Local or national? Obviously the answer is both. However, every year all rural clubs pay a significant sum (around $24,000 in the case of a club with 350 members) for affiliation. Total affiliation fees from rural and regional golf clubs (“affiliated clubs”) will rise to more than $8 million in 2023. This is a very large transfer of money from local community facilities and needs to Golf Australia salaries, events, elite programs and marketing.
James Sutherland has said Golf Australia has a “leadership role in encouraging participation”. They develop a variety of marketing programs for golf development and growth. This is all very well and good if a club has the resources, such as administrative staff and a PGA professional, to run them. But it doesn’t matter how many Core Strategies, MyGolf, Women’s Golf or TeeMate programs we have if the volunteers in rural golf clubs are so occupied with keeping their courses running and coping with all the governance, OH&S, staffing, administration, competition and local marketing requirements that they don’t have the time. The take-up of many of these programs in rural areas is very low and is often just seen as “marketing gloss”.
Golf Australia Annual Reports show that their employment costs rose by $1.5 million between 2021 and 2022 to nearly $10 million. Elite development program costs have risen from $1.9 million to $3.3 million since 2018. Apart from the CEO, there are now six General Managers of various program areas. One could reasonably ask “is Golf Australia actually growing the game, or simply growing themselves?”
The Golf Australia Board is also almost exclusively comprised of lawyers, accountants and company directors, tightly nominated from mainly up-market metropolitan clubs. Good experience and qualifications are, of course, necessary for good governance. But does this exclusivity lead to a good understanding or empathy for smaller golf clubs?
Many rural clubs weathered bushfires in 2019 and long closures due to Covid-19 in 2020-21. In the Winter and Spring of 2022, some clubs were again closed for weeks or months due to excessive rainfall, course flooding and waterlogged conditions. All these events cost income and cash flow.
One club in rural Victoria was closed for two months in June-July 2021 as it battled to recover from a devastating “mega-storm” that uprooted 80 huge trees across the course, damaged the clubhouse, fences and other facilities. While they had amazing support from other clubs and their staff, all levels of government and Disaster Recovery agencies who helped clear the course for play, the one organisation notably absent was Golf Australia. And in a remarkable demonstration of a tin ear, their response in 2023 has been to raise affiliation fees by another 5.5%.
It wasn’t so long ago that Golf Australia had great concern about the continued financial stress and viability of many golf clubs. Obviously the concern is now not so great that clubs can’t be drained of a little more cash every year to fund Golf Australia’s increasing operations.
It should be noted that recently the Australian Football League, in recognition of the hardships and decline of rural football clubs and leagues, abolished all affiliation fees.
In a letter to country football clubs and leagues, the AFL enhanced their support in 2022 by committing to provide additional financial and resourcing support to assist clubs:
- Covering the cost of Club Liability cover (which includes both management liability and public liability insurance) and base level Asset Protect (contents) cover under the AFL National Risk Protection Program;
- Covering the cost of Level One Sports Trainers Accreditation fees;
- Coaching and umpiring accreditation fees waived;
- Appointing paid volunteer support officer roles to assist club volunteers across the state;
- No country affiliation fees to be charged by AFL Victoria.
See also: https://www.afl.com.au/news/131959/massive-18m-funding-boost-for-country-football-in-victoria
We are not suggesting that Golf Australia go this far, but they could have more consideration for the financial plight of many rural golf clubs than just demanding increased affiliation fees every year.
A typical 350-member rural club's annual expenditure of $24,000 that currently goes to affiliation fees could, for example, run a number of programs, for example women’s and family beginner program for over 10 years. Two years’ affiliation fees could repair a clubhouse in need of renovation, or provide an upgrade to changing facilities, especially for women. Four years of affiliation fees could fix an ailing irrigation system or help improve an unmade carpark so it doesn’t become a quagmire in winter or the whole clubhouse gets covered in dust every summer. All critical items that clubs struggle to afford but would make their offering more attractive to new golfers and “grow the game”. Are these less important than, say, a national marketing program?