More than 20 golf clubs drawn from across the north of Scotland have attended a Finance Workshop in Inverness.
The groundbreaking event was spearheaded by golf finance expert Kevin Fish, who runs his own training and consultancy business, Contemporary Club Leadership. It was organised by the Golf Highland cooperative in tandem with Scottish Golf.
Twenty-five delegates from 15 member clubs, including Nairn, Inverness, Carrbridge, Tain and Abernethy, were joined at the Kingsmills Hotel by 10 Scottish Golf North club representatives drawn from Moray, Shetland, Orkney and Stornoway.
Ally Young, of Golf Highland and the Isle of Skye Golf Club, welcomed the joint initiative and pooling of information.
He explained: “This event was a first for Golf Highland and it was encouraging to see so many clubs, large and small, participating.
“Kevin has amassed more than 25 years’ experience across the industry and several member clubs had submitted their financial figures ahead of the event.
“That paved the way to invaluable feedback from Kevin on their forecast figures and he provided a detailed analysis on how these clubs were placed financially.
“The workshop also reflected on Scottish golf benchmark figures and encouraged clubs across the north of Scotland to assess the successes and challenges they are facing.
“Annual membership fees were compared and discussed, as well as green fees, visitor income and total gross income, in addition to running cost comparisons along with profit and loss indicators for courses and clubhouses.
“Overall, the analysis, discussion and comparisons, combined with Kevin’s first-hand experiences, provided a platform for those attending to share their experiences.”
Mr. Young highlighted the key roles played by Scottish Golf, which part funded the workshop, and regional development manager Eilidh Paterson in helping to organise the workshop.
Scottish Golf’s Charitable Trust also supported the travel expenses of the island club delegates participating in the Inverness gathering.
Eilidh Paterson, Scottish Golf’s North Regional Manager said: “Scottish Golf is delighted to work alongside Golf Highland to support the business development of golf clubs in the North Region.
“It was fantastic to have Kevin deliver this much needed workshop to affiliated golf clubs in Inverness which explored many areas of work I can further assist clubs with in my role.
“I look forward to assisting them in making these ideas and actions a reality. A huge thanks also to Scottish Golf’s Charitable Trust who financed the travel for Stonorway, Stromness, and Shetland golf club representatives to make it in person.”
Golf Highland clubs represented:
Carrbridge
Abernethy
Nairn Dunbar
Nairn
Kings
Inverness
Boat of Garten
Muir of Ord
Reay
Ullapool
Gairloch
Grantown on Spey
Tain
Portmahomack
Newtonmore
