Golf clubs set to benefit from Covid support fund

Golf clubs that have affected financially by the coronavirus pandemic are being offered support via a funding package funded by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, writes Fiona Scott.

In total the funding is worth £685,000 and clubs affiliated to Scottish Golf can apply for grants being made available via two separate allocations; the Covid-19 Fixed Costs Grant and the Club Relief Fund.

Fixed Costs Grant will enable every affiliated club in Scotland to apply for a

maximum of £500 for costs specifically associated with preparing for safe play and club/course management following the lockdown in early March.

These can include but are not exhaustive of sanitation products, Covid-related health and safety equipment, professional fees, signs, training, video conferencing licence (e.g. zoom) and any other Covidrelated spend.

The Club Relief Fund has been created to provide financial support to clubs who have been impacted by the pandemic and is concentrated on enabling clubs to reinstate or to increase expenditure in key areas to either improve member experience or boost income generation potential.

Clubs applying to this fund are required to complete a four-stage application to ensure the review committee have the correct information available to allocate funds.

The information required includes:

Agreement the Game

A Scottish Golf spokesperson said: ‘While the provision of this funding is most welcome, we do anticipate the volume of applications to be high and the criteria outlined will be strictly applied to ensure that the funds available are distributed where most needed.

‘We continue to explore other funding options for clubs to access and will communicate any additional opportunities should these arise.’

The application process for both grants is open now until Friday July 24. More information and application forms can be found on the Scottish Golf website.