Golf: Card completes Scottish Hydro circle of support

ON AND off the course, there have been plenty of positives for Scottish golf over the past few years. Performances, in particular, have been eye-catching but just as encouraging is the financial support the game is now receiving in the home of golf.

Aberdeen Asset Management probably set the ball rolling and continue to back Scottish golf and its golfers, both in the amateur and professional ranks. But equally significant is the level of backing now being provided by Scottish Hydro.

It started out by sponsoring the Scottish Challenge on the Challenge Tour (parent company SSE is also now title backer of the Scottish Seniors Open) and also supports the professional game through Team Scottish Hydro.

Last year it moved into the amateur ranks by sponsoring the SGU’s Junior Tour and Boys’ Order of Merit and now the company has added club golfers to its portfolio by sponsoring a new Scottish Golf Club Card.

It is designed to help club members feel they are getting value for the £10.30 they pay via their club for an annual SGU subscription, with details of preferential green fees etc set to be announced in due course.

“It is great to extend our involvement in golf,” said Colin Banks, Scottish Hydro’s sponsorship manager, at yesterday’s launch of the card in Glasgow. “This means we are now supporting the whole of the game as it is reaching out to the people who play the game at golf clubs around the country every week.”

Linked to the Central Database of Handicaps – an online initiative to improve the tracking of handicapping – the new card sees Scotland fall into line with Ireland, where a similar initiative has been in place for around ten years, while a “watered-down version” has been introduced in England in the last couple of years.

“We are trying to engage more with club golfers and create an affinity with their national body,” said Ross Duncan, the SGU’s marketing and sponsorship manager. “We are trying to add value to being a golf club member and will be creating a series of membership benefits. This also completes Scottish Hydro’s circle of involvement in Scottish golf.”