Fees plan gets a rough ride

Jan 14 2010 by Tim Taylor, The Journal

The English Golf Union say they have a mandate to double the annual contribution made to the national body by every club player in the country. Tim Taylor reports.

SPEAKERS at the North Northumberland League dinner rarely say anything which startles diners and their guests. Elliott Procter, president and secretary of Northumberland, has broken the mould.

Speaking at Alnwick Working Men’s Club, Procter reported the English Golf Union had said the majority of clubs who had responded to one of their surveys would not object to the annual affiliation fee they pay to the EGU being doubled from the £5 per club member to £10.

This is likely to be a subject for discussion during the county’s annual meeting at the Northumberland club in Gosforth on January 25 (7.30).

Procter said: “Where it all started was during get-togethers the EGU put together before Christmas at every county in the country after the season ended, to which all clubs were invited.

“At the one they held for Northumberland, the EGU had it written up on a board that something like 70% of the clubs who had responded to a survey would not object to this rise.

“The chief executive of the EGU John Petrie was there. Following that meeting, I emailed all our Northumberland clubs and none of the ones who responded, either by email or word of mouth, said they would be in favour of such a rise.

“I subsequently spoke to Norman Forrest, the president of the EGU, and he told me he had ‘had it out’ with John Petrie and there was no need for the rise.”

However, Jamie Forteath is the secretary of the Northumberland club and a former chairman and captain of a national body, the Golf Club Managers Association.

He said: “As much as I respect Elliott’s positions with the county and as a member of the Northumberland club, I do not share his view.

“I am not saying the affiliation fee must go up to £10 per member, but even if it did I do not think most club golfers would begrudge paying their national association such a fee. It would still amount to less than 20p per week per person to go into running the sport. It is not enough money to be worth getting up a head of steam about.

“I have never found anybody connected with the EGU to be anything less than helpful, and they have done a great deal over the last two years in getting out and about to put the message across about what they are doing.”