EGU/County fees

[Imurg]

Every year I've been a member of a club, these fees have been added to the year's fees and paid to the EGU/County by the club.
Input renewal form this year it stated that due to a legal decision, these fees were to be collected, not by the club, but by the EGU/County.
I've paid up for Club Membership for the year's anyone know anything about how, when or if the other fee will be collected..?
Will EGU, for example, invoice me? What if I don't pay?
If the fees don't get paid will my handicap still be valid?
Anyone heard of this legal decision?

 

[Ross61]

I don't know anything about it. My club said the egu/county fees had gone up so although the club subscription was the same as last year there was a small increase to cover the egu/county fee increase.

 

[SteveBonners]

Every year I've been a member of a club, these fees have been added to the year's fees and paid to the EGU/County by the club.
Input renewal form this year it stated that due to a legal decision, these fees were to be collected, not by the club, but by the EGU/County.
I've paid up for Club Membership for the year's anyone know anything about how, when or if the other fee will be collected..?
Will EGU, for example, invoice me? What if I don't pay?
If the fees don't get paid will my handicap still be valid?
Anyone heard of this legal decision?

My understanding is that the EGU/County fees are paid by a club to the County Golf Union in one payment. This is based on the number of members on their records. The fees are collected during the course of the year and paid over at the start of the following year.

 

[Old Colner]

There have been rumors at ours about the cost of the county fees and I believe it has been explored about the possibility of leaving the organisations, this was concluded as a no go, as all handicaps become void and unrecognised among other things.

 

[SammmeBee]

Every year I've been a member of a club, these fees have been added to the year's fees and paid to the EGU/County by the club.
Input renewal form this year it stated that due to a legal decision, these fees were to be collected, not by the club, but by the EGU/County.
I've paid up for Club Membership for the year's anyone know anything about how, when or if the other fee will be collected..?
Will EGU, for example, invoice me? What if I don't pay?
If the fees don't get paid will my handicap still be valid?
Anyone heard of this legal decision?

I think APGC have just thrown you under the bus.....they aren't paying BBO/EGU therefore in essence you won't have a CONGU handicap as they won't be affiliated. I think that's the short but probably the correct view!

 

[Imurg]

So, I was at the club today and found out a bit more.
Apparently there is a female lawyer somewhere Oop North who also owns a Golf Club.
She's arguing that Clubs shouldn't have to collect fees on behalf of EGu/County as this creates extra work and, probably more to the point, it forces those who don't want/need to run an official handicap into paying for something they don't want...
So untila legal decision is made APGC are not collecting these fees. Should the decision dictate that Clubs should collect fees then they will.

I can see where they're coming from.
We have members who just play socially, rarely playing comps, who are not really interested in handicaps as they play off 28 and wont get any better anyway...
Why should they have to pay affiliation fees when they're not going to get anything from that payment.....
I'm assured by the club that we are still affiliated until this decision is made.....

 

[rosecott]

So, I was at the club today and found out a bit more.
Apparently there is a female lawyer somewhere Oop North who also owns a Golf Club.
She's arguing that Clubs shouldn't have to collect fees on behalf of EGu/County as this creates extra work and, probably more to the point, it forces those who don't want/need to run an official handicap into paying for something they don't want...
So untila legal decision is made APGC are not collecting these fees. Should the decision dictate that Clubs should collect fees then they will.

I can see where they're coming from.
We have members who just play socially, rarely playing comps, who are not really interested in handicaps as they play off 28 and wont get any better anyway...
Why should they have to pay affiliation fees when they're not going to get anything from that payment.....
I'm assured by the club that we are still affiliated until this decision is made.....

Affiliation fees fund a great deal more than just handicaps. England Golf and the County Unions run all amateur golf in the country. If a club wants to be part of the amateur game, it becomes affiliated, pays the fees and Bob's your uncle - not our Bob.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Is that the sound of a can or worms opening? Sounds like the start of a slippery sloe

 

[rosecott]

Is that the sound of a can or worms opening? Sounds like the start of a slippery sloe

The place for the slippery sloe is a long-term residence at the bottom of a bottle of gin.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

The place for the slippery sloe is a long-term residence at the bottom of a bottle of gin.

Quality.

 

[Three]

So, I was at the club today and found out a bit more.
Apparently there is a female lawyer somewhere Oop North who also owns a Golf Club.
She's arguing that Clubs shouldn't have to collect fees on behalf of EGu/County as this creates extra work and, probably more to the point, it forces those who don't want/need to run an official handicap into paying for something they don't want...
So untila legal decision is made APGC are not collecting these fees. Should the decision dictate that Clubs should collect fees then they will.

I can see where they're coming from.
We have members who just play socially, rarely playing comps, who are not really interested in handicaps as they play off 28 and wont get any better anyway...
Why should they have to pay affiliation fees when they're not going to get anything from that payment.....
I'm assured by the club that we are still affiliated until this decision is made.....

Actually as soon as I read your OP I knew who was behind all this, and you refer to her here.

Owner of Abbotsley and Cambridge Meridian, Vivienne Saunders.
She's been banging on about this, amongst other things, for years.

 

[rosecott]

Actually as soon as I read your OP I knew who was behind all this, and you refer to her here.

Owner of Abbotsley and Cambridge Meridian, Vivienne Saunders.
She's been banging on about this, amongst other things, for years.

I thought that too but hadn't realised that Cambridgeshire was considered "oop North" by residents of Buckinghamshire.

 

[Imurg]

I thought that too but hadn't realised that Cambridgeshire was considered "oop North" by residents of Buckinghamshire.

Just relaying information Rosie...
Cambridgeshire's just over the hill from here👍
Anyone else's club doing the same as mine..?

 

[backwoodsman]

Hmm. I fear Homer's slippery sloe.

I claim no expertise in this field, but surely it is the club that is affiliated - not the members? So it's the club that pays the fee based on a head count? Which the club adds to individual bills?

But if EG/county are to collect from individuals, how are they going to know who to collect from - other than by getting data from clubs. So where would be the saving in admin effort? And by and large it is clubs as entities rather members as individuals who benefit from EG/County - so if they can't collect the full whack (which would be inevitable) then we're all going to lose out.

As matter of interest, if APGC aren't collecting the dues, then presumably they are not paying to EG/County? I wonder how long they'd be willing to let APGC continue to be affiliated? I think I'd be worried.

 

[Imurg]

I am a little unsure that's for certain..
The question I asked included the "How do they know whom to collect fees from "....
" Their problem if the decision goes that way" was the answer.....

Watch this space.

 

[backwoodsman]

For anyone interested, just found the story.


http://www.golfclubmanagement.net/2016/02/agco-chair-calls-for-affiliation-fee-delay/

 

[Three]

Guys,

Where I am in Europe, the system is as some of you describe, ie the golfers pay their fees directly to the National Union,who in turn run the players' handicaps on a centralised system that all courses are linked to.


Players are not tied to which course they affiliate themselves with in tournaments, so as I'm not involved with the amateur tournaments it took me a while to realise that many of the golfers I thought were "members" (as we know that to mean) of my club, are in fact simply paying for use of the facilities and actually represent a variety of other "clubs" that have evolved over the years due to politics.

So imagine if you will, you have 400 "members" of your current club, but many are not actually members who are affiliated to your club, they just buy a yearly discount fee on the facilities. Your best actual club member is suddenly a 15 handicapper ( no offence, just an example) because all the single figure and scratch players have formed their own "club" affiliated to an indoor golf simulator 200 miles away, so in every tournament, including all team matches, they represent this other "club" even though they play at your course week in week out.

Imagine the players at your own golf course actually belong to a total of 6 different clubs, some based at your course, some based at driving ranges they've never been to, and of course the best players as the simulator.

That is the reality of how it works here when players, not the club, are directly affiliated to the union.

Carnage. It won't affect me but I seriously urge you to consider voting against it if you ever have the chance.

 

[Imurg]

Well, Email from the Club today confirms that it's business as usual. Court decided that the current system is right so clubs have to collect fees.
Got to pop in at my earliest convenience to part with 19 quid....

 

[woody69]

Well, Email from the Club today confirms that it's business as usual. Court decided that the current system is right so clubs have to collect fees.
Got to pop in at my earliest convenience to part with 19 quid....

£19? I paid something like £27? What's that about?

 

[Imurg]

No idea - that's how much they want, that's how much they'll get.