Scottish Golf aims to raise affiliation fees by 8.6%

The national governing body for golf in Scotland is proposing to raise the levy paid by every member of an affiliated Scottish golf club from £14.50 to £15.75.

According to The Scotsman, Scottish Golf hopes this 8.6 percent increase will raise £225,000.

The figure had been frozen for four years by the governing body after an increase of approximately £500,000 from the last jump was ring-fenced to “support the development of key strategic priorities”.

The last proposals to raise the fee – at a much higher rate – met resistance throughout 2017 and 2018. Back then, there were about 170,000 members of golf clubs affiliated to Scottish Golf, in 2021 that figure was more than 207,000. However, the Scottish Golf website says it is now about 180,000.

In a statement sent to affiliated clubs ahead of its annual general meeting in March, the organisation said: “The company now plans the rollout of a refreshed and ambitious four-year strategy with a mission to ‘Inspire A Nation to Love Golf’ where the growth of the game is at its heart.

“The detailed plans will be communicated to members over coming weeks, however the strategy has been made possible through successful delivery by the management team against previous objectives.”

The statement highlights Open Play, an initiative for independent golfers, now having in excess of 2,000 members and contributing £78,000 in revenue to Scottish Golf in the last financial year.

Reference is also made to a new venue management system (VMS) that, according to Scottish Golf, has achieved a 30 percent market share.

A free Scottish Golf app also now has more than 240,000 registered users.

Details of how Scottish Golf uses the income generated from the affiliation fee can be found here.

“Scottish Golf faces the same economic and financial realities of all organisations at this time,” continued the statement.

“Double-digit inflation and rising costs generally are estimated to increase the cost to deliver the current service and support programmes by approximately £400,000 in the coming year, although the board and management team are continually reviewing all major areas of spend across the organisation to limit increases wherever possible.

“Against this backdrop, and recognising an inflation adjusted affiliation fee over the past four years would now be £17.34, it is proposed to increase the fee for the 2023/2024 financial year to £15.75, an uplift of 8.6 percent but less than half the real inflationary adjustment.

“This increase of £1.25 per capita, assuming club membership numbers remain stable year on year, will generate incremental revenue of [£1.25 x 180,000] £225,000.

“While insufficient to cover the increased cost base, our ambition is to bridge the shortfall with increased commercial revenue streams. It is considered prudent to hold cash reserves to cover at least three months operating costs. Based on the current cost base at Scottish Golf, this equates to £1 million.

“Reserves in the company currently sit at approximately £1.6 million. Looking forward, funding will be required to support a number of growth initiatives to develop the game at a regional and grass roots level, while continuing to support and enable outstanding golfing talent to be developed.

“In the longer term it is the aim of Scottish Golf to generate more significant commercial revenue streams to alleviate future strain on the membership base.”

Scottish golf clubs are thought to offer, on average, the cheapest memberships in the UK. Shiskine Golf Club, for example, offers full membership for £240.