Scottish Golf seeks 15,000 new female and junior members

Scottish Golf wants to attract 15,000 new female and junior members over the next three years.

The organisation is also proposing an increase in annual fees accrued from club members to £15, up from £11.25.

The move is to help plug a £400,000 shortfall in funding and to help address a decline in participation.

"We have an ambition to see our game in Scotland, the home of golf, get back on its feet again," chair Eleanor Cannon told BBC Scotland.

"We can do that by attracting more members and by performing on the world stage again, where we deserve to be.

"In order to do that, like any other business, you have to have the courage to invest locally before you can build."

Scottish Golf will spell out its aims at Sunday's annual general meeting, which was cancelled in December when chief executive Blane Dodds resigned and moved to Tennis Scotland.

Andrew McKinlay, the Scottish FA's interim chief executive, has since agreed to take over Dodds' position in May.

Plans for a new international tax for overseas visitors playing in Scotland have been scrapped and the suggested rise in fees has dropped to £15 from £24.

"We've come a long way since our conference in December," said Cannon.

"We've had the opportunity as a board and as an executive team to take ourselves away, having got everyone on the same page.

"The big turning point for the game is sharing a common understanding of our starting point and we agreed three simple priorities.

"Firstly, to attract non-male members and young people. We've set an ambitious target of 15,000 new entrants in those categories over the next three years.

"We also want to support those clubs that work with us to build their revenues.

"Lastly, we've set a revenue target of £6m, with half of that coming from non-member areas and commercial income."

Cannon thinks members "understand and respect" the need to raise the affiliation fee following a 30% cut in government funding.

"We're basically saying to our clubs this is an 18-month funding gap, we need to plug that while we focus on a new focused strategy of building commercial revenues."