inter county matches, and to organise County competitions and other activities for members
- To apply and uphold the Regulations of the Governing Body of English Women’s Golf
- To assist and advise Members on matters concerning the administration of golf
As a County we are members of England Golf (EG), the governing body of golf in England, and who set the standards to which all County bodies and affiliated Golf Clubs must comply. For example, it is now a mandatory requirement that Clubs and Counties have effective safeguarding policies and procedures, and Equality Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) policies in place and that these are actively monitored.
The County Executive committee (the Executive) have a duty to the members to ensure that the governance structure in the county is robust and compliant. This is a significant responsibility being borne by a team of volunteers.
We live in an increasingly litigious world and for some years now EG have been encouraging associations like ours to consider Incorporating and becoming a company limited by guarantee. We have highlighted this at recent CD meetings, at the January AGM and in our recent newsletter.
Since then, we have had the benefit of speaking to several counties who have already incorporated (Berkshire, Bedfordshire, Worcester & Herefordshire) or are in the process of incorporating (Buckinghamshire) and have recently had further advice from EG. The Executive met with England Golf’s Mark Romasuik (Club Regional Support Manager) on 7th May 2025 who gave a presentation on Incorporation followed by a Q&A session. Our VP Amanda Glanvill (Feldon Valley GC) attended that event. As a result of this fact finding, the current Executive is strongly of the view that OLCGA should incorporate too.
Why Incorporate?
A County Golf Association which is not incorporated is an unincorporated association of its various members. As such, the Members and Committee Members may be personally liable for any claims against the Association.
In simple terms, as an unincorporated association any, and all, members could be personally liable in the event of a claim against the association. If we were to become a company then we would be ‘a legal entity’ and it would be that entity that would be liable in the event of a claim and its Directors (usually drawn from the Executive) would in most circumstances have limited liability. Most importantly our members would not be liable, and we believe this protection could encourage more women to volunteer.
Next steps
In conclusion the executive recommend that we pursue incorporation, and in order to do that The Executive is seeking approval at the next County Delegates Meeting (6 October) through a formal resolution to give the Exec permission to instruct Emily Green of Sports Governance Solutions, an expert and former EG Legal Counsel (now working independently), to prepare for future official AGM or EGM Resolutions
- dissolving OLCGA
- permitting the inception of the new Company
- preparing proposed Company Articles and Rules, and the other processes necessary to enable Incorporation.
In preparation for that vote, we ask that County Delegates forward this consultation document to all your OLCGA club members encouraging any feedback to be sent directly to you, as CD.
Additionally, please raise Incorporation as an Agenda Item for discussion with your Ladies’ Committee Meeting (and where appropriate your Management Committee too).
By 22 September please send in any questions or comments from your Club that you would like the Executive to address at the forthcoming CD meeting.
Ensure you have the necessary authority to vote at the 6 October CD meeting to give the OLCGA Exec authority (or not) to instruct Emily Green to work with us towards intended Incorporation
We hope to secure your Agreement at the next CD meeting, and only then the executive will start work on the formal process. We have attached some FAQs below which we hope will pre-empt at least some of your questions. We look forward to seeing many of you at the County Delegate meeting in October.