Hobby horses for courses; In the first of a two-part series, Alan

GOLF in Scotland is a popular pastime, no question about that. According to the official figures, more than one in 10 of the adult population plays this pesky game at least once a month, while 250,000 are so enthralled that they pay annual subscriptions to a golf club.

These are impressive figures in a country of five million people, but is the sport in good health? Where is the next Colin Montgomerie, or Catriona Matthew, going to come from? And do the quarter-of-a- million golf club members receive value for their subscriptions?

The two bodies charged with looking after the amateur game in this country are the Scottish Golf Union (SGU) and the Scottish Ladies Golfing Association (SLGA). Until recently the two bodies didn't enjoy especially cordial relations, but since relocating to Drumoig - a purpose-built golfing facility between the Tay Bridge and St Andrews - now have a closer working relationship.

They're not joined at the hip - yet - but golf's belated invitation to the top table at the Scottish Institute of Sport has concentrated minds inside both the SGU and the SLGA. At last, after years of prevarication, they are pulling together on a number of important initiatives.

The price of becoming a core sport at the Institute was the formulation of business and development plans, while the committee system has been largely dispensed with and directors installed to ensure budgets are adhered to and plans implemented.

Amidst all this restructuring the SGU have had to cope with a financial haemorrhage. The National Golf Academy at Drumoig, an admirable but over-ambitious practice and learning facility, plunged the men's governing body (pounds) 1 million into debt (largely as a result of the original concept having cost (pounds) 2m more than was budgeted for). Consequently, golf club members had to reluctantly agree to double their (pounds) 5 subscriptions to the SGU for one year only; next year they will settle back at (pounds) 6.

It wasn't only golf club members who felt the pain. The Academy director, Neil Simpson, resigned this year and five other members of staff at Drumoig were made redundant as the gym and games hall were shut down.

"Steps have been taken to improve the situation and restructure," confirms the SGU chief executive Hamish Grey. "We have cut costs on what might be called peripheral activities, and now the facility is being managed by the SGU.

"The levy will go back to (pounds) 6 next year. Golfers are getting pretty good value for money compared with other sports in Scotland, such as hockey, which was (pounds) 17 per club member at the last count. Golfers in Ireland pay 10 euros, and in Wales the contribution per member is (pounds) 7."

It is unlikely that Drumoig will ever break even, and Grey expects it will cost between (pounds) 200,000 and (pounds) 250,000 per annum to run for the foreseeable future. The problem is that its state-of- the-art facilities are superb for coaching, but the Academy is almost literally situated in the middle of nowhere.

"There are lots of things with hindsight and experience you would do differently," concedes Grey. "From a national coaching point of view Drumoig is as central as you can get, and because of the climate and its position near the coast it offers quality practice throughout the winter. But from a commercial perspective, there's no doubt it would be better placed near more chimney stacks."

Although its most vociferous critics dismiss Drumoig as a white elephant, it has, in fact, a vital role to play in improving standards and raising the profile of the whole of Scottish golf. Paul Lawrie (pictured right) and the other Scottish-based professionals use its facilities regularly, while it is the key to nurturing future generations of top golfers, both amateur and pro. Rather like the situation in football, where there are too many governing bodies, some would like to see the SGU and SLGA merge, possibly along with the Scottish "region" of the PGA (note, yet again, to the PGA: Scotland is not a region) to form a single Scottish Golf Federation.

An all-purpose governing body is the norm in many European countries, but both Grey, and his SLGA counterpart, Peter Smith, believe that day is some way removed in Scotland.

"The more we work together, the more likely it is that some time in the future a Federation could emerge," says Grey. "But until we've got that trust, we're focusing on working together. The relationship with the SLGA is going from strength to strength as far as I'm concerned."

The two bodies are expected to announce a major junior golf initiative in February, because an important priority is to increase the number of boys and girls playing golf. About 27,500 juniors are currently attached to clubs, but although this is a reasonable figure it conceals two worrying underlying statistics. Firstly, only 2,710 of these are girls, and, secondly, there will be 15% fewer 15-year- olds in Scotland by the end of the decade.

To put it kindly, the manner in which juniors are treated varies a great deal from club to club. In the more enlightened they are encouraged; at others they are at best tolerated and at worst treated as an irritant. And for all that Tiger Woods has been an inspiration, golf is not regarded as "cool" by the majority of Scottish youngsters.

Grey is not giving away the detail of the initiative which will be announced in February, but research and pilot schemes have already been conducted.

"In New Zealand," points out Grey, who is a Kiwi himself, "they have increased the number of junior members from 5,000 to 15,000 in five years by working with clubs on different techniques. Percentage- wise, that is huge. What would it do for the sport in Scotland if we could do the same here?"

The challenge for the SLGA is even greater, with its tiny take-up of golf among girls. "We are looking to get 4,000 junior girl members in the short term, and 13,000 by the year 2014," says Smith. The latter figure seems hugely ambitious, but with golf being introduced to every nine-year-old in the country as part of the Ryder Cup promise, who knows?

Most Scottish golf clubs are now having to be more proactive in attracting members. The construction of 80 new courses in the last 10 years has had the effect of spreading the club membership more thinly; the era of waiting lists at clubs is coming to an end. Half of Scotland's near-600 clubs are already in this position, and another 37% report that their waiting lists are shrinking.

To combat this trend, clubs will have to take a more enlightened approach to their clubhouse rules, many of which remain petty and outdated. And the issue of equal rights is not one that will go away, although Grey notes with caution that when Australia brought in legislation for equal rights in clubhouses, one third of the existing women members resigned rather than pay the full subscription.

Practice and coaching facilities at Scottish clubs are also overwhelmingly poor or non-existent, but with no land available for expansion that is a problem which, in most cases, can only be resolved if a driving range is nearby. Which brings us neatly to the professional game, which will be examined next week.

Key trends in Scotland o There are approximately 250,000 club members in Scotland. Of these, 42,600 are women.

o The overall figure includes 27,500 juniors, of whom 2,700 are girls.

o There are more than 580 golf clubs in Scotland.

o About 11% of the Scottish population over the age of 16 regularly plays golf (regularly being defined as once per month).

o More than 80 new courses were built in Scotland over the last 10 years.

o 44% of clubs have a professional, and in total there are almost 500 teaching pros (100 of whom are trainees) in Scotland.

o Per head of capita, Scotland has more golf courses than most countries in the world, but practice facilities are poor.

o 50% of Scottish golf clubs have no waiting list, and 37% of those that do report their list is in decline.

o About 100,000 golfing visitors travel to Scotland each year; in rural areas golf tourism can account for up to 60% of a club's income.

o 50% of clubs struggle to find volunteers to fill positions.

o Gender equality and attitudes to juniors are changing, but these remain issues for golf to address.

Copyright 2002 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
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