Ireland’s largest single competitor in the market for golf tourism and investment, Scotland, has created a unified body for the promotion of the sport and secured a major commercial partner.
Scottish Golf is a merger between The Scottish Golfing Union and the Scottish Ladies Golfing Association. It came into effect yesterday and with the added backing of Aberdeen Asset Management as a headline commercial partner.
“Having a single governing body for Scottish golf was a major factor in extending our sponsorship,” said Martin Gilbert, CEO of Aberdeen Asset Management.
“We are proud to play a part in this very special day for the sport in Scotland.”
Irish golf went part way towards this with the formation of the Confederation of Irish Golf. The Men’s and Women’s games remain separated in terms of administration but promotional work is now covered jointly by both and there is a greater degree of cooperation than might previously have been the case.
AIG is a long term supporter of golf here across both codes and no doubt both sponsor and governing bodies will watch closely how the new merged rival across the sea goes about promoting themselves and the sport.
Speaking to media yesterday Eleanor Cannon, the new Chair of Scottish Golf spoke of the enhanced opportunity to drive membership and promote the game from a family perspective.
“It is better to promote player membership based on the sport rather than dividing up by gender,” she said adding that she believed there would be new public and private funding avenues opened up based on the values of the game and its profile as a sport that can be played throughout the stages of life.
The amalgamation is the result of many years work behind the scenes but when it was put to both bodies it was accepted on a unanimous basis.
Scotland will be facing many of the same issues and while the professional game is strong in both, never more so than her in Ireland, the bedrock of club membership is in serious decline.
A survey conducted last year suggested a 23% decline in club membership between the height of the Celtic Tiger in 2005 and then. While the first number may well have been unnatural high it is still a major issue for the administrators of today to come to grips with.
