The Pitch: Fears up to 100 golf clubs could fold over iGolf scheme

“I think it could be that high, because a lot of smaller clubs are reliant on subs and memberships and if you take 10 or 20 per cent of that business away it makes them economically inviable.” 

Farren was the first and most high profile figure in club golf to raise objections to the iGolf scheme, following a shock announcement to introduce the plan, by GI chief executive Mark Kennelly at a webinar in April.

Since then, Farren says, up to 40 golf clubs have raised protest around the scheme, and he has contacted the governing body for details on what mechanisms can be put in place to appeal the decision.

“This firmly needs to be voted on by the clubs, the clubs need to have their say around this and they cannot be decreed upon from above,” he adds.

“There needs to be a proper debate about the plan and its impact to clubs here, rather than something that is imposed by the governing body.

“They’re (GI) thinking it’s a done deal and they’re going to sneak it under the radar, but that cannot happen.

“Look what’s happened with the World Handicap System (WHS) and what it has done to competitive golf with a ridiculously high handicap limit in place, and this is another worrying development.” 

The chief concern with the WHS is that many low handicap golfers see themselves as being punished by a scoring system which appears to favour high handicappers or less skilled players.

Others will say that the system offers a level playing field for players of all abilities, but the key point is that the issue needs further discussion and debate, similar to the iGolf initiative.

There is a feeling with the Independent Golfer scheme there has been zero debate and the initiative has been steamrolled through by the governing body.

While Golf Ireland readily admits iGolf is designed to introduce more people to the sport with the hope of them then joining clubs, that is no good, says Farren, if courses are closed due to falling revenues and declining membership incomes.

The fear is that younger people in particular will leave golf clubs and sign up to the far cheaper options, as well as the effect it has on the large number of rural clubs which encourage distance memberships as part of their revenue strategy.

GI is set to impose a 12-month moratorium for current club members wishing to join the scheme, in the hope that it will put people off leaving their clubs, but that limit has been reduced in England to 30 days, where a similar scheme is in operation.

“It’s very much a one-sided argument, the game will not grow if you close the smaller clubs but if you remove their basic revenue streams, many of the smaller clubs will have no options but to close.

“That’s not going to grow the game, it creates a completely false economy under the pretence of bringing hundreds of thousands of causal golfers, but if the game doesn’t have the facilities it’s going to decline.” 

Michael McCarthy, Club Secretary at Borris Golf Club in Carlow said a key issue was that there was no discussion around the plan, and it was “being rammed through with no debate”.

“It is being done by stealth, there is very little information on what it means or what the timeline is,” says McCarthy “My first reaction when I heard about it was to pick my jaw off the floor and all I could think about was the amount of younger members we’re going to lose.

“Nobody knows what the cost is, or what the impacts will be, but a whole swathe of younger members will jump ship, of that there can be no doubt.” 

At Cobh Golf Club, Honorary Secretary Mary O’Grady said the reaction had been “generally negative” but she has faith in Golf Ireland that it would do the right thing.

“How can this be positive to us, but I haven’t read it in-depth,” she said before adding that the membership and committee would be discussing the matter this week.

Someone with vast experience from the club and governing side of golf is Ger Ennis, from Athy Golf Club in County Kildare.

Ennis is a renowned figure particularly through Golf Ireland’s elite juvenile player programme and he like many feels that the issue is so serious for clubs, it requires meaningful debate.

“The main feeling is that this is seen as a fait accompli but it’s something that requires discussion at AGM or appropriate level,” he said.

“Provincial clubs like ours are part of the area in which they’re located and that cannot be threatened. This isn’t going to affect the big clubs in Dublin, or the ‘Ballybunions’ of this world, but it will affect the smaller clubs.

“I don’t like the way it has been bulldozed through.” 

It’s difficult to determine why Golf Ireland is willing to risk such a fragile economy, one that has dealt with global recession and pandemic in the recent past.

It denies that the issue has been secreted through, and that Independent Golfer was mentioned in its Strategic Plan, at its 2023 AGM, and again this year, “in significant detail”.

Some of the biggest unknowns are how many people will be attracted to the programme, with GI saying there are 300,000 causal golfers in Ireland playing the sport versus approximately 225,000 registered players.

“The Independent Golfer Scheme is targeted at these (casual) golfers,” it said in a press release to members this week.

The Pitch understands, however, that Golf Ireland will see the intiative as a success if 12-14,000 new members sign up, based on similar comparisons overseas, in countries like New Zealand and Australia.

In England, for example, 40,000 out of a figure of 1m casual golfers signed up, representing a 4 per cent return rate – that would compare to just 14,000 here.

That then raises the question: why, for such a modest number of new officially registered participants, is Golf Ireland so willing to risk so much for so little return, but with so much at stake?

Forbes reveals world’s highest paid athletes 

For the fourth time in his career Cristiano Ronaldo has made it to the top of the world’s most recognised rich table - Forbes Higest Paid Athletes List.

Ronaldo earned $260m for the past 12 months through onfield earnings of $200m from his contract with Saudi side Al Nassr, with an additional $60m through endorsement deals from Nike, Binance and Herbalife.

In second place was Jon Rahm on $218m, shooting towards the top of the charts less than six months after joining the LIV Golf tour for an estimated $350m, half of which was paid up front.

Lionel Messi sits in third on $135m, whith LeBron James in fourth place on $128m.

Interesting there are no female stars in the rich list, but the likes of Caitlin Clark, Coco Gauff and Nelly Korda expected to make serious inroads over the coming year.

The highest postionioned Irish athlete, based on annual earnings, is Rory McIlroy, who sits at 19th place on the Forbes list, with an income of $80.1m.