The move towards one single governing body for Golf in Ireland is gaining momentum with reports and recommendations now back from each of the eight working groups established in November 2015 to look into what the unification would mean.
These will now be reviewed by the Discussions Group which consists of four members from each of the Golfing Union of Ireland and the Irish Ladies Golf Union.
Consultation meetings will be held with clubs up and down the country over the course of the summer. This forms part of a detailed preparation for the coming together of the two lead organisations for the sport.
They already share many functions in a promotional and commercial sense through the Confederation of Golf in Ireland which last month produced a detailed review of the future of the sport here highlighting the strength within a growing cohort of older players but also a weakness in attracting a younger audience.
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The working groups covered eight key areas of volunteerism, game development, Championships, rules, High performance, club services, future club formation and course ratings.
In effect it has been a root and branch review of where golf is as a sport in Ireland and such a measure of internal inspection will always make for a stronger future.
The aim has been to advance towards a more powerful Governing Body that will promote, influence, secure funding, provide support to clubs, provide attractive participation programmes, organise national tournaments and provide handicapping.
The process has been conducted in full public view and a website capturing the reports and progress of the overall project provides plenty of background at www.onegoverningbody.com.
Sport for Business will follow the progress as it moves forward and will feature both Pat Finn of the GUI and Sinead Heraty of the ILGU in our Leading Sport series, in association with PwC, over the coming months.
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