Championship success, increased take-up of the game and a strong business performance have been highlighted by the Scottish Golf Union Ltd (SGU) as contributing to an outstanding year for amateur golf in Scotland.
“2005 was a year of significant achievements both on and off the course,” said SGU chairman Alistair Low at the organisation’s Annual General Meeting today, Sunday 22nd January.
“As well as tremendous individual and team performances on home soil, including regaining the Home Internationals Championship, we triumphed on the international stage with Scots claiming the Australian, Czech, English and Irish championships.
“We have seen more than 12,300 nine-year-olds introduced to the game at schools through the national junior golf strategy Clubgolf, with over 5,000 progressing on to our junior golf development programmes at clubs.”
In a review of the SGU’s financial performance, Low reported a surplus of £237,000 for the year to 30 September 2005 and continued progress towards building up reserves of a minimum six months’ operating costs.
Sponsorship income rose for the second consecutive year, despite a difficult market. While acknowledging continued government investment through sportscotland, as well as grants from organisations including the R&A, to assist the development of the game in Scotland, Low said, “We are aware that there is intense competition for these sources of funds and we need to ensure that we do not become over-reliant on them to maintain the core activities within our strategy.”
Scottish Golf Union www.scottishgolfunion.org
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