Golf bodies warned over funding fears

SCOTTISH golf could lose vital funding if a bid to create an amalgamated body to run the amateur game fails, with opposition to the proposal being blamed on a situation that has been likened to "clan warfare" in the wake of the Drumoig debacle.

An update on the move to merge the Scottish Golf Union and Scottish Ladies Golfing Association was provided yesterday at Dalmahoy, where it was revealed that a final proposal is on its way to the 580 golf clubs in the country to seek their support.

Both organisations need a 75 per cent majority at special general meetings being held at the end of May in order to have the new Scottish Golf Ltd in place for 1 October, with the proposal being sold as the "correct way forward" for the game in Scotland.

According to Hamish Grey, the SGU chief executive and administrator for the amalgamation group, golf is now the only sport that comes under the sportscotland umbrella that isn't governed by a single body and he admitted there are genuine fears that important funding for the amateur game could be withdrawn if the proposed merger is blocked.

"You can never say definitely, but I think we'd be comfortable in saying there is a significant likelihood of that happening," he said after outlining in detail a proposal that would bring Scotland into line with most other countries in the world.

Only England, South Africa and Ireland are not governed by a unified body and, indeed, only the latter is not currently engaged in the process of looking at an amalgamation.

"If I put it in a different context, sportscotland have a policy of one governing body per sport, which you can totally understand and identify with. I believe bowls agreed to amalgamate in December of last year, which leaves us as the only one with separate bodies."

At a series of seminars held around the country in recent weeks, only five clubs out of 220 failed to show support for the proposal, which has stemmed from the SLGA, founded in 1904, and SGU, which is 16 years younger, working more closely together over the past five years.

Ironically, they were once next door neighbours at Drumoig when it was the home of the Scottish National Golf Centre, which closed in November 2003 after just under four years of operation, during which it incurred losses of around 1 million.

The SGU Council, whose members at the time, led by Douglas Rae, Douglas Dalgleish and Ernest Barnard, gave the green light for the Drumoig project, is to be scrapped as part of the changes being proposed, meaning the power of the 16 men's Arena associations would be weakened as they will find themselves on the same footing as the clubs in terms of voting.

"The clubs will provide over half of the revenue to the new company, which will have a turnover in excess of 3 million, and they should be at the heart of Scottish Golf Ltd," opined Grey. "In terms of retaining a secondary level of governance, we have taken legal advice that a council is not appropriate in a modern organisation."Two layers of governance leads to confusion over roles and expectations, something that occasionally has happened at the SGU. Further, it does not make sense that the structure that got the SGU into the problems around the National Golf Centre at Drumoig, ie the Council, should oversee the structure that has got the SGU out of that position, ie the Board. It's as blatant as that.

"What failed was the structure, set up in the 1920s, when trying to start up a business at Drumoig, and we learned lessons from that in putting a new Board in place. We're moving to another phase of that in the joint body, and this is the most appropriate way to take what we've done and not cast it aside, but improve it again as we look forward."

SGU chairman Douglas Connon, who was also present at yesterday's briefing, added: "The clubs should have a bigger say as they provide the backbone to everything in Scottish amateur golf. When faced with change, I think it is natural for people to look at things with suspicion and perhaps some fear, but this is a commonsense proposal.

"There is no question the legacy of Drumoig, which we have to make sure something like it does not happen again, is rather like the clan warfare from years ago.

It is going to be something we're hit with for quite a few years yet because memories are long, but we've got to move on as we need the support from both government and the private sector to allow Scotland to compete at the elite level."

According to Shona Malcolm, chairman of the SLGA, there is little or no opposition to the proposal in the ladies' ranks, though that is perhaps due to the fact that the 15 County associations that are part of the current organisation are already on a similar footing as the 400-odd member clubs as stakeholders.

"From the ladies' point of view, we feel they have shown a maturity and willingness to make the leap of faith," she said. "You can never be 100 per cent sure but I do think the ladies are in support of this. There are clear benefits, the main one being that the focus will be on the supporting clubs. For us, it is the right thing to do."

She also addressed the issue of an alternative proposal that has been put forward by some of the area associations, adding: "I think that was best summed up by one county captain who said she'd had to go and lie down in a darkened room with a bottle of gin after reading it."

Asked if he felt it was inevitable that scars would be left whatever the outcome, Grey said: "Not if the focus is on what is right for Scottish golf.

"It would be regrettable if that wasn't the case. People need to compromise to find a workable solution."

A successful amalgamation is unlikely to stop the unified body from staging national championships at some of the 20-odd single-gender clubs in the country. The Scottish Ladies' Championship, for instance, has been pencilled in for Prestwick in 2014. "We believe it is right to take championships to our best courses," declared Malcolm.