Scottish Golf agrees to rebate affiliation fees to clubs

Scotland’s golf clubs are to be given a rebate on their affiliation fees, Eleanor Cannon has announced on BBC Radio Sportsound.

The chair of Scottish Golf took part in the radio show following a turbulent week for the game in the home of golf and revealed that, following a board meeting on Friday night, money would indeed be returned to clubs.

The news is a huge turnaround for the organisation, who originally said that such a possibility was not possible.

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“We had a board meeting on Friday evening where we looked at all the data that had come in from clubs and we took the decision to offer our membership a rebate on their affiliation fees for this year and the details of that are going to be communicated to our members tomorrow,” said Cannon. 

“We are working with all our stakeholders to build an emergency fund to support clubs who are finding themselves in dire straits as a result of the lockdown.”

She added that she was “working with the Westminster Government, led by the R&A” and various other bodies to devise a “safety-led’’ plan to ease the lockdown on courses.

The interview took an awkward turn when respected journalist Tom English asked Cannon about her thoughts on various articles in the press that “portrayed her as a divisive character”.

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Cannon said English’s comments were “an extraordinary thing to say on national radio” and refused to address the issue. “If you want me to comment on the press that has appeared this week, that’s not something I’m prepared to do.”

Pushed by English if she thought the coverage was “unfair”, she added: “I’m not prepared to talk about it.”