Welcome to the latest edition of our monthly newsletter, as
the golf season moves into full swing. As we seek to strengthen our
communication activities and keep you and others fully up-to-date with our
latest activities, we would be grateful if you could distribute the newsletter
to the rest of your committee and relevant club members.
CLUB FORUMS THIS SUMMER
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We are currently making plans for club forums at
various locations this summer, with Area and County officials and club
representatives to be among those invited to attend. This will see more
consultation on our strategy, including preparation for the reviews of our
committee and Board structures linked to our articles. Please look out for
further communication to come.
Activity is being seen at Area and County level
with regard to amalgamation, with a mix of club consultations taking place and
committee groups starting to explore potential amalgamation. There are a couple
of groups that have reached out to us for support and we will continue to
facilitate these requests as and when the respective associations request our
input. We know each Area and County is progressing at their own speed, so if
any Area or County would like to discuss the issue or seek support please
contact Karin Sharp at The Duke’s office in St Andrews.
MAJOR STAKEHOLDERS COMBINE TO BENEFIT AM-PRO TRANSITION
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Building on our media announcement with Stephen McAllister last month
to help drive new investment for Scottish Golf, last week saw an exciting new
support package announced designed to ease the transition from amateur to
professional golf for Scottish players. This new initiative will harness the
combined support of key stakeholders, Aberdeen Asset Management, SSE Scottish
Hydro and Bounce Sports Management, as well as ourselves.
The launch at Edinburgh Castle generated
excellent media coverage in national press, as well as BBC & STV coverage.
Indeed, the story led the BBC golf website home page on the evening of the
announcement.
With the Scottish Golf Support Limited programme for young
professionals coming to an end, we are under pressure with our funding, via sportscotland, as you know. We have
therefore been continuing to make representations regarding the value and
significance that golf has to Scotland. With the news last week of the Scottish
Enterprise and VisitScotland report on the value and economic impact of golf
tourism in Scotland (£286m per year), this research is another significant aid
to represent what golf can deliver for Scotland. At a time when resources are
tight, we need to be able to show the value of golf to Scotland and this research
gives significant insight and data to help with this case.
MARKETING WORKSHOPS: PLACES STILL AVAILABLE
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Our Club Marketing Workshops are well underway, under the
theme of ‘Marketing on a Budget’, with our team on the road. Workshops were
held at Scotscraig and King’s Acre last week, with Bathgate, Deeside and Haggs
Castle to follow. Places are still available at these workshops should you be
interested. Clubs have benefited from our insights and experience, providing
them with practical tools, ideas and good practice case studies in the ever
increasing modern world of marketing and communications.
PING SCOTTISH MIXED CHAMPIONSHIP
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The PING Scottish
Mixed Championship is a unique new addition to the domestic handicap amateur
calendar in 2017, as we brings male and female golfers together in a fun-filled
format for all ages and abilities to add further value to club membership.
We’re looking for more clubs to host a qualifying event for this exciting
competition so please assist if you can.
The free-to-enter championship is open to all golf club members in
Scotland holding an official handicap, from juniors to seniors. Golfers can
compete in a mixed event at local club level (stableford format), with the top
40 club pairings nationwide going forward to the Grand Final over the superb
Queen’s Course at Gleneagles.
All clubs
running a PING Scottish Mixed Championship qualifying event will go into a
prize draw with one lucky club winning a superb prize package from PING and
Scottish Golf.
SCOTTISH GOLF MEMBERSHIP CARD OFFERS
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As the new golf season is well underway, we are keen to grow the number
of clubs offering preferential green fee offers to Scottish Golf Membership
Card holders via the online Members Clubhouse. With 57,000 golfers now
registered for the Members Clubhouse, this platform provides a great
opportunity for clubs to market with us. We would be delighted if you could
please highlight this opportunity to clubs on your travels.
Some of the key benefits to participating clubs include: Generating
additional visitor green fee income; raising the profile of your club among
fellow golf club members in Scotland and adding value to being a member of a
golf club in Scotland. We have created a promotional resource (link below) to
help clubs better understand the benefits.
WORLD HANDICAP SYSTEM IN PIPELINE
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As you may be
aware, The R&A and USGA are working with golf’s handicapping authorities to
develop a single World Handicap System for the game. More than 15 million
golfers in over 80 countries presently have a handicap, currently delivered
through six different systems around the world. The aim of the proposed
handicap system is therefore to adopt a universal set of principles and
procedures that will apply all over the world.
It was good
for me to meet partners from The R&A and other golfing bodies at the recent
R&A International Conference in St Andrews. The Conference attracted over
70 different golfing nations from across the world. This continues the theme
that we will be more successful working with partners to achieve shared
objectives.
SCOTS OFF TO STRONG SEASON START
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The new season
has seen strong starts from a number of leading Scottish amateur players. Craig
Howie from Peebles and Drumoig’s Connor Syme both gave their Walker Cup hopes
an early boost with victories in the Craigmillar Park Open and Battle Trophy
respectively. It’s great to see Connor (10) and Robert MacIntyre (6), from
Glencruitten, both currently ranked inside the top 10 of the World Amateur Golf
Ranking.
Aboyne’s
Shannon McWilliam (pictured above), still aged only 17, has also been shining
in the female game after her second-place finishes at the Scottish Girls’ Open
in Montrose and the Helen Holm Scottish Women’s Open at Royal Troon & Troon
Portland. Let’s hope Scottish players continue to impress!
SCOTTISH GOLF ANNUAL REVIEW
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As a reminder,
I’m delighted to advise that Scottish Golf’s Annual Review for 2016 was
recently published, with hard copies handed out to attendees at our Annual
Meeting & AGM.
The Review
outlines all of our activities for 2016, including across our pillars for
Finance, Effective Organisation, Participation, Clubs & Facilities,
Workforce, Affinity and Performance. All the winners from our various events in
2016 are also featured, as well as key numbers across our work being brought to
life. Further coverage of our numbers via infographics is currently being
promoted on our social media platforms and in e-newsletters.
On behalf of
Scottish Golf, thank you for your continued support and I look forward to
seeing many of you across the country as the season continues.
