Scottish golf clubs to receive £685,000 from R&A Covid-19 Relief Fund

Money will be allocated by Scottish Golf via two separate allocations

Scottish Golf has revealed how it plans to distribute its share of the R&A Covid-19 Relief Fund worth 7 million

Scottish golf clubs are being offered help worth £685,000 in total from the £7 million R&A Covid-19 Support Fund.

The support for clubs affected financially by the pandemic is to be administered by Scottish Golf through two separate allocations.

One is offering £500 maximum per club to help with specific Covid-19 costs while the other will see clubs impacted financially receive between £1,000 to £5,000.

"As part of a club support package funded by the R&A, Scottish Golf are pleased to announce that £685,000 will be made available to affiliated Scottish Golf clubs who have been affected financially by Covid-19," said the governing body in announcing how it planned to distribute the money.

"Scottish Golf, on behalf of our member clubs, are extremely grateful to the R&A for providing financial support to the golf industry."

The grants will be made available via the COVID-19 Fixed Costs Grant and the Club Relief Fund.

The Covid-19 Fixed Costs Grant will offer £500 maximum per club from a total pot of £285,000.

This will enable every affiliated club in Scotland to apply for a maximum of £500 for fixed costs specifically associated with preparing for safe play and club/course management following the Covid-19 lockdown in March.

These can include but are not exhaustive of sanitation products, Covid-19 related H&S safety equipment, professional fees, signage, training, video conferencing licence (e.g. zoom) and any other Covid-19 related spend.

The application process for this fund opened today and will close on Friday, 24 July. All grants will be paid to clubs within ten working days of notification of a successful application.

"For any clubs that elects not to claim the Covid-19 Fixed Costs Grant, or claims less than the maximum £500, we will commit the unclaimed money to be transferred to the Club Relief Fund on Monday 27th July," said Scottish Golf.

The Club Relief Fund will have a minimum of £400,000 in its pot, with clubs being offered between £1,000-£5,000. It has been created to provide financial support to clubs who have been impacted by the pandemic.

"This fund is concentrated on enabling clubs to reinstate or to increase expenditure in key areas to either improve member experience or boost income generation potential," added Scottish Golf.

"The long-term impact of Covid-19 on the golfing landscape is still unknown, but this fund is aimed at helping clubs take the first steps to recovery and look to thrive again in the future.

"Clubs applying to this fund are required to complete a four-stage application to ensure the Review Committee have the correct information available to allocate funds."

The application process for the Club Relief Fund also opened today and will close on the same date as applications for the Covid-19 Fixed Costs Grant.

"Whilst the provision of this funding from the R&A is most welcome, we do anticipate the volume of applications to be high and the criteria outlined will be strictly applied to ensure that the funds available are distributed where most needed," said Scottish Golf.

"We continue to explore other funding options for clubs to access and will communicate any additional opportunities should these arise."

The R&A Support Fund was set up to aid clubs and facilities and was largely aimed at national associations and other affiliated bodies in Great Britain and Ireland.

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