How one county union is helping clubs during coronavirus

Unless you’re an elite golfer, or have had a handicap dispute, you might not be aware how your county union represents you in day-to-day club life.

The coronavirus pandemic has shown in minute detail, however, the ways the county has got your club’s back and how it is trying to support them through the crisis.

As courses were shut when the government lockdown bit, the Yorkshire Union of Golf Clubs met to discuss the implications of Covid-19 for golf in the county.

They then disseminated a list of strategic aims that aimed to promote their members while ensuring their own survival.

It included 28 separate items. Some of those, such as regular communication and postponing competitions and seminars, seem obvious in the circumstances.

But here’s just some of the other ways Yorkshire stepped in to try and make club life a little easier as we navigate unprecedented times:

• Contribute to the cost of the World Handicap System ‘course handicap calculator’ – the chart that help golfers work out their slope ratings and costs £150 per club
• Suspend the 2020 YUGC Grant initiative, pending a review of county finances, with a view to “possibly affording limited financial assistance to YUGC clubs later in 2020’
• Work with clubs to “achieve a mutually satisfactory outcome with regards to the collection of all affiliation fees” and feedback to England Golf
• Signpost potential sources of financial assistance and appropriate Covid-19 information
• Encouraging the renewal of club membership and prompt subscription payments by individual golfers across the county
• Prepare a revised budget that reflected voluntary reductions in honoraria payments
• Collaborate with other golf bodies in the county to co-ordinate rescheduled golf activities and help clubs and venues with their planning

Yorkshire also announced it would offer all club members the chance to participate in the 2020 County Card scheme free of charge.

The card, which usually costs £10 and is available to members of affiliated and participating clubs, allows members to obtain a discounted green fee set by the host club.

• Related: ‘Play safe, stay safe’: England Golf planning for sport’s return
• Related: Is this what golf in the UK looks like after the pandemic?
• Related: Golf club membership holds firm in coronavirus crisis

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