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It is bunkered.co.uk‘s understanding that Scottish Golf is set to back down on its plans to more than double the affiliation fee for its members.

It comes just less than two weeks after CEO Blane Dodds – who today left the organisation to take up a role at Tennis Scotland – set out his blueprint urging members to vote through his plan to help ‘re-establish the game at all levels’.

A meeting took place between all of the Men’s and 11 of the 15 Ladies’ Area Associations in Dunblane on Sunday, with the aim of putting together an alternative proposal to take to the governing body’s Special General Meeting in Stirling on December 2. 

However, it is understood that, when Scottish Golf chair Eleanor Cannon heard of this scheduled meeting, the governing body’s board had a meeting of their own Saturday to discuss changes to the strategy.

These alterations include the scrapping of the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and reducing the affiliation fee to ‘something more reasonable’.

OPINION – Scottish Golf CEO has taken dishonourable way out

Blane Dodds

It is not known whether Blane Dodds (above) attended this meeting on Saturday or whether plans to alter his blueprint for the future of Scottish Golf influenced his departure to Tennis Scotland.

Speaking about Dodds’ departure, a source who was in attendance at the meeting in Dunblane on Sunday, said: “I’m not surprised. The majority of clubs and members weren’t in favour of it. It seemed one step too far all in one go.

“They’ve put everything into this new strategy and it just didn’t click with members or clubs at all.

“Members don’t know what they spend the fee on at the moment. If they had to pay £24 instead of £11.25, there were fears some clubs would die.”

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