Our golf club was formed in 1888.  It is a medium sized rural golf club, with a membership of around 700, playing membership perhaps 200 to 250.
There is no doubt that we, and others like us, are more representative of the local community than a typical town or city club.

All our adult members have equal rights, and junior members have restricted playing times, with no voice nor vote in club management.

The club is governed and managed, as are virtually all members’ clubs, by a Council, with the various aspects of management devolved to committees, being greens, house, match and handicap, and finance.

Experience in any field is dangerous both in concept and execution.  In the administration of golf, at any level, what experience leads to is carrying on with matters as they were, without any original thought, but doing as had been done before because it had been done before.

When I was asked to be the junior convenor, having accepted, I sat down to consider my approach.  My starting point, and I can see no room for any essentially different approach, was to analyse the elements which comprise the junior section of any golf club, not just this golf club.

Those elements were, and are, as follows:-

1. The most important element had to be the boys and girls themselves.  There was a complete list of the names and ages of all junior members.  There was also a complete list of the exact handicaps for those who held a handicap.  There were sparse, and badly kept, details of previous competitions, showing me, up to a point, which juniors played in them and which did not.  I had a passing acquaintance with one or two of the juniors but, generally, did not know them nor was I able, at the start, to identify them.
2. Juniors are, of necessity, dependent of their parents.  Therefore the parents were the next most important element.  On this I was on firmer ground, knowing some parents as playing members.
3. The third element was the golf course.  I required to consider the course, the times juniors were permitted to play, and their capabilities of coping.
4. There then followed naturally consideration of the facilities and their availability for practice.  This element went further.  Most adults practise by hitting balls when their golf is in disarray, or just before a competition.  The result of that kind of “practice”, is to groove in your faults.  Practice should be based on professional coaching and direction.  Facilities also included consideration of indoor elements, locker room, eating and drinking, and leisure.
5. Therefore the next element had to be coaching arrangements.  My relatively sketch knowledge led me to consider this as a week point.  Until 1991 this club had a green keeper/professional and coaching was safe and well done in his hands.  After an interregnum of operating with a part-time professional, coaching had been handled by a visiting professional for a few hours in the summer under the auspices of the Golf Foundation.
6. The penultimate element was the playing of competitions.  There lay another apparent weakness. So far as I could tell, the numbers with handicaps and the numbers playing competitions was a small proportion of a relatively large number of junior members.
7. The final element did involve what may be described as lateral thinking, for want of a better expression.  This was a combination of organisation, communication and profile.  These elements merit a separate heading, as they provided the key to the way I have developed and managed the junior section.

ORGANISATION COMMUNICATION AND PROFILE

Organisation starts with information and knowledge.  The practice in golf clubs is to suggest that one should speak to so and so about this and that.  Such an approach has its uses but is not the way to start.  Recorded information is the start, for two reasons.  It is some mystification to me why people pontificate, as they do, about, say, the Rules of Golf, without ever opening the book which sets them out.  The second, and related, reason is that written information tends to be reliable, whereas work of mouth tends to be unreliable.

The records should be clear and precise information personal details, girls, boys, dates of birth, and numbers of junior members.  The handicap records showed the standard of the players.  The competition records showed who played, how many, and what they scored, though they were diffuse and had to be brought together.  The coaching records were non-existent.

Analysis of the information told me a good deal.  78 juniors were members, 23 with handicaps, only one of whom was a girl.  Out of those with handicaps, some were “away members” whose home club was elsewhere, some did not play in competitions.  Only 12 played in competitions, and the number playing in any one competition was always in single figures.  There was a core of 7 who played regularly in competitions.  Of that core only one was in his last year as a junior.

I have to admit that work of mouth did help in one respect.  A member told me of teachers at Fortrose Academy who did assist youngsters and of the existence of clubgolf in that connection.

I arranged a meeting at the school to pursue the last point.  That was in December 2003 a week or two after I was appointed.  I also wrote to every junior member inviting them and their parents to a meeting at the end of December 2003.

I was aware, from previous membership of the Council, and as an ex-captain, that the junior convenor of the day did the best he could, but issues surrounding the juniors were rarely discussed, and what was or was not done to promote, develop and manage the junior section, was not made known to the members.

That is not to say that previous junior convenors had not tried.  Some were inactive, but others, particularly my immediate predecessor, had worked hard and had done much.  The point I am making is that some members with an interest in the working of the golf club were able to glean knowledge of the working of the junior section, but most were not.

The elements under this heading may now be brought together as development and management.

DEVELOPMENT

The first meeting at the school produced two results.  The initial one was to set up a School Championship which I will refer to later.  The second was my introduction to clubgolf and their programme for continuous coaching by trained volunteers for the beginners to professional instruction at the appropriate stage.  The clubgolf literature has to be read by all involved in the development of junior golf.

The meeting of juniors and parents achieved a reasonable attendance, 17 juniors and 6 parents.  Bear in mind my previous comment that the profile of the juniors was so low that it was almost invisible.

Following my analysis I set out a programme for 2004.

The structure for running the junior section would be a committee of four from the Council.

The competitions would be organised by me as Junior Convenor, but I would institute a group of the juniors to take over the competitions themselves.
The rights of juniors to play, particularly timing, would be reviewed.

As there was no time to change the competitions in 2004 were the same as 2003.
My main priority was development of facilities for, and organisation of arrangements for coaching.

Locker room and other indoor matters had to be considered but were a low priority at this stage.

MANAGEMENT 2004

There were three meetings of a committee of 5 formed from the juniors.  Though few ideas came from them, there was value in communication and getting to know each other.  The adult committee formed from the Council met once and was of little use.  Most had more pressing priorities in the work of the Council.  As a consequence the administration has devolved on me as Junior Convenor.  It may be argued with some justification that I have to delegate.  On the other hand I suspect there will be much talk of a change of practice in this respect, but no action.

The playing of competitions in 2004 worked tolerably well.  Those who played were keen and committed.  The juniors now do their own draws and enter their results on the computer.  The numbers were too few, varying from 4 at worst to 10 at best.
The arrangements for “outside” competitions was something which I changed.  Various posters and details come in for these, but I learned of others for which no intimation was received at the club.  Previously those posters had been stuck up on the Notice Board without thought or analysis.  I rejected those which were unsuitable or impractical.  I analysed the remainder, extracting the essentials, and posted the details of dates, qualifying conditions and methods of entry, without the propaganda and verbiage.

A choice had to be made before the golf season started.  Either there had to be a revised coaching scheme or the facilities for play and practice had to be improved.  There was insufficient time to do both. The opportunity to improve facilities was there, could have been lost, and that was my choice.  The work of improvement was effected by myself, the Highland Regional Manager of clubgolf, and our own course manager.

We examined facilities at Tain Golf Club, and received unstinting assistance from their general and course manager.  Planning of detail and arrangements for financial assistance took much time.  The Highland Regional Manager was the key, and without his efforts above and beyond the call of duty, the project would never have got off the ground.  Those plans came to fruition in 2005.  Coaching arrangements suffered.  The Golf Foundation scheme was for 8 hours in July.  I do not want this point to be misunderstood.  That coaching by an experienced professional was valuable. But it was not enough.

The arrangements “inside” are not satisfactory.  The junior locker room is adequate to put it at its highest.  It is too small and its appearance is dull and depressing. Painting and repairing defects was done, but the improvement was marginal.  There is an area to which the juniors could be moved, but that will require debate and discussion in the Council, which is a task for my successor.  There should be a separate room for juniors, not only in the ideal world but in the real one.  All that we have is a pool table situated in the dining area.  That has to be abandoned when people are dining, and is for adult use as well, though juniors are the main users.  It is, however, not possible to provide such a room without extension of the clubhouse.

The rights and playing times of juniors proved to be a bone of contention in certain respects.  Our present position is that juniors are not permitted to tee off in the prime morning and evening slots, for which there is effective compensation by having virtual freedom to play when they wish in the school holidays.  Juniors with handicaps of 12 or less may play in some adult competitions but not in all.  Two matches with other clubs were arranged in 2004, but one had to be cancelled in unforeseen circumstances.
An open day was held at the end of June, with a coaching clinic for beginners inside and outside the club by a professional.  The School Championship was held in conjunction, and the result was a raised profile within the club and outside.
Finally comes the matter of reporting.  I adopted the policy of providing more detailed reports to the Council, sometimes written sometimes not.

For the Annual General Meeting I produced a detailed report, separate and distinct from that of the Captain.  Some members disapproved, as unnecessary, some were in favour, I am unrepentant.

Before turning to 2005, one issue arose which requires to received treatment on its own, and that is child protection.

CHILD PROTECTION

The abuse of children in all its forms, bullying, violence, or sexual, is widespread, and a matter of serious concern.  It is not belittle that concern to say that the issue of protection of children, and the production and publication of policies to do so, is the flavour of the moment.

There is no legislation which compels an organisation to construct or to adopt a policy to protect children.  There are, however, two criminal offences directly related thereto.  Put shortly those offences are knowingly to employ or engage as a volunteer anyone on the “Disqualified List”, and to fail to remove such a person from his or her position.
As a matter if realism, however, golf clubs require to adopt a Child Protection Policy.  Those organisations who dispense what may be described in broad terms as public funds, do and will insist on such adoption as a condition of such dispensation.

Both in the public press and in golf magazines there is much talk of volunteers in golf club administration being deterred by the restrictions and bureaucracy of child protection requirements.

The Scottish Golf Union Model Policy is 38 pages long including appendices.  The Child Protection Policy of the Angus Golf Association is 3 pages long and distils the essentials.  It is the experience of those in golf administration that club members and those playing in competitions do not appear to observe or read information or rules of a few paragraphs displayed in large type in front of their noses.

It is important to remember, and this tends not to be emphasised or forgotten, that the protection of children is not just against bullies and those who use violence or interfere with children in a sexual manner.
Guidance on first aid is one matter.  There is also the procedure, increasingly put in place, of requiring parents to inform officials of medical conditions in children which may require attention on journeys away from home.

The disturbing question of what an official is to do if a child chooses to disclose to him or to her abuse stated to be perpetrated by others is unlikely to happen, but if it does it is vital to know what to do, and to be prepared for such an eventuality.

On all these matters the Model Policy of the Scottish Golf Union provides direct and specific information advice and guidance.
It may be stating the obvious to say that the existence of a Child Protection Policy does not of itself protect a single child.  Therefore whether the adoption of such a policy will be effective is a matter of legitimate debate.
All golf clubs and organisations will find, in practice, that they will require to adopt a Child Protection Policy.  Certain people employed by or administering the club or organisation will have to submit to a disclosure check, administered and organised by the Scottish Golf Union.

MANAGEMENT 2005

Competitions have proceeded as before but with important improvements to which I have made a minor contribution and the juniors have made a major contribution.

The good players improved dramatically in 2004 and have continued that improvement in 2005.  There was significant individual success and the boys from our golf club, more accurately playing as Fortrose Academy but the effect was the same, swept the board, team and individual, at the Highland Schools’ Golf Championship at Skibo in October.  This engendered much publicity.

In 2005 that success has continued.  Five boys now have handicaps in Category One, something this club last achieved about 15 to 20 years ago, and probably never before that.
Other boys have emerged, no doubt naturally through parents and coaching, but also, I conclude, through the raising of profile by success and the consequent publicity within and outside the club.

The concentration, through the winter and into the season, has been on facility development and coaching.

Facility development has followed naturally from the work in 2004.  We have now completed our present plans for course and practice ground improvement.  This could not have been achieved without financial assistance of £6400 from clubgolf, the personal input of their management, and the efforts of our own greens staff.

We have now a practice ground with three short golf holes.  Two greens are cut to winter standard, maybe somewhat better, and one green to course standard with two bunkers.  On the course we have made a short series of 6 holes for beginners.  These facilities are being used in part, and will be in full use from 2006.

Coaching development has been my main concern.  I have tried to address this by encouraging two specific groups.  The first was those older ones who can hit the ball but have not yet acquired a handicap.  The second was youngsters of ages 9 to 11 in general terms who are in the early stages but are not complete novices, that being the province of Level 1 of clubgolf.

There is no blinking the fact that coaching development has involved a great deal of time and effort.  Equally there is no point in pretending that the time and effort has been anyone’s other than mine.  The start was to engage the services of an additional professional who already had teaching facilities for adults at the club.  It was important to agree with her exact terms for who was to be coached and when.  Efforts were made to contact likely juniors from our members but there was no time to go further afield to schools or otherwise.  All junior members received a letter followed by personal contact or telephone to the most probable candidates.

The result has been 7 hours of coaching for each of the two groups, including the Golf Foundation coaching.  A further 3 hours for each group is in prospect later this year.
20 juniors have taken part in coaching, 12 younger, 8 older.  This is promising but needs to be sustained.  The number playing regularly in competitions has increased to 12.
It is particularly encouraging that 4 of those being at younger level are girls.  There is a realistic prospect that those girls will acquire a handicap in 2006.  That would be an increase from zero, as our only girl competitor left as a result of her father’s change of employment in 2004.  We have two matches against other clubs in 2005.  One of our Category One juniors has been a member of a Scottish Age Group squad since 2003.  Three others have been selected North District squads in 2005.
clubgolf has started from scratch and is now at the stage of being “rolled out” to use an expression beloved of those with a limited command of English.  There are links with our club but they depend too much on the persons presently involved.  Those links need to be improved beyond the rudimentary, as do our coaching arrangements.

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