‘Cut smaller clubs’ affiliation fees’

An English golf venue is calling for members of smaller golf clubs to be charged reduced annual subscriptions via a deduction in their affiliation fees to England Golf and their local county golf union.

Allendale Golf Club in Northumberland believes it is not fair that members of some of the richest golf clubs in the world, such as Wentworth, Royal Birkdale and Sunningdale, pay effectively the same affiliation fees as small clubs in their counties, even if they rely on volunteers to stay afloat.

All members of golf clubs affiliated to England Golf, which runs amateur golf, including the handicapping system, in England, pay an annual levy to England Golf and to their county golf union, as part of their subscriptions. This only varies from county to county and by the number of members each club had in the previous year, rather than via the financial size of each individual golf club – male members of Allendale, for example, pay £10.75, of which £3.50 goes to the Northumberland Union of Golf Clubs and the rest to England Golf, which is almost identical to the amount paid by all male members of all golf clubs in Northumberland. In some other counties the fee is nearly twice as much.

However, nine-hole Allendale Golf Club has one employee, a band of volunteers and 126 playing members, and generates just £45,000 of income per year. It is therefore calling on all small golf clubs to join forces to put pressure on their county golf unions and ultimately England Golf to charge fees based on the amount members pay for their annual golf subscription.

Robin Down, the volunteer treasurer at the club, said: “Affiliation fees represent a near six per cent ‘tax’ on membership at Allendale, which, if applied as a flat percentage across all clubs, would not be countenanced.”

Down, who is also the greens’ committee chairman, website designer and club photographer, added that the club is registered with Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs as a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC), which provides Allendale with several financial benefits, including an 80 per cent reduction in council tax.

“If those skinflints at the tax office have the grace and intelligence to recognise and reward community-based amateur sports clubs, why not England Golf?

“Our annual affiliation fees are a tax imposed by England Golf and the county based on the number of members from the previous year. This year it will be over £1,400 – big money for a small club such as ours – and we can see no tangible return,” he said.

“Nor is there any reduction for our youngsters, though we intentionally keep junior membership low at £40 to make it affordable and encourage local children to take up the sport.

“More than 25 per cent of this membership fee is grabbed by the golf authorities.”

John Mayfield, the newly-elected president of the Northumberland Union of Golf Clubs, has said his executive will discuss Allendale’s concerns at a meeting in March. However, according to Down, it needs more than one golf club and one county golf union working together to bring about a change in affiliation fees.

“No matter how well intended such approaches to England Golf might be, the loan voice of the Northumberland Union of Golf Clubs will not cut much ice – a coordinated approach which encompasses the smaller clubs across England would seem to offer the best hope, but I have no idea how this might be achieved,” he explained.

“Allendale are not Wentworth, Royal Birkdale or Sunningdale and it is time this vital distinction was recognised by those responsible for administering our sport.

“It is a labour of love for us all at Allendale – especially our volunteer greenkeeper Ian Robinson – and if we didn’t make this effort we would not be able to play golf in our wonderful landscape.”