Golf Ireland To Press Nuclear Button On Clubs With Independant Golfer Scheme

Update!! Thanks to everyone who voted in my poll on GolfCentralDaily Facebook Page . It was a real opener. As expected a lot of people voted...

Update!!

Thanks to everyone who voted in my poll on GolfCentralDaily Facebook Page. It was a real opener.

As expected a lot of people voted NO as in this is a bad idea, but a sizeable chunk, 20% voted YES as in lets pay Golf Ireland for a golf handicap instead of joining a club.

It's all kicked off!!  Golf Ireland have pissed a lot of clubs off telling them at a meeting about their new Independant Golfer Scheme which will mean golfers really don't have to join their local golf club anymore to have a handicap, you can just pay them a few quid instead and off you go!

Here's my take.

It's a very simple system.  Small golf clubs in Ireland rely heavily on membership fees to pay their staff and keep the golf clubs running.

Golf Ireland who oversees the clubs,  has as part of its mission to "ensure the sustainability and growth of golf clubs nationwide," in other words, to look after them. In other words, not to sh!t on them.

When a startup company 'Flexigolf' came to Golf Ireland a few years ago, seeking their blessing to form a virtual golf club, where golfers who weren't members of golf clubs (lads kindof working the weekends as bouncers and can only play on a Monday) could join for a nominal fee, get a handicap and play in open competitions, they were angrily told to feck right off.  You will do no such thing you brat.  And if we hear of any clubs in on your shady idea and selling these cheap memberships, we'll rain terror upon them. And maybe write them a strongly worded letter on headed paper.  End of startup.

Roll on a couple of years and lo and behold Golf Ireland propose this mighty new idea at a webinar the other night.....hey guys, there's a tonne of lads out there working weekends as bouncers, they're sh!te at golf,  they can only play an ould game on a Monday, sure the courses are empty anyway, they haven't a pot to piss in, so we came up with this great idea to let them all join a virtual golf club, the money will rest in our account, we'll give them an ould handicap, they can knock around Open Days and ye will make a few pound, and like 10-10- 20 sure we'll grow the game! Sure they're harmless, they couldn't hit the ball out of their way the poor bastards, and aren't we great at our job.

But again it's a very simple system.  Small golf clubs in Ireland rely heavily on membership fees to pay their staff and keep the golf clubs open.  

AND......This being Ireland, lads (and maybe a few ladies) who already are members of golf clubs, will say 'Jesus this is mighty, I don't have to join the golf club anymore, giving them €700 every bloody year, I never liked half the flutes anyway, I'll just join the Golf Ireland scheme, way cheaper, and I'll still have a handicap so I can play in the open days and classics anywhere!

This also being Ireland, there's plenty of lads sloping around the place now with a new World Handicap of 50, who can, on a good day, play to a handicap of about 6.  They're like serial killers going around to Classics winning fancy electric trolleys for a living.  Some of the stuff that is going on with winning scores is mental.  And the individual winner today, with 59 stableford points is ...... Enoch Burke would stand outside a golf club every day for six months if he heard that.

The majority seem to be against, some are for, they do it in England apparently for £46 a year.  Best case scenario, a load of bouncers join, golf grows, courses are busy on a Monday, loads of tattoos. One or two love it so much they decide to join the golf club and wear v neck jumpers.

Worst case scenario, loads of current members leave their clubs, small clubs have to lay off staff, some will close. Ireland is not England, we've a tonne of courses and a very small population, the system gets be abused, the maths don't work, nobody will give a flying feck about lads "minding their handicaps" and more 50 handicappers will win fancy electric trolleys.  

Let's see what happens next.

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