AN APPEAL TO GOLFERS FROM BIGGA AND THE R&A

R&A and BIGGA outline some of the scenarios golfers may encounter when playing golf during the coronavirus pandemic...

The R&A's agronomists have explained to golfers why standards on their course may not be at the level they expected prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, writes BIGGA. 

Following the outbreak of coronavirus and the implementation of government restrictions on movement and working practices, the R&A, in conjunction with BIGGA, published a series of statements on essential maintenance for golf courses.

The idea was to develop a safe framework for the way in which golf courses could be maintained during this difficult period.

The aim has been to help ensure that working environments are safe and one in which greenkeepers are comfortable going to work. Many clubs in the UK have furloughed staff and reduced the staff hours available for maintenance.

To keep greenstaff safe, measures such as social distancing, the introduction of rotas, enhanced hygiene/cleaning procedures and one person one machine directives have been introduced.

In other areas of the industry, there have been inevitable difficulties with sourcing products and equipment for course maintenance, with many clubs pausing spending.

Consequently, course maintenance levels and product supply have been reduced, and operations and applications have focused on the main playing surfaces. 

Golf courses are living entities and can deteriorate quite rapidly if nothing is done to them, particularly when growth is strong. Consequently, practices such as mowing, irrigation and nutrition, and machinery maintenance were identified as essential in order to maintain a holding position and allow for swift recovery at limited cost once restrictions are lifted.

Given that courses differ in type, location, soil types and grass species, it is accepted that what is deemed essential at one club may not be deemed so at another, so there needed to be some interpretation and flexibility in the guidance.  

As golf returns, time will be required for staffing and maintenance levels to return to something like "normal".

It is likely that social distancing measures will remain in place for quite some time and there may be a lag period for greenkeeping teams to get back to a full complement following furloughing. 

It is important for golfers to realise that in some cases the course they return to may not be as they would expect for the time of year. We all have to have realistic expectations for the course when we do return. The following describes some of the scenarios golfers may encounter:

Fears expressed about some Scottish golf clubs ‘being on the edge’ of abyss

By Martin Demp­ster

The Scotsman

14 May 2020

As Scot­tish golf clubs en­ter an eighth week of lock­down, fears have been ex­pressed that “quite a few could be on the edge” of fi­nan­cial abyss due to the coro­n­avirus cri­sis.

The mes­sage has been de­liv­ered by of­fi­cials at grass­roots level in the Scot­tish game as clubs face sig­nif­i­cant rev­enue losses in the big­gest cri­sis to hit the sport.

While no club in the home of golf has yet ad­mit­ted pub­licly to be­ing in dire straits, it is be­lieved that a num­ber are tee­ter­ing on the brink around the coun­try de­spite sup­port from both Scot­tish Golf and the lo­cal Area As­so­ci­a­tions.

“None of our mem­ber clubs has come for­ward to say they are strug­gling, but my guess is that quite a few could be on the edge,” Ge­orge Young, sec­re­tary of the North East District, told The Scots­man.

Echo­ing that view, his North coun­ter­part, Peter Abbot, ad­mit­ted: “We have a num­ber of clubs strug­gling at the mo­ment and no in­come isn’t help­ing.”

A sim­i­lar story was re­ported in the south of the coun­try by Bor­ders sec­re­tary Roy Thom­son, who said: “We are aware of at least three clubs cur­rently ex­pe­ri­enc­ing fi­nan­cial dif­fi­cul­ties to vary­ing de­grees.”

In Ar­gyll & Bute, home to some of the small­est clubs in the coun­try, the open­ing of cour­ses can’t come quick enough. “None that have in­di­cated so as yet,” said Area sec­re­tary Gra­ham Bolton to be­ing asked if he knew of any clubs in par­tic­u­lar that might be re­ally strug­gling at the mo­ment. “But I think that will de­pend if lock­down re­stric­tions are not lifted soon.”

Most of the 16 Area As­so­ci­a­tions have of­fered re­funds to clubs for the nom­i­nal lo­cal af­fil­i­a­tion fee paid by club mem­bers as part of their an­nual sub­scrip­tion. Those re­funds have ei­ther been in full or 50 per cent, with the Bor­ders, for ex­am­ple, giv­ing £7,500 back to clubs.

At na­tional level, Scot­tish Golf is sup­port­ing clubs to the tune of more than £575,000 by way of a 25 per cent re­fund or re­bate on its af­fil­i­a­tion fee of £14.50 per mem­ber.

Since tak­ing over the reins of the gov­ern­ing body fol­low­ing An­drew Mckin­lay’s shock and sud­den de­par­ture, chief op­er­at­ing of­fi­cer Karin Sharp has been spend­ing most of her time com­mu­ni­cat­ing with clubs and the Area as­so­ci­a­tions, with the mes­sage to her from the lat­ter ap­pear­ing to be mixed.

“I think Scot­tish Golf are try­ing to do their best in dif­fi­cult cir­cum­stances,” said Glas­gow sec­re­tary Mark Jamieson, ex­press­ing a view shared by Young and Thom­son, as well as David Doig (Loth­i­ans) and Dave Mcpher­son (Fife).

“I do re­ally be­lieve that they are do­ing ev­ery­thing they can to” as­sist clubs, but are driven di­rectly with what they phys­i­cally and fi­nan­cially can achieve in do­ing so,” said Doig. “I don’t think they wish to pro­vide false prom­ises and can eas­ily be caught out if they do some­thing that they can then no longer de­liver.”

Mcpher­son added: “Scot­tish Golf of­fer what they can in the way of ad­vice. I’m sure if any club was to con­tact them with a spe­cific prob­lem, then they would do their best to help.”

But Alas­dair Mal­colm (Ayr­shire), Iain Sto­rie (Ren­frew­shire) and John Struthers (Dum­bar­ton­shire) all claim that the gov­ern­ing body should have been of­fer­ing at least 50 per cent to mem­ber clubs for that af­fil­i­a­tion fee re­fund or re­bate.

“The SGL sub­scrip­tion is of­ten the great­est out­lay many of the mem­ber clubs have all sea­son,” said Mal­colm.

“Skirt­ing around the is­sues with ad­vice and web pre­sen­ta­tions is all very well, but clubs need prac­ti­cal ac­tion at the mo­ment.

“I am aware of at least a cou­ple of our clubs who have writ­ten to SGL mak­ing that very point.”

Claim­ing that a larger per­cent­age re­bate would have been bet­ter in the cur­rent cli­mate, Stor­rie said: “I would sug­gest that could have been ef­fec­tive for next sea­son, to al­low mem­bers to ben­e­fit di­rectly.”

On the com­pe­ti­tion front, it will be slim pickings for golfers all around the coun­try. Scot­tish Golf has scrapped its en­tire 2020 sched­ule while the Area scene, still fairly vi­brant nor­mally, looks set to be dec­i­mated.

“We have can­celled our first three events,” said Bolton of the sit­u­a­tion in Ar­gyll & Bute. “We are still hope­ful about run­ning our main events, but that is all de­pen­dent on lock­down re­stric­tions and whether com­pet­i­tive golf is pos­si­ble.”

In Dum­bar­ton­shire, all the fix­tures have been can­celled, but Struthers said: “If pos­si­ble, we will look to run the ju­nior and gent’s cham­pi­onships at the end of the sea­son.”

Else­where, the de­ci­sion de­pends on how long Scot­tish clubs have to wait to join their English neigh­bours in re­open­ing. “We are still hope­ful to run some tour­na­ments, but the longer the lock­down con­tin­ues the slim­mer the chances of do­ing so,” said Young of the plan in the North East.

“None of our mem­ber clubs in the North East have come for­ward to say they are strug­gling, but my guess is that quite a few could be on­theedge”

GE­ORGE YOUNG

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MYGOLFRANKING - Week 19 - 2020

IMPORTANT MESSAGE

Are you wondering why the weekly MGRanking changes when golf courses/clubs are currently closed and no competitive club counting events are being played?

MGRanking is based on data compiled from a rolling 52 week cycle.

This week the result data from Week 2019/19 is replaced by data from Week 2020/19 which may not exist.

AYRSHIRE LADIES

1 Liz Keohane (Loudoun Gowf) 1063 points

T2 Robina Gilbertson (Prestwick St Nicholas), Gillian Kennedy (Troon Welbeck) 1057

T4 Joanne Sharp (Kilmarnock (Barassie)), Lorna Spencer (Largs) 1043

6 Pauline Patrick (Irvine) 988

7 Aileen Anderson (Loudoun Gowf) 982

8 Audrey Thompson (Loudoun Gowf) 953

9 Anne Burns (Loudoun Gowf) 951

10 Janet Harkness (Skelmorlie) 947

AYRSHIRE LADIES CLUBS

1 Largs 865

2 Loudoun Gowf 846

3 Skelmorlie 820

4 Prestwick St Nicholas 815 

5 Troon Welbeck 814

6 Kilmarnock (Barassie) 800 

7 Prestwick St Cuthbert 725 

8 Irvine 714

9 Girvan 703

10 Brodick 447 

DUNBARTONSHIRE/ARGYLL LADIES

1 Caroline King (Clober) 1196 points

2 Margaret Mackinnon (Lochgilphead) 1073 

3 Jill Burgess (Hilton Park) 1016

4 Josephine Monaghan (Dumbarton) 1002 

5 Katharine Hardman (Dunaverty) 983

6 Gillian Morrison (Clober) 979

7 Paula Galloway (Douglas Park) 938

8 Gemma Canham (Helensburgh) 931

9 Lindsay Garrett (Dunaverty) 925

10 Joan Brechin (Douglas Park) 913

DUNBARTONSHIRE/ARGYLL LADIES CLUBS

1 Clober 932

2 Palacerigg 835 

3 Dunaverty 820

4 Balmore 813

5 Helensburgh 785 

6 Lochgilphead 768 

7 Douglas Park 765 

8 Dumbarton 714 

9 Rothesay 704 10 Cardross 700 

LANARKSHIRE LADIES

1 Jane Clark (Airdrie) 1252 points

2 Ruth Hunter (Lanark) 1026

3 M A Seymour (Cathkin Braes) 1001

4 Amy McDonald (Bothwell Castle) 998

T5 Allison Bell (Strathaven), Lisa Chan (Hamilton) 964 

7 Lesley Watson (Cathkin Braes) 949

8 Catherine Gibson (Cathkin Braes) 946

9 Abigail McCafferty (Airdrie) 942

10 Susan Halley (Strathaven) 831

LANARKSHIRE LADIES CLUBS

1 Airdrie 909

2 Lanark 822

T3 Cathkin Braes, Hamilton 811 

5 Strathaven 794

6 Carnwath 791

7 Kirkhill 764

8 Bothwell Castle 758

9 Langlands 742

10 Crow Wood 355

RENFREWSHIRE LADIES

1 Jan Macnab (Ranfurly Castle) 1067 points 

2 Heather Climson (East Renfrewshire) 992 

3 Anabel Kane (Kilmacolm) 988

4 Ann McKenzie (Old Course Ranfurly) 959 

5 Janette McCartney (Erskine) 915

6 Sandra Reid (Renfrew) 910

7 Marion Downie (Old Course Ranfurly) 894 

8 Hazel Kirkland (Old Course Ranfurly) 873 

9 Helen Abram (Ranfurly Castle) 858

10 Jennie Scott (Old Course Ranfurly) 856

RENFREWSHIRE LADIES CLUBS

1 Old Course Ranfurly 841 

2 Erskine 802

3 Renfrew 792

4 Ranfurly Castle 772

5 Cowglen 712

6 Bonnyton 667

7 Kilmacolm 638

8 East Renfrewshire 596 

9 Paisley 585

10 Earl of Mar 167

WALES GOLF TO REOPEN ON MONDAY 18th MAY

By Martin Dempster - The Scotsman Newspaper

Golf courses in Scotland will soon be the odd ones out in Great Britain after Welsh venues were given the green light to reopen hot on the heels of their English neighbours.

After getting the thumbs up from the Welsh Government, Wales Golf is advising member clubs to reopen on Monday, 18 May. That means courses in the Principality can come out of a seven-week shutdown five days after English courses, which reopen today.

That will leave Scottish courses as the only ones staying closed in Britain for the time being on the advice of the Scottish Government, with no imminent plans for that situation to change.

“No further update will be issued from us as our stance remains unchanged in Scotland,” said Scottish Golf in reply to the development in Wales, where the green light was announced by Jason Thomas, the director of the Welsh Government’s culture, sport and tourism department.

Speaking to a Senedd committee in Cardiff, he said: “Legal clarification is that golf courses are not included on the list of businesses or establishments that must remain closed – they have never been on that list.

“It’s been other measures in force that has restricted the ability of the clubs to open – travel measures etc, so we have clarified this. Legally they don’t have to be closed.”

A subsequent statement from Wales Golf read: “Following recent Welsh Government announcements and the revision of certain Covid-19 related restrictions, golf clubs are permitted to open if they so wish.

“It is entirely at each golf club’s discretion as to whether they choose toopenandifsowhen they choose to do so”

“It is entirely at each golf club’s discretion as to whether they choose to open and if so when they choose to do so.

“We would advise that clubs that do wish to re-open do

not do so immediately so as to ensure they have sufficient protocols in place to adhere to these guidelines, which we will be on hand to assist with.

“This would allow for a managedandco-ordinatedreintroduction of golf across Wales from next Monday 18 May at the earliest.”

No distance restrictions have been put in place due to the country’s geographical spread, though golfers are being urged to stay “local”.

“People should not travel a significantdistancefromtheir home to exercise,” continued the statement.

“We have deliberately not defined this more precisely as it could be seen to be arbitrary

and it will also depend on the circumstances – what people perceive to be “local” in Cardiff on the one hand, and in Mid Wales on the other, could be quite different.

“People are asked to exercise good judgement and common sense. If you live in Cardiff and have driven to Porthcawl to exercise on the beach, you haven’t stayed

Golf courses in Scotland will soon be the odd ones out in Great Britain

Golf courses in Scotland will soon be the odd ones out in Great Britain after Welsh venues were given the green light to reopen hot on the heels of their English neighbours.

After getting the thumbs up from the Welsh Government, Wales Golf is advising member clubs to reopen on Monday, 18 May. That means courses in the Principality can come out of a seven-week shutdown five days after English courses, which reopen today.

That will leave Scottish courses as the only ones staying closed in Britain for the time being on the advice of the Scottish Government, with no imminent plans for that situation to change.

“No further update will be issued from us as our stance remains unchanged in Scotland,” said Scottish Golf in reply to the development in Wales, where the green light was announced by Jason Thomas, the director of the Welsh Government’s culture, sport and tourism department.

Speaking to a Senedd committee in Cardiff, he said: “Legal clarification is that golf courses are not included on the list of businesses or establishments that must remain closed – they have never been on that list.

“It’s been other measures in force that has restricted the ability of the clubs to open – travel measures etc, so we have clarified this. Legally they don’t have to be closed.”

A subsequent statement

from Wales Golf read: “Following recent Welsh Government announcements and the revision of certain Covid-19 related restrictions, golf clubs are permitted to open if they so wish.

“It is entirely at each golf club’s discretion as to whether they choose toopenandifsowhen they choose to do so”

“It is entirely at each golf club’s discretion as to whether they choose to open and if so when they choose to do so.

“We would advise that clubs that do wish to re-open do

not do so immediately so as to ensure they have sufficient protocols in place to adhere to these guidelines, which we will be on hand to assist with.

“This would allow for a managedandco-ordinatedreintroduction of golf across Wales from next Monday 18 May at the earliest.”

No distance restrictions have been put in place due to the country’s geographical spread, though golfers are being urged to stay “local”.

“People should not travel a significantdistancefromtheir home to exercise,” continued the statement.

Read More in the Scotsman Newspaper 

The Scotsman Newspaper

SIMON PAYNE FROM COWGLEN IS ON THE NEXT SCOTTISH GOLF ZOOM MEETING

Following another successful Scottish Golf Zoom Panel Call with our partners at The Xact Group, the national governing body for golf in Scotland is pleased to confirm that our next session will take place on Thursday 14 May from 10.30am and will be run in partnership with the Scottish Golf Buying Group. 

On this week’s call, we will welcome four panellists from a broad range of golf clubs who will discuss their experience of dealing with the Covid-19 outbreak and their experience of using the Scottish Golf Buying Group which could support affiliated golf clubs to make substantial savings at a time where financial uncertainty is impacting businesses across the country.

Registration for this week’s Zoom Panel Call is now available here and will close at 3pm on Wednesday 13 May. 

Meet this week’s panel: 

Ian Howieson – The Scottish Golf Buying Group

Ian has been a member of the PGA for 43 years. In 2017, he founded the Scottish Golf Buying Group where Ian works with clubs to share his vast wealth of knowledge in club procurement processes with the aim of helping clubs to ensure financial sustainability through the online portal Contracts Manager.

In 2014, Ian launched the Golf Management Group in Scotland and is also a PGA Qualified Director of Golf with experience as a Head Golf Professional at the Royal Automobile Club and Fairhaven Golf Club.

Dougie Cleeton, Chief Executive Officer, Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society

Dougie has 16 years Golf Club management experience and is currently CEO at Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society. Prior to this, Dougie served as Managing Secretary at Blairgowrie Golf Club and Secretary at Turnhouse Golf Club.

Dougie has 8 years’ experience with the Golf Management Groups and makes use of the wide range of services and advice on offer.

Simon Payne, Head Professional and Secretary, Cowglen Golf Club

Simon has been at Cowglen for 31 years, 20 of which as the Head Pro. He has vast experience from his multi-tasking roles as Head Professional, Club Secretary / Manager and he will offer so much guidance to Club Officials in all of these areas.

Simon is a PGA Fellow Professional. He also has an Associated Sports Qualification Level 3 Certificate in Coaching Golf and a PGA Certificate in Golf Management Theory. Simon has also been recognised by Today’s Golfer as a Top 50 Coach since 2015. 

Brian Kinkead, Finance Convenor and Vice President of Aboyne Golf Club

Retiring from a career within the Oil and Gas industry last year, Brian is now the Finance Convenor and Vice President of Aboyne Golf Club where he has also served as Men’s Captain of the club.

The management structure at Aboyne has gone through much change in the last 3 years and the value and flexibility that Scottish Golf Buying Group services provide their council of volunteers are an important part of managing our contracts effectively.

Scottish Golf’s Zoom Panel Calls are free-to-attend. To sign up for this week’s session, please click here.

Time for golfers in Scotland to be patient rather than angry

By MARTIN DEMPSTER - The Scotsman Newspaper 

Talk about a right old guddle. In England, it’s tomorrow, it could be the weekend in Wales and, in parts of Ireland, it’s Monday. Oh, and no one knows when it will be in Scotland. The reopening of golf courses is turning into an almighty mess and not what the sport needs at a time when it is going to be under the microscope.

As far as the UK courses are concerned, it would have been much better if they had all been reopening at the same time following the mass closure on 23 March due to the coronavirus crisis, but that possibility is no longer on the table following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s address to the nation on Sunday.

He gave the green light for courses to reopen in England, with play now confirmed as being permissible with someone from another household, but, due to devolved administrations taking differing approaches to the lockdown, venues in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales will remain closed for the time being.

The Scottish Government had made its position clear on Friday, with Joe Fitzpatrick, Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing, insisting the sport can only return in its cradle “once it is safe to do so” and that, apparently, isn’t now due to the focus remaining on “measures to slow the spread of the virus, protect the NHS and save lives”.

In the same statement, Scottish Golf said “nothing has been finalised regarding a date, or any details of potential phasing with Government”, with the governing body subsequently responding to the Prime Minister’s announcement that the position in Scotland remains the same – i.e. courses must remain closed.

In short, Scottish golfers are being urged to remain patient. Their eagerness to get back out on courses after seeing them shut for seven weeks is about to increase even more when club members in England start to relay how good it feels to be back playing, but now isn’t the time for anyone to do anything silly.

In that statement at the end of last week, Scottish Golf ’s chief operating officer, Karin Sharp, said it had been “disappointing to hear that some clubs in Scotland have communicated to members their intent to reopen their golf courses ahead of restrictions being lifted”.

That claim came out of the blue, to be honest, and there has been no talk of any such plans in the tsunami of golf club chat on social media recently, but, if any club is indeed contemplating that step, then don’t. It would be reckless and foolish, bringing shame on the club and Scotland as a golfing nation.

It will indeed be painful to see golf courses here continuing to lie empty tomorrow and every day thereafter as England gets a headstart in trying to kickstart the sport’s recovery in the UK, but this is the time for cool heads and clear minds.

Yes, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is adopting a cautious approach when it comes to the possibility of lockdown restrictions being lifted and, yes, that is frustrating some golfers at a time when their courses are being used as exercise areas for walkers, cyclists and, in some cases, impromptu football kickabouts.

But surely that will be worth it if it helps deliver an environment that a) allows golfers to feel comfortable about returning to courses and b) allows clubs to ensure they are getting it right when it comes to delivering “safe golf ”, because both those things are vital as part of the bid to avoid a spike in the current number of Covid cases and also a potential second wave.

While some Scottish golfers feel they should be back on the golf course soon, if not already, it is clear that others are prepared to show that patience. At the same time, though, it would be good if they could be given some indication of the date we might be talking about. Say, for instance, it was 25 May. That would give everyone in the industry good and proper time to get clubs ready to open for business because, just in case anyone has forgotten, staff at most venues are still on furlough.

No-one in Scotland is enjoying being kept away from their golf course at the moment and the sooner courses reopen the better in terms of the sport’s economy here. But let’s do our country proud by adhering to what we are being advised and return to the fairways only when the time is deemed right.

No Change for Golf Clubs in Scotland

With reference to the previous post on Friday 8th May --- 

Following on from the Prime Minister’s announcement last night, we are writing to confirm that the position outlined by Scottish Golf on Friday, 8 May for Golf in Scotland remains unchanged. The message is still clear – Stay at home and save lives.

We remain in daily dialogue with the Scottish Government and other golfing bodies throughout the UK, to ensure that when it is deemed safe to do so in Scotland, that we are ready to support our golf clubs with a concise protocol for reopening. 

We will update our membership as soon as the Scottish Government agrees a plan on a safe return to golf. Scottish Golf would like to thank all of our members for their continued support in following the guidelines in such difficult times.

Refereeing at the 2019 Solheim Cup by Claire Hargan

Referees at the Solheim Cup 2019 - courtesy of the R&A

Claire Hargan, Assistant Director of Rules at The R&A, discusses her experience of refereeing at the 2019 Solheim Cup and some specific moments from a special week at Gleneagles...

Click Here to go to the R&A website for the full story. 

MyGolfRanking week 18- 2020

IMPORTANT MESSAGE

Are you wondering why the weekly MGRanking changes when golf courses/clubs are currently closed and

no competitive club counting events are being played?

MGRanking is based on data compiled from a rolling 52 week cycle.

This week the result data from Week 2019/18 is replaced by data from Week 2020/18 which may not exist. 

AYRSHIRE LADIES

1 Audrey Thompson (Loudoun Gowf) 1144 points 

2 Liz Keohane (Loudoun Gowf) 1057

3 Gillian Kennedy (Troon Welbeck) 1051 

4 Lorna Spencer (Largs) 1043

5 Joanne Sharp (Kilmarnock (Barassie)) 1029 

6 Pauline Patrick (Irvine) 994

7 Robina Gilbertson (Prestwick St Nicholas) 979 

8 Aileen Anderson (Loudoun Gowf) 966

9 Anne Burns (Loudoun Gowf) 951

10 Lesley Duncan (Kilmarnock (Barassie)) 943

AYRSHIRE LADIES CLUBS

1 Loudoun Gowf 894

2 Largs 868

3 Troon Welbeck 814

4 Prestwick St Nicholas 813 

5 Skelmorlie 811

6 Kilmarnock (Barassie) 804 

7 Prestwick St Cuthbert 720 

8 Girvan 708

9 Irvine 704

10 Brodick 447 

DUNBARTONSHIRE/ARGYLL LADIES

1 Caroline King (Clober) 1196 points

2 Ashley Duffy (Clober) 1029

3 Jill Burgess (Hilton Park) 1016

4 Josephine Monaghan (Dumbarton) 1013 
5 Katharine Hardman (Dunaverty) 994

6 Sarah Kemp (Helensburgh) 992

7 Gillian Morrison (Clober) 979

8 Margaret Mackinnon (Lochgilphead) 976 
9 Paula Galloway (Douglas Park) 938

10 Patricia Pratt (Palacerigg) 893

DUNBARTONSHIRE/ARGYLL LADIES CLUBS

1 Clober 995

2 Palacerigg 834

3 Dunaverty 825

4 Helensburgh 814

5 Balmore 813

6 Douglas Park 789

7 Dumbarton 768

8 Lochgilphead 767

9 Blairmore & Strone 726 10 Hilton Park 713

LANARKSHIRE LADIES

1 Jane Clark (Airdrie) 1237 points

2 Amy McDonald (Bothwell Castle) 998 
3 Allison Bell (Strathaven) 997

4 Ruth Hunter (Lanark) 968

5 Nichola Craig (Lanark) 959

6 Elaine Johnstone (Hamilton) 943

7 Susan Halley (Strathaven) 842

8 Emily Lowther (Kirkhill) 917

9 Lisa Chan (Hamilton) 913

10 Abigail McCafferty (Airdrie) 897

LANARKSHIRE LADIES CLUBS

1 Airdrie 888

2 Kirkhill 802

3 Lanark 801

4 Hamilton 792

5 Strathaven 791

6 Carnwath 782

7 Bothwell Castle 766 
8 Langlands 742

9 Crow Wood 459 
10 Sandyhills 234

RENFREWSHIRE LADIES

1 Jan Macnab (Ranfurly Castle) 1067 points

2 Heather Climson (East Renfrewshire) 992

3 Janette McCartney (Erskine) 962

4 Anabel Kane (Kilmacolm) 951

5 Sandra Reid (Renfrew) 910

6 Lynda Bradley (Kilmacolm) 889

T7 Mary Aitken & Margaret Richardson (both Erskine) 861 
9 Patricia Davidson (Erskine) 855

10 Denise Cowan (Ranfurly Castle) 930

RENFREWSHIRE LADIES CLUBS

1 Erskine 856

2 Renfrew 807

3 Ranfurly Castle 786 4 Bonnyton 711

5 Kilmacolm 708

6 East Renfrewshire 606 7 Paisley 585

8 Earl of Mar 167

Scottish Golf urges clubs to stay closed amid reports of reopenings

From The Scottish Golf Website 

In response to increased speculation and rumour around timing of the re-introduction of golf, Scottish Golf can confirm that nothing has been finalised regarding a date, or any details of potential phasing with Government. Scottish Golf has been, and will remain in regular dialogue with Scottish Government, with regards to the planned procedures for the safe return of our sport when the time is right. We also continue to collaborate with our partners in golf throughout the UK and act as a collective at every opportunity. The recent update provided by First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, confirmed that lockdown restrictions remain in place and the clear public health message is to stay home and save lives. This responsibility sits with each of us and golf is no exception.

Joe Fitzpatrick, Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing, “I recognise the importance of golf to many across the country, and the eagerness to return to the course as soon as possible. However, that can only happen once it is safe to do so – and the focus at present must be the continuation of measures to slow the spread of the virus, protect the NHS and save lives. The Scottish Government and sportscotland are working closely with Scottish Golf to ensure the right preparation and risk assessment is undertaken to allow golf to return at the appropriate time.”

Karin Sharp, Scottish Golf, “It has been disappointing to hear that some golf clubs in Scotland have communicated to members their intent to re-open their golf course ahead of restrictions being lifted. We urge all member clubs to continue to follow the Scottish Government advice, that continues to have the best interest of the public at heart. Golf is a sport where integrity and rules sit at the very heart of the game and we ask all golfers to respect the position of Scottish Government and show patience at a time when the virus continues to have a devastating impact on society. I appreciate the frustrations and desire to play golf as soon as possible, but I urge you to continue following Government guidelines and save lives”

One game per week when golf courses are open again

● Club managers are braced for tight restrictions as they prepare for easing of the shutdown

• The Scotsman
• 8 May 2020
• Martin Dempster

Golfers have been warned they could initially be limited to one round per week due to the expected high demand when courses in Scotland re-open following the coronavirus closure.

In another message that will grab the attention of the country’s army of golfers, it is being predicted that some clubs are likely to limit play initially to single players and two-balls from the same household.

David Roy, who holds that post at Crail Golfing Society, and Gordon Simpson, who runs the day-to-day affairs at Gullane, are still waiting to hear exactly what the government guidelines will be and when courses can reopen.

However, they are in agreement that golfers around the country are going to be faced with some restrictions at the outset that might not be met with approval but, nonetheless, will need to be followed in an attempt to create “safe golf ”.

“I think it is safe to say there will be an excess of demand over supply when the courses reopen,” said Roy. “Therefore, do we say to the members: ‘you are only going to get one single game in the week?’

“Every single club will have a bundle of members who want to play every single day in the year. We can’t have a situation where the place is being hogged by a handful of members. So, do we say in the first week ‘you are only getting one game’ and just be prepared for the flak from that?”

It was initially suggested by Karin Sharp, Scottish Golf’s chief operating officer, that play at first might be limited to single players and groups from the same household. The R&A plan submitted to the government made no reference to that, but Roy reckons some clubs could go down that route at first.

“Our feeling, and this comes from talking to as many people as possible at other local clubs, is that, regardless of what government restrictions come out, in the early phase we might insist on single players and two-balls from the same household,” he added.

“You wouldn’t want to have a situation where two players find themselves in the same group due to that being the only available time and a potential argument ensues because one of the players isn’t comfortable. It might be simpler in the first couple of weeks to say it’s single players only or two players from the same household.”

Even with three courses in operation, Simpson reckons restrictions are also likely to be in place at Gullane. “I believe that we will have to introduce limitations when we first get the go ahead to open up as there will be huge demand,” he said.

In Ireland, golf is set for a phased return on 18 May, starting with members living within five kilometres of their club before being extended to 10km on 8 June then beyond 20km on 20 July.

“I’m not sure there are going to be travel restrictions in the UK,” said Roy. “But, if there are, my guess would be it is going to be broader than 5k. At the moment, we don’t have the same travel restrictions they have in Ireland.

“We’ve done our stats on membership numbers based on how many members live in the KY11 postcode. We’ve got 550 out of the 1400 playing members, with 400 who have an alternative place to play golf due to being a member of another club.

“That leaves us with potentially 500-600 members who are going to be inconvenienced by not getting a game. We would only be able to deal with that as and when we know more.”

A large chunk of Gullane’s big membership live in and around Edinburgh, meaning either a 5km or 10km restriction would stop them from heading down the East Lothian coast if that sort of restriction was part of the UK plan.

“I prefer a postcode system,” admitted Simpson. “I feel a 5km boundary would be very limiting to many clubs and unrealistic for clubs to police.”

Greenkeepers have been advised to have their courses ready for reopening at very short notice, “perhaps even overnight”, by the British and International Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA).

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MESSAGE FROM THE SVLGA

As you all know, we are in the midst of a coronavirus epidemic and the SVLGA Committee has been trying to find the best way forward for 2020. We have held a virtual committee meeting, and, taking into account recent government advice on the length of time it may take to find our way out of the lockdown, we have decided to cancel all our events for 2020. Playing any kind of competitive golf event appears to be quite a long way off. Our events involve an older age group, travel across Scotland and England, overnight stays, catering, not to speak of methods of playing golf at a social distance. We hope that all Divisions agree with these decisions.

The first event to be cancelled is the Jamboree at Glenbervie. We were looking forward to hosting the English Divisions in Scotland. However, the Divisions have agreed to postpone the event to 2021, and we have booked to play at Glenbervie from Monday 2nd - Thursday 5th August 2021.

We have also decided to cancel the SVLGA Championship. Many Divisions have cancelled their qualifying competitions which are usually played over the year leading up to the finals at Blairgowrie. The Scottish Championship will not be contested this year. In 2021 the SVLGA Championship Finals will be contested on Sunday 19th September and Monday 20th September at Blairgowrie as usual. 

We have also cancelled the Blairgowrie event. We were hoping that we might be able to hold a golf event in September as it is still a few months away, but it is looking increasingly unlikely that we would be able to hold the event in the normal format, and the sensible decision is to cancel it. We have booked at Blairgowrie for 2021 on Monday 20th September and Tuesday 21st September. Thank you to everyone who intimated that they would like to play this year. Most Divisions had taken up their quota, and will be allocated the same number of places for 2021.

Our AGM is scheduled for Sunday 20th September 2020 at Blairgowrie at 7.30pm. As the Blairgowrie event is not going ahead, we will find another method of holding the AGM which is likely to be on the same date at the same time. We will let you know details as soon as we can.

Golf return seems close but will it be like it is in Ireland?

BY MARTIN DEMP­STER  THE SCOTSMAN NEWSPAPER

The Scotsman

05 May 2020

It seems tantalisingly close. Maybe as early as next Monday, but more likely to be a little bit longer. Golf ’s return in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK certainly seems to be imminent, but be warned that it might not be as straightforward as some people might be expecting.

Take Ireland, for example. Courses are set to reopen there on 18 May as part of a first phase of lockdown restrictions being relaxed. However, the fine detail of that decision has opened a can of worms. That’s because the reopening is being phased, meaning an eagerlyawaited return to the fairways is still more than two months away for some.

Only members living within 5km of their golf club will be given the green light to start playing in the first instance, 8 June having been earmarked for that radius to be extended to 10km before it is stretched to beyond 20km on 20 July. I bet lots of people didn’t see that coming and, by the sounds of things, it is going to cause major headaches for lots of clubs.

Consider these examples highlighted by Philip Reid, an outstanding golf correspondent, in his newspaper, the Irish Times. Tralee Golf Club is 13km from its primary membership base in Tralee town; Connemara links is located some 10km from its main membership cohort in Clifden; Donegal Golf Club at Murvagh is 10km from Donegal town; Co Sligo Golf Club at Rosses Point is 7.5km from Sligo town; while Co Louth Golf Club is 7km along the River Boyne from Drogheda town centre.

To try to offer some perspective here, if something similar is being planned by the UK government, then a lot of golfers in the Edinburgh area, for example, would not be allowed to return straight away to their clubs in East Lothian and it would be the same story for Glasgow golfers who are members of clubs on the Ayrshire coast.

Heck, I’ve just checked and the journey from my home in Dalgety Bay to Aberdour, where I’m a proud member, is 5.4km, though that is by car and a more direct walking route along the coast comes in at 4.98km – honestly!

The policing of that 5km ruling in Ireland is going to be a nightmare, surely. Can it actually be policed? In effect, it will come down to the golfers themselves to self-police and, though that is nothing new in the sport, I fear the temptation of wanting to get back out on a golf course again could cloud judgements about whether someone lives 5km, 15km or 50km away from their club.

It could be, of course, that the UK government, which will ultimately make the call, has a different plan in mind for the reopening of courses in Scotland, England and Wales.

That will hopefully be part of the lockdown exit plan set to be announced, we are told, by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on Sunday.

By then, the government will have had more than a week to digest the stringent measures that have been proposed by the R&A to be in place when that green light is given. It is absolutely imperative those measures are followed because, let’s face it, they all make complete sense at the moment and let’s remember, please, that lives are still being lost as golf and other sports are topics of discussion.

Personally, I don’t see too many problems cropping up on golf courses in terms of social distancing. The vast majority already know what is required in that respect. It’s more when it comes to people either turning up too early for their round – not a problem for me, as my golfing buddies will testify – or hanging around afterwards that clubs will probably have to hammer home messages.

Make no mistake, golf will be in the spotlight once that return happens. There will be people out there waiting to pounce on any misdemeanours, so to speak, in respect of those measures drafted by the R&A in conjunction with other golfing bodies.

It will be the duty of every single golfer to follow the new set of rules to the letter, do the sport proud by doing so and ensure that golf gets off to the best possible start in a world that probably won’t return to normal – whatever that actually is – for a long, long time.

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R&A reveals measures for golf ’s return

The R&A has revealed the measures that will be in place when the green light is given for golf courses to reopen, having submitted the proposals to the government.

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The plan, which has been drafted along with other golfing bodies, covers five main areas: course set-up, before, during and after the round and Rules of Golf-related matters.

Referring to the plan, the R&A said: “It is being provided to give transparency and clarity on current thinking about how the sport might resume in the UK in these challenging circumstances.”

Golf courses throughout the UK have been closed since 23 March, when the lockdown guidelines were introduced by the government with a view to containing the spread of Covid-19.

Most clubs have furloughed staff, though some greenkeepers have been kept on to look after essential course maintenance as they lie empty for the first time since the Second World War.

The proposals for “safe golf ” include the removal of bunker rakes and ball retrievers, the covering up of drinking fountains and ball washers and the removal or covering up of benches and bins.

Among other proposals are that flagsticks should not be touched and a hole liner should be used to prevent balls from dropping below the surface of greens.

Tee times would be subject to a booking system with a minimum of ten-minute intervals with practice areas remaining closed unless safe sanitising practices can be guaranteed.

The maximum number of golfers in a group per tee time is to be confirmed by the club/ facility and must be in accordance with any government requirements.

The plan proposes that clubhouses would remain closed other than to provide essential facilities such as toilets while trolleys and carts would not be available for hire unless safe sanitising practices can be guaranteed.

Golfers will be reminded to remain two metres apart at all times and use their feet to smooth over bunkers in the absence of rakes. It is recommended that non-competition play is used during the initial period of golf being played, and that stroke play competitions involving players in different groups are avoided.

If competitive stroke play is played, a method of scoring will need to be used that does not require any handling or exchanging of scorecards.

“The UK Golf Industry has carefully considered how to ensure the safe management of a golf facility when government Covid-19 restrictions are eased,” said the update on the R&A website.

“Detailed industry guidelines have been issued for the benefit of all staff, including greenkeepers, club professionals and golf facility managers, administrators and, of course, all golfers.

“There are many different types of golf clubs and golf facilities, requiring “safe golf” procedures to be finalised and implemented locally.

“However, the fundamentals are the same throughout the sport, which has a good record of compliance with rules and procedures. These procedures will include all aspects of the golfing experience, from arrival in the car park shortly before the round to departure straight away on completion of the round.

“Golfers will be required to comply with the rules on social distancing throughout. Some temporary provisions in relation to the Rules of Golf will also be necessary to ensure safe play.”

The proposals have industrywide backing from organisations such as Scotland Golf, England Golf, the PGA and other representative bodies.

“We have had positive discussion in the last few days with government [through key contacts in Active Scotland and sportscotland] and have their support in what is a planning phase,” said Scottish Golf chief operating officer Karin Sharp.

“We are also collaborating with key industry partners to ensure that across GB&I we are developing a consistent approach that can be adopted when the time is right."

“We are very much in the planning phase to ensure that when the time is right, we are well placed and have the support of key partners to be able to move quickly to update clubs with detailed information as to what a phased return to golf will look like.”

In a message to England Golf’s member clubs, chief executive Jeremy Tomlinson said: “Since the 23 March shutdown, the sacrifices we have all made in our daily lives have helped to play a part in a huge national effort to combat Covid-19.

“The way everyone in golf has rallied together in these uncertain times fills me with great optimism for the future. Now is the time for us all to keep the faith and see this through until the end.”