As part of a club support package funded by the R&A, Scottish Golf have announced that £685,000 will be made available to affiliated Scottish Golf clubs who have been affected financially by COVID-19.
The grants will be made available via two separate allocations; the COVID-19 Fixed Costs Grant and the Club Relief Fund.
Details of the two funds are outlined below, and applications are welcomed from all affiliated Scottish Golf clubs:
COVID-19 FIXED COSTS GRANT
Value: £285,000
£500 maximum per club
The COVID-19 Fixed Costs Grant will enable every affiliated club in Scotland to apply for a maximum of £500 for fixed costs specifically associated with preparing for safe play and club/course management following the COVID-19 lockdown in early March 2020.
These can include but are not exhaustive of sanitation products, COVID-19 related H&S safety equipment, professional fees, signage, training, video conferencing licence (e.g. zoom) and any other COVID-19 related spend.
To apply to receive funding, clubs are required to fill out a short application form confirming details about the club, which is available via the Scottish Golf website, as are the full terms and conditions.
Only one application per club will be accepted for the COVID-19 Fixed Costs Grant.
The application process for the COVID-19 Fixed Costs Grant will open on Monday 29th June and will close on Friday 24th July. All grants will be paid to clubs within ten working days of notification of a successful application, and clubs should note these dates as the closing date will be strictly adhered to.
Money not claimed in relation to the COVID-19 Fixed Costs Grant will be transferred to the Club Relief Fund on Monday 27th July.
CLUB RELIEF FUND
Value: £400,000
£1,000 - £5,000 per club
The Club Relief Fund has been created to provide financial support to clubs who have been impacted by the pandemic. This fund is concentrated on enabling clubs to reinstate or to increase expenditure in key areas to either improve member experience or boost income generation potential.
The long-term impact of COVID-19 on the golfing landscape is still unknown, but this fund is aimed at helping clubs take the first steps to recovery and look to thrive again in the future.
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:
Standard Club Criteria and Agreement
Commitment to Growing the Game
Financial Information
Impact of Funding
The application for clubs is again available via the Scottish Golf website, as are the full terms and conditions.
*** Questions have been raised in relation to condition 2.5 of the Club Relief Grant, which indicates that clubs should be a course owning facility or one which incurs maintenance costs for a golf course, with concerns that many clubs who play over municipal courses or have playing rights bestowed by the course owners, would be debarred from making application to the fund.
Clarification has been sought and received from Scottish Golf as follows:-
Member clubs are not disbarred from applying for any support from this fund and are welcome to apply to both the COVID-19 Fixed Costs Fund and the Club Relied Fund.
It is the case that the criteria for the Club Relief Fund is weighted. The reason for this is that the fund is limited and can only realistically service 80-100 of 580 clubs. Clubs with primary cost responsibility for both a clubhouse and course do get weighted slightly higher than clubs with only a clubhouse. If a club have received no government grant funding that would also weight in favour in this regard.
The COVID-19 Fixed Costs fund is not weighted and has very limited criteria. It can also cover any past (and future) fixed costs incurred due to COVID-19.
In terms of the Relief Fund, the weighted criteria will be applied consistently and as a consequence will endeavour to get the funds to where they are most needed.
The application process for the Club Relief Fund will open on Monday 29th June and will close on Friday 24th July. Assessment of all applications will be undertaken during the week beginning 27th July with decisions being communicated by Friday 7th August. At that point, successful clubs will be asked to complete a final sign-off document, including bank details for payment. Again clubs should note these dates as the application dates will be strictly adhered to.
Scottish Golf 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.
If any clubs have any questions regarding making an application, they can get in touch with Scottish Golf by email at info@scottishgolf.org.
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