Dear Eleanor,
The Future of the Counties
The East Division Counties recently had a scheduled Meeting and it was useful to be able to discuss some of the matters which were raised at the Forum. As was said at the forum we had no mandate to speak for our clubs since we do not represent the clubs in our area and indeed since we had no advance knowledge of the questions we were to discuss we did not even have a mandate from our own Counties. We could only voice personal views.
The East Division Counties, are agreed that while you are considering the way forward we also need to have a conversation in the first place with our respective committees. I have now had a preliminary discussion with my committee and would welcome some further clarification on the following points.
- Funding
In the past we paid an affiliation fee to SLGA and in return amongst other things we received some assistance with coaching and a fixed payment to the County qualifying for the Scottish finals to assist with the costs.
We understand that while we are members of Scottish Golf we do not have to pay any affiliation fee at the moment. We understand that the whole question of funding is under review and that in particular that the significant difference between the ladies’ and men’s organisations needs to be addressed.
What we need to know now is what assistance will be given to the counties this year for training and whether the grant towards the Scottish County Finals will be forthcoming this year. Can you please advise?
- Affiliation/Membership
Will Membership/affiliation continue on a free basis for all Counties pending a decision on financing and restructuring?
- Role and Function
While the feelings were expressed at the forum that we should all be thinking about how and to what extent the various counties and areas might work together, the view was also expressed that we did not want to throw the baby out with the bath water and lose over 100 years of history. Scottish Golf indicated that they saw a regional organisation sitting in the middle of a pyramid structure between the clubs and Scottish Golf.
That did not appear to reflect what many of the delegates felt was our role. There was a feeling that Scottish Golf should be working direct with the clubs with the various “regional” organisations working in partnership with the clubs to provide additional opportunities for juniors, competitive golf for the lower handicappers and additional golfing opportunities for all levels.
We would welcome clarification on what Scottish Golf sees as the role of the regional organisations in future. We realise that at this stage there may be various options but it would be very helpful to our discussions if you could provide us with a couple of preferred scenarios.
We are concerned that representing your County team appears to no longer count as a positive on the CV of the “elite” players. It has been noted that the selectors are not out on the course watching the performance of the county teams in the way they did in the past. We are also aware that some girls have been positively discouraged from playing for their County teams so as not to over stretch themselves.
The whole purpose of the Counties when they were established was to provide competitive match play opportunities for low handicappers across the country and the rest of the events and purposes followed on from that. There is no way in which all potentially very good golfers can take part in the development and academy programmes. It is not just the financial cost to Scottish Golf. Many youngsters and/or their families cannot afford the time and financial cost to them of being involved in the programme and if they cannot commit when given the chance they may not get another even if their circumstances change. We would like assurances that if there are young talented players out there playing for their counties and participating in order of merit competitions that they will be given equal consideration to those who have gone through the Academy.
We would also welcome some further thoughts on what the role of the “counties” will be in future.
- The Decision making process
A short summary of the decision making process for how changes would be made would be welcomed.
Yours sincerely
Barbara Biggart
ELLCGA Captain
