Welcome to The Herald’s weekly snapshot of golf business news in Scotland.

Before consigning The Herald Scottish Golf Survey 2026 to the archives, there is one further issue that emerged from this year’s data that should be of interest to anyone concerned about the longevity of the game at club level.

The findings point to a problem that rarely makes headlines but is repeatedly raised by those running the game: a growing strain on volunteers that could be the beginning of a structural crisis. Many clubs reported that “encouraging members to volunteer for committee duties” was one of their biggest challenges, often listed alongside far more visible pressures such as rising costs and ageing demographics.

It wasn’t all that long ago when members aspired, for the most part, to hold office within their club and actively vied against others hoping to achieve the same. The prestige that came with holding a position of power kept these unpaid posts readily filled.

(Image: Damian Shields)

The traditional model of the Scottish golf club is still heavily reliant on unpaid labour but the kudos of holding office appears to be losing some of its shine. This is undoubtedly the result of multiple factors that could include a declining or ageing membership, poverty of time among those with work or caring duties, or the increasing demands of running a modern golf club.

Committees oversee everything from governance and finance to competitions and long-term planning, and in some cases the same small cohort is recycling through positions – a classic marker of volunteer burnout.

The result is a quiet but critical tension. On paper, many clubs describe their financial position as stable. In practice, that stability often depends on a governance model that fewer people are willing – or able – to sustain.

If left unaddressed, the risk is not immediate financial collapse but something more gradual: a hollowing out of the volunteer base that underpins the entire club structure. It seems the future health of Scottish golf may depend as much on who is willing to run clubs as who is willing to play them.

ICYMI…

(Image: Leven Links)

There was a lot to take in from the survey data, so in case you missed it, here’s every story from this past week’s series:

Innerleithen balances its books with visitors and volunteers

(Image: Supplied)

Innerleithen Golf Club will never trouble the £300-a-round rankings, but it sits squarely in the part of the Scottish game that underpins everything else: a small, working people’s club balancing tight finances with a strong sense of community.

Read the entire story from Around the Greens here.

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