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The R&A and multiple home unions have confirmed they have been keeping close tabs on the progress made by a new virtual online platform in New Zealand which provides official handicaps for golfers who are not members of a golf club.
Their interest was sparked after early results at Love Golf Flexiclub suggested the initiative had no detrimental effect on club membership in the country and even may have succeeded in attracting a new group of participants who hitherto had little contact with the sport.
Love Golf Flexiclub was launched in October 2018 to provide casual golfers with a flexible and affordable means of playing golf. For $150 a year, or $15 a month, plus a joining fee of $30, it provides a range of benefits including official membership of New Zealand Golf, an official NZG handicap, access to its Love Golf Play discount scheme, its My Golf Profile and tee-booking service and its affiliated green-fee rates.
To protect golf clubs in New Zealand, a membership limit of 2,000 (1 percent of registered golfers in New Zealand) was agreed upon. No golfer who had left a club in the previous 12 months was eligible for membership of Love Golf Flexiclub.
Six months after the introduction of the platform, the first set of published results made interesting reading. During that period Love Golf Flexiclub attracted a total of 890 members. The average age of that group was 45 and they played a total of 3,983 rounds across the country – 22 percent were registered as casual golfers; 21 percent had been a member of a golf club in the past but 79 percent never had been a member of a golf club and never held a handicap. During that initial six-month period, 30 members subsequently joined a golf club.
England Golf were one of the first bodies to investigate the Love Golf Flexiclub system, their outgoing chief executive Nick Pink confirmed last week.
“We have spent some time with NZ Golf understanding their model of working with a Flexiclub system,” he said. “Clubs over there raised similar points to those raised here. Clubs were nervous about the offer of a handicap to independent golfers. In the first year of the system, which is coming to an end now, they did a very soft offer to the golfing market.
“They are pleased with the numbers and it backs up their view that very few golfers would leave golf club membership to join the scheme. For them, the primary reasons for remaining a golf club member relate to the social side of the game, playing regularly and getting value for money and entering competitions.
“There are many things we can learn from them and other countries that are looking at such a system. As home countries we are talking all the time. Scottish Golf announced at their annual conference in December that they will be rolling out a handicap scheme for independent golfers in due course.
“It is different in each country. The offer to the independent golfer is something our voting members in England, the county bodies, have asked us to look at in some detail. This is what we are currently doing and the focus of our discussion and debate on this matter has been solely with them for this reason.”
Scottish Golf also have been in discussions with New Zealand Golf ahead of launching its own system.
“We have had direct contact with New Zealand about the scheme and were keen to know of any negative impact it had on club membership,” said Iain Forsyth, Scottish Golf’s chief commercial officer. “We were told there had been no negative impact as seems to be the case in other countries that offer similar opportunities.
“(Regarding) our own system, the software package for golf clubs is being rolled out as we speak. We currently have over 100 clubs at various stages of testing and roll out. With regard to the non-member handicap piece, we have not set a final date for this yet. It is not imminent, but we decided to announce it at our conference last December to be open and honest with our membership as to our future plans.”
Wales Golf also have been evaluating the New Zealand model but indicate they have no plans to introduce something similar until after the Great Britain-and-Ireland launch of the new World Handicap System next November.
“This is an area we have been looking at for some time and we are fully aware of the NZ Flexiclub initiative, which seems to have had very little negative impact on current club membership,” said chief executive Richard Dixon. “Having said that, it is very unlikely that we will consider piloting anything similar to NZ until after we have the World Handicap System up and running smoothly in Wales.
“I believe both England and Scotland are at varying stages of consultation with their clubs about establishing a relation with, and providing an offering for, the non-club member and we will obviously monitor carefully any progress they might or might not make over the next 12 months or so.”
The R&A is also concentrating its efforts on the successful implementation of the World Handicap System it but remains receptive to any such scheme which might help to grow the game.
“We believe it is important that golf is inclusive and embraces everyone who plays the sport whether they are a member of a club or not,” said chief executive Martin Slumbers. “We are currently working closely with the national associations and handicapping authorities around the world to introduce the new World Handicap System next year and communicate how the system will work.
“Our primary focus is to ensure as smooth a transition to the new system as possible and to raise awareness and understanding of the benefits of the new system for all golfers.
“We are always open to new ideas for increasing participation in golf and it is interesting to see this programme has been developed as a pathway for people to become members of golf clubs. We will stay in touch with New Zealand Golf to monitor the success of this programme and see what can be learned from it.”
The Golfing Union of Ireland is currently the only one of the unions not to be assessing the merits of a system to provide handicaps for non-club members.
“Our focus in Ireland is getting Golf Ireland up and running and the World Handicap System introduced by early 2021,” said CEO Pat Finn. “We have no immediate intention to introduce handicaps for non-members. The matter isn’t on the agenda at this time.”
Rowan Lester has become the sixth Irishman to win the Nassau Invitational at the Nassau Country Club on Long Island, New York.
The Dubliner carded a 73 in difficult conditions to finish second in the stroke-play qualifier and then rattled off victories against Brad Barnett, Jordan Claffey and Adam Pecora before beating reigning New York State Mid-Amateur champion Brad Tilley, 2 and 1, in the final.
Lester’s victory means he joins Dunmurray’s Darren Crowe (2004), Royal Dublin’s Niall Kearney (2007), Portstewart’s Paul Cutler (2009) and Naas duo Jack Hume (2014) and Conor O’Rourke (2016) among the group of Irishmen who have claimed the title.
Lester (Hermitage) was laid low by a serious wrist injury last year and was not handed a place in the Irish team for this year’s Home Internationals at Lahinch even after accumulating five out of six points as his Leinster team won this year’s Irish Interprovincial Championship at Tullamore.
Lester’s next start will be in this week’s Gov. Hugh L. Carey Challenge Cup at Arcola Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey, where he will be joined by compatriots Robert Brazill (Naas), Peter O’Keeffe (Douglas), Conor Purcell (Portmarnock), Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) and James Sugrue (Mallow) for a biennial event which pits an Irish team against opponents from New York’s Metropolitan Golf Association. The 2017 match at Galway Bay finished in a 6-6 draw.
The Nassau Invitational is one of the oldest amateur tournaments in the United States, having been staged annually (with some interruptions) since 1897. The club also was where Bobby Jones found his famous Calamity Jane putter in 1923. He used it while claiming the US Open title later that year and also during all of his subsequent major wins.
Sierra Brooks, a top American amateur, had history on her mind as she closed with a 68 to share medallist honours with German professional Olivia Cowan at Stage II of the LPGA Q-School at Plantation Golf & Country Club in Florida.
Brooks, a University of Florida senior, was just days away from taking a history exam, and even found time to do some studying while out on the course.
“I actually brought notecards on the course to study,” she said. “Since I was by myself a little bit out there it was nice at least to try to study a little bit when I could.
“It was definitely a fun week and I’m happy with my golf game and the way things turned out.”
Brooks had been one of seven amateurs to progress from Stage I.
The next best was South Korea’s Yae Eun Hong, who shot up into a share of fourth place with a final round of 65 but who due to LPGA age restrictions is not eligible to play in the Q-Series, which starts this week at the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. She will receive status on the 2020 Symetra Tour instead.
The leading European amateur was Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela, who carded rounds of 69, 71, 69 and 70 to finish tied eighth alongside Thai amateur Bianca Pagdanganan, two shots ahead of America’s Andrea Lee and three in front of Lee’s compatriot Jennifer Chang. Pagdanganan closed with a best-of-the day 64.
The Stage II event also proved to be successful for Swedish amateur Frida Kinhult, a Florida State sophomore, who carded rounds of 73, 71, 68 and 71 to finish in a share of 24th place in a group that also included English professional Meghan MacLaren.
There also was success for South Korean amateur Kum Kang Park, who squeezed in right on the mark with a closing 71 but heartache for Germany’s Sophie Hausmann and Norway’s Karoline Stormo, who both missed out by a single shot on 3-under par 285.
The other casualties included England’s Alice Hewson, Slovenia’s Ana Belac, American Lucy Li, France’s Emma Broze and Finland’s Kiira Riihijärvi. Reigning European Women’s Amateur champion Hewson turned pro ahead of Stage I, but like the others listed in this group will have to settle for Symetra Tour status for the 2020 season.
Germany’s Esther Henseleit continued a superb first season as a professional by finishing tied fourth alongside Hong on 10-under-par 278. Other European professionals to make it to the Q-Series included England’s Holly Clyburn and French duo Céline Herbin and Joanna Klatten.
The Q-Series consists of 144 holes of stroke play with the first 72 holes being played on Pinehurst No. 6 starting Wednesday and the subsequent 72 holes being played at Pinehurst No. 9 starting on 30 October. There will be a cut after the sixth round.
Chloé Goadby’s strong finish to the season continued when she claimed her latest British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS) title at its latest event at Fairmont St Andrews.
Fresh from finishing third in the individual event at the Yale Women’s Fall Intercollegiate in Connecticut, the Scottish international posted rounds of 73, 75 and 70 to finish two shots ahead of Stirling University colleagues Penelope Brown and Louise Duncan on 4-under-par 218.
There also was a Stirling victory in the men’s event with Robert Foley recovering from an opening 80 to post a 69 and a 70 to finish five shots clear of Durham’s James Glenn on 6-over-par 219.
Stirling also recorded victories in both the men’s and women’s team events.
E-MAIL COLIN