Scottish Golf’s 2022 Club Support Funds open on 26 January to all affiliate clubs. In 2022, Scottish Golf is once again providing clubs with a variety of business support initiatives and opportunities to access funding.

• Membership Marketing Fund
• Visitor Marketing Fund
• Players 1st Membership Survey
• Club Education Fund

For each of these opportunities, we expect demand to exceed availability, so please take the time to ensure you provide all relevant information as part of your application.

Membership Marketing Fund

FUND LAUNCH – Wednesday 26 January
FUND CLOSES – Friday 25 February

Golf club membership is the bedrock of golf in Scotland, and, over the last two years, there has been a welcome increase in membership numbers across Scotland. Scottish Golf is offering support for clubs to grow their membership with our Membership Marketing Fund.

Scottish Golf is inviting clubs to apply for funding of up to £500 per club towards Membership Marketing, comprising: 

– Membership recruitment campaigns through paid social media advertising (£100 minimum, £200 maximum)
– Optional professional photography and video to showcase your golf club to potential members (up to £300)

The Club Business team will also be delivering free workshops and further resources for clubs to provide best practice guidance, examples, and live demos of how to create social media graphics and paid adverts to get results.  These workshops will be delivered via Zoom and more information will be communicated around these in due course.

For more information click here

The Handicap Review report is now available to all clubs within the WHS CDH tab. A video outlining how to run/use the report can be accessed here. Additionally, a WHS user guide can be accessed here. This handicap review report is based on the calculation outlined in the WHS technical specifications. Before making any adjustment to a player’s Handicap Index, the Handicap Committee should carefully consider all available evidence, including :

Before making any adjustment to a player’s Handicap Index, the Handicap Committee should carefully consider all available evidence, including:

1. Whether the player’s scoring potential has been affected by a temporary or permanent injury or illness which is significant enough to impact the player’s ability to play with or against all other players on a fair and equal basis. 
2. Any handicap(s) previously held by the player. 
3. Whether the player’s ability is rapidly improving or declining.
4. Whether the player is performing significantly differently in one format of play compared to another, for example between organised competitions and general play; unauthorised and authorised format of play. Where it has been determined that a player’s actions are for the purpose of gaining an unfair advantage.

Any adjustment to a player’s Handicap Index resulting from a handicap review must:

1. Be sanctioned or ratified by the Authorised Association. The Authorised Association has discretion to restrict this requirement only for players above, below or within a specified handicap range. Any adjustment made on the back of using the handicap review report would not need ratified by Scottish Golf.
2. Be applied only after the player has been informed and has had an opportunity to respond to the Handicap Committee or, where appropriate, the Authorised Association. 
3. Be a minimum of 1 stroke, upward or downward. 
4. Only increase a player’s Handicap Index by up to 5.0 strokes above the player’s Low Handicap Index, unless there are exceptional circumstances. Such circumstances could include a player who has a long-term illness or injury preventing them from playing golf at the level previously attained. 
5. Be sanctioned or ratified by the Authorised Association if the player’s Handicap Index is to be increased by more than 5 stroke(s).

Additionally, when conducting a handicap review, the following information could also be considered by for the Handicap Committees before making any adjustment to a player.

1. The player’s scoring record history. 
2. The trend of the player’s Handicap Index, such as differences in a player’s Handicap Index over the past 12-24 months. 
3. Frequency of score submissions in the past 12 months versus previous 12-month cycles. 
4. Comparison of average Score Differentials between competitive and casual rounds. 
5. Comparison of average Score Differentials in match play versus stroke play formats of play. 
6. Comparison of average Score Differentials in individual versus team formats of play. 
7. Any scores from, or performances known, in non-authorised formats of play. 
8. Any other knowledge that the Handicap Committee has relative to the player’s golfing ability. For example, improving play following golf lessons, declining scoring potential due to frequency of playing, ageing, incapacitating injuries or illness, etc. 
9. Percentage of acceptable scores submitted at a player’s home club. 
10. Percentage of acceptable scores submitted from casual round formats.
11. Percentage of acceptable scores from 9-hole rounds. 
12. Identifying relevant handicapping trends for Handicap Committee consideration.
13. Length of time since a player last played to their Handicap Index. 
14. Number of scores since a player last played to their Handicap Index. 
15. Information supplied by any other golf club where the player is a member. 

When a Score Differential is 10.0 strokes or more below the player’s Handicap Index in effect when that round was played, and an exceptional score adjustment of -2.0 is triggered.

The 2022 West of Scotland Boys Golf Championship will be held at Hilton Park Golf Club on Monday 27th June. The event is a 36 hole Strokeplay competition. There is a handicap limit of 12.

As part of the ongoing work on the World Handicap System integration, Scottish Golf are working alongside other CONGU jurisdictions, The R&A and the WHS Interoperability Group, on a new pilot scheme.
The pilot scheme aims to develop and improve functionality of the WHS for golfers and golf clubs and provide a greater connection between the operating systems of national associations.
This pilot scheme will provide a blueprint that allows the platforms to ‘speak’ to each other and allow greater connectivity between national associations in the future.

Phase 1 of the pilot will give all clubs in Scotland the ability to look up the Handicap Index of a player from England, Wales and Ireland.
We are pleased to announce that Phase 1 is now finalised and we will be issuing all WHS approved ISVs with the required technical specifications shortly.

Read the full update here

Scottish Golf announce the launch of 2022 Events alongside NEW National Open Series and Scottish Men’s Open Qualifier. Scottish Golf are proud to announce an even greater variety of events and broadened opportunities for all golfer types to participate in 2022. In addition to our existing schedule of annual events, this year we have two exciting new developments:

Scottish Men’s Open Pre-Qualifying - 
With Scottish Men’s Open Championship entries continuing to grow year on year we are pleased to offer players increased means to qualify for this year’s event.

There will now be a pre-qualifying round at Fraserburgh on Tuesday 24 May for non-exempt players. For the first time this pilot will decide a minimum of 30 qualifying places into the Scottish Men’s Open at Cruden Bay by means of an 18-hole stroke play pre-qualifying round.

We would encourage all eligible players to embrace this exciting opportunity which creates a more transparent and accessible route for golfers to qualify for the Scottish Men’s Open. Further details about the event are available on the Scottish Golf App. Read more about the 2022 events here

Golf club membership is the bedrock of golf in Scotland, and, over the last two years, there has been a welcome increase in membership numbers across Scotland. Scottish Golf is offering support for clubs to grow their membership with our Membership Marketing Fund.

Scottish Golf is inviting clubs to apply for funding of up to £500 per club towards Membership Marketing, comprising:

– Membership recruitment campaigns through paid social media advertising (£100 minimum, £200 maximum)
– Optional professional photography and video to showcase your golf club to potential members (up to £300)

The Club Business team will also be delivering free workshops and further resources for affiliated clubs to provide best practice guidance, examples, and live demos of how to create social media graphics and paid adverts to get results. 

These workshops will be delivered via Zoom and more information will be communicated around these in due course. Read more about this initiative here

The Conditions Were Tough Today… Why Wasn’t There a Playing Conditions Calculation (PCC) Adjustment ? Over 100 federations have successfully transitioned to the new World Handicap System (WHS) – a milestone achievement in creating a modern handicap system for all golfers everywhere.

Launched in January 2020, the WHS provides golfers with a unified and more inclusive handicapping system for the first time. Developed by The R&A and USGA in close coordination with existing handicapping authorities, the WHS provides all golfers with a consistent measure of playing ability.

The WHS continued its roll out to Great Britain and Ireland in November in 2020 and, so far, the system has been well received by both federations and golf club administrators, with players also seeing the benefits.

Feedback from across Great Britain and Ireland has identified five topics where golfers and clubs would benefit from further information and The R&A is offering further guidance on the below areas:

Read more on this article here

The very first staging of the *new* bunkered LIVE golf event in Scotland will take place at the Glasgow SEC from 18-20 March 2022. Not only will Scottish Golf will be taking a stand at the event, but in partnership with bunkered LIVE we are delighted that all Scottish golf club members will receive 20% discount off show tickets. 

We are sure club members would like to hear about the offer, and would kindly ask that you forward this information to them. Club members can simply pre-book tickets at www.bunkeredlive.com using the special promo code noted below to receive a 20% discount on the ticket price.

All the top brands in golf will be in attendance, plus a lively range of fun and challenging golf features. The Scottish Golf stand will be open for visits as well – we’ll be right by the entrance. And remember, the Scottish Golf app is FREE to download from your device’s app store – simply search for 'Scottish Golf'. 

So don’t forget to enter the promo code BL22SC when booking tickets, and we look forward to seeing you and many of your fellow golf club members at bunkered LIVE!