England Golf chief executive Jeremy Tomlinson (right) believes clubs have realised that membership is releveant and affordable since the COVID-19 crisis.
Picture by ANDREW GRIFFIN / AMG PICTURES

ENGLAND Golf chief executive JEREMY TOMLINSON has written to club members across the country on the latest developments since the relaxing of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions allowed the sport to resume.

IS IT really only four weeks since golf was given the green light by government?

We are just at the beginning of our journey back, yet there’s been so much activity crammed into this first, hectic month.

I’m pleased to say that the positivity buzzing around our beloved game continues to keep us all going through extraordinary times.

Adrenaline has helped conquer fatigue.

For me, it’s been heartening to see a value once again being placed on membership – and the visitor golfer experience – since we all pulled together to re-open courses and facilities on May 13.

England Golf exists to promote the amateur and club game. And I am proud to bang the drum on our game’s behalf.

But we should not make the mistake of undervaluing our game. Too often our sport has sold itself short.

It may have been largely accidental, but the spike in recruitment over last few weeks has proved two key things – golf club membership remains relevant and affordable.

Golf has been forced to hit the reset button. But the reboot gives everyone a chance to start afresh and carry this momentum forward.

England Golf chief executive Jeremy Tomlinson has been listening to feedback from members at his own club at Marlborough (pictured) among many others up and down the country

Feedback from clubs ‘very positive’

Each time I’ve been to my home club at Marlborough, visited Bassett Down Golf Complex, in Wiltshire, or spoken to my pals at Swindon’s Broome Manor, I’ve felt the energy for myself.

And, of course, through the national golfing network, I know this story has been repeated up and down the country.

But we must also take a breath as not everything in the garden is rosy.

Clubhouses remain closed and cash is tight. So I’m not naïve to the prospect that the toughest times might yet lie ahead for many of our clubs.

Re-forecasting, re-evaluating, re-planning and, in some cases, re-inventing are all potentially the order of the day, as we look to maximise opportunities and stabilise finances while coming out of this crisis.

Since my last letter, there have been updates on practice facilities, driving ranges and group coaching.

Within a week we can all look forward to visiting our pro shops, as non-essential retail re-opens from Monday…

So, if there are a few pounds burning holes in pockets, we can once again chase the “Holy Grail” of a perfect game – with the help of another new club or piece of equipment!

There’s no doubt too that the return of fourball play from June 1 has also been a game-changer for golf clubs.

I can’t stress to you how much hard work went on behind the scenes to allow golf to quickly reach a point where fourballs were considered safe to resume under government regulations on outdoor recreation.

‘Fourballs have helped clubs enormously’

For clubs, fourball play has helped reduce the pressure on tee-times.

Although, as with many things, I’m well aware of the healthy, ongoing debate on the merits of more players per tee-time.

It felt harsh to turn away golfers or ration slots to golfers already deprived of their sporting fix after months of enforced closure.

Fourballs have allowed clubs to get more members on the course, re-introduce guests and accept visitor bookings.

Of course, there are golfers who enjoyed the freedom of two-ball golf again. I get that.

Slow play is a curse in a fast-moving society and a sub three-hour round is a joy.

For many of our older golfers, there are sound health reasons why two-ball play and limiting social contact remains a wise choice with coronavirus still a threat.

I’ve been pleased to discover so many clubs listening to members and setting aside times for two-balls, while also re-introducing the fourball format.

A “best of both worlds” policy seems to be sensible and right.

The English Amateur Championship for both men and women will be held at Lincolnshire’s Woodhall Spa – the home of England Golf – at the end of July

England championships all set for resumption

Competitions are also an integral part of club life for many members.

After advising clubs and golfers to find their “sea legs” when it came to social distancing and sanitising guidance, I believe the June 1 date was a good time to re-introduce a competitive element to play for those who wanted it.

Safety must always remain the priority. But there’s no reason why competitions cannot take place within the regulations.

Here at England Golf, championship director James Crampton and his team are working towards our own events starting back on July 28

We wanted to offer light at the end of the tunnel by keeping a revised schedule in place. And that shaft of sunshine is getting brighter by the day.

Just as golf clubs eagerly anticipate the day when clubhouses can safely re-open, we too need a change in lockdown regulations to allow hotels to function and our events to tee off.

If the government’s roadmap out of lockdown remains on track, we will hopefully receive good news on that front soon…

In the spirit of golf’s return it was brilliant to see our friends at the European Tour promote a “UK Swing” as the professional game gears up for a comeback.

Likewise, our fantastic England Golf ambassador Justin Rose has proved his class once again by sponsoring seven events to allow many of the LET golfers to play competitively from June 18.

Slowly, safely and surely golf is beginning to find its feet. By continuing to work together, we will soon stand tall.

Jeremy Tomlinson, England Golf chief executive

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Ex-Wiltshire county captain Jeremy Tomlinson at the 2002 Wiltshire Amateur Championship at Hamptworth Golf & Country Club. Picture by ANDREW GRIFFIN / AMG PICTURES

ENGLAND Golf chief executive Jeremy Tomlinson has penned a second letter to golf club members across the country about the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak affecting thousands of members.

APRIL is the month when traditionally many golfers and their clubs come out of hibernation.

The clocks have changed, the weather improves and The Masters whets the appetite for a new season.

I’m no different to every other golfer in England who loves this great game of ours.

Normally I’d be looking forward to this weekend’s County Foursomes at Chippenham Golf Club.

In a fortnight, myself, colleagues and many friends from clubs around Wiltshire would be ready for the county championships at Tidworth Golf Club.

I’d have been cramming for these ‘exams’, playing with my friends at Marlborough Golf Club and trying to shake off the winter rust.

Instead, we have all been living through difficult times and golf courses remain closed as we all play our part by staying at home to protect the NHS and save lives.

However, golf WILL return. We will get to enjoy our sport again, our friendships, our rivalries and experience all the highs and lows that come as part and parcel of this wonderful game.

Since the shutdown on March 23, the sacrifices we have all made in our daily lives have helped to play a part in a huge national effort to combat COVID-19.

The way everyone in golf has rallied together in these uncertain times fills me with great optimism for the future.

Now is the time for us all to keep the faith and see this through until the end.

Behind scenes work to ensure golf returns at ‘earliest opportunity’

England chief executive Jeremy Tomlinson has led efforts to get courses reopened by working with the Government

The way golf clubs and golfers have played their part at a time of national crisis has been exemplary.

The spirit shown has reinforced just why this game is so precious to so many.

At England Golf, we made the responsible call to close courses and we are unwavering in this decision.

This is a stance made in the national interest and validated by government.

Throughout these challenging times, England Golf has collaborated like never before with our colleagues in golf administration and presented a united front during many conversations with government.

This collective approach has continued this week as we work with the Government to try and find the right conditions under which golf can return.

‘Play Safe, Stay Safe’ is the message and, as mentioned in my letter last week, proposed guidelines to prepare for when golf returns will soon be sent out to all clubs and counties.

I would like to thank everyone who has dealt with the frustrations of the last five weeks by acting to save lives.

We must continue to do the right thing in the belief that when it is safe for golf to return, we can look back with pride at how our community of golfers handled a situation that turned our sporting world on its head.

Please remain optimistic, keep the faith as we will Play Safe and Stay Safe on the fairways together again soon.

Jeremy Tomlinson
Chief Executive, England Golf

TOMLINSON TO FOLLOW WILTSHIRE WAY AS ENGLAND GOLF BOSS

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Former Wiltshire captain Jez Tomlinson, who has worked for Titleist and Callaway, will take as England Golf’s chief executive in January

FORMER Wiltshire captain Jeremy Tomlinson will join England Golf as its new chief executive officer in January 2020.

Tomlinson was previously vice-president and managing director of Acushnet Europe where he was responsible for the market leading brands Titleist and FootJoy.

Prior to that the Marlborough Golf Club member was a founding director of online golf retailer jamgolf.com

He also spent eight years as brand and sales manager for Callaway Golf Europe, during which time he captained Wiltshire, leading them at South West Week and in the Daily Telegraph South West League campaign for two seasons in 2000 and 2001.

England Golf chairman Nic Coward, who is based at Woodhall Spa, the National Golf Centre, said: “We are delighted to welcome Jeremy as our new chief executive.

“His considerable business experience and his deep knowledge of golf at all levels will be a huge asset to England Golf and all the organisations involved in developing, promoting and running the sport across the country.”

Tomlinson said: “I am honoured and excited to become the new chief executive officer of England Golf.

“To be joining a talented team with so many opportunities to positively affect the health of our great game is hugely energising.”

In addition to his leading roles in the golf industry, Jeremy has been heavily involved in the development and promotion of the game at schools’ and community level as a trustee of the Golf Foundation.

Captain Tomlinson was at the helm when Wiltshire launched revolution

DURING Tomlinson’s spell as county captain, junior organiser, the late Trevor Head, from Salisbury & South Wilts, and Hamptworth G&CC director Mark Lawrence created the Wiltshire Junior School of Excellence that helped the county reach the 2003 English Boys Finals.

Depsite being one of the smallest counties in the country with less than 30 clubs, the programme produced a squad of players that would see Wiltshire reach two English Boys Finals in that decade.

The programme was backed by England South West coach John Jacobs and Salisbury & South Wilts’ European Tour pro Andy Beal, who would became head pro at Hamptworth, who gave up Tour golf after losing an eye to cancer.

Off the back of stronger foundations that helped beef up their junior section, Wiltshire went on to claim the English Men’s County Championship for the first time in 2011 and successfully defended their crown in 2012 – having also reached the finals in 2007 and 2009.

The likes of Bowood’s Jordan Smith, who claimed the English Strokeplay Amateur Championship in 2013, and Rushmore GC’s Ben Stow – who kept the Brabazon Trophy in Wiltshire by winning it in 2014 – came through the junior ranks to play for England and Great Britain and Ireland in the Walker Cup.

They both graduated to the European and Challenge Tours with Smith winning the Porsche European Open in 2017, while Stow’s maiden win on the Challenge Tour came in the Prague Golf Challenge in 2018.

Wilthsire have been punching above their weight since the turn of the 21st Century.

Wrag Barn’s Martin Sell reached the 2002 Amateur Championship final, where he lost on the last hole to Spain’s Alejandro Larrazabal – brother of last week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship winner Pablo.

Another member of Tomlinson’s team – Marlborough clubmate Ian Campbell – reached the final of the 2001 Amateur Championship at Prestwick, only to lose on the last hole to Ireland’s Michael Hoey, who would go on to play in The Open that summer at Royal Lytham and the 2002 Masters.

Wiltshire had never produced an English Amateur Champion in more than 70 years at that point – let alone an Amateur Champion in the R&A’s blue riband event which dates back to 1885.

But they came close to having two different ones, back to back – a feat that was only achieved by Hampshire’s Scott Gregory and Harry Ellis two years ago.

Sell’s clubmate Ben Loughrey came through the Wiltshire Boys team to became an England international, playing in four English County Finals while younger brother Josh has been a winner on the Alps Tour and played on the Challenge Tour in 2016.

Ex-Wiltshire Boys and Men’s captain Ali James, whose family own Cumberwell Park, made his first team debut under Tomlinson and went on to captain Exeter University’s golf team.

County veterans Kev Phillips, from Broome Manor, who played with David Howell as a youngster, and High Post’s Pete Bicknall and Tom Burley – a regular winner on the South West amateur circuit – were members of Tomlinson’s county squad at the start of the 21st century.

The trio were still turning out for Wiltshire at South West Week as recently as 2012, along with James, while Tomlinson played six matches in the six-day marathon of foursomes and singles in 2018 and 2019 – at Cumberwell Park, and Parkstone.

During his period as an amateur player, Tomlinson was in the same Wiltshire side as Howell, who played in two Ryder Cups, and his regular county and England foursomes partner Gary Harris.

The latterwas the first player from the county to win the Brabazon Tour in 1994, although the Broome Manor member was controversially left out of the 1995 Walker Cup – where Howell would hole the winning putt for GB&I against a USA team featuring Tiger Woods, at Royal Porthcawl.

Harris, who struggled in the pro ranks playing on the Mastercard development Tour in the late 1990s after failing to get through the European Tour Qualifying School, was regarded by many as talented as the likes of Justin Rose, who broke through around the same time.

Harris went on to found the Jamega Tour, which has given aspiring players the chance to play professionally without having to be PGA-qualified, and which has been the launch pad for a number of ex-England amateurs to find their feet before earning promotion to the Challenge Tour via the PGA EuroPro and Alps Tours.

Tomlinson, who is a regular volunteer at Marlborough – one of the country’s premier chalkland courses – has also watched Wiltshire remain at the forefront of moves to modernise the game.

The Wiltshire County Golf Union and the Wiltshire Ladies formally merged in 2018, having spent more than a decade working together to form Wiltshire Golf, which was named England Golf’s County of the Year in 2019.

The new body works together to adminster the amateur game in the county and has pioneered the playing of the Wiltshire Boys’ and Girls’ Championships alongside each other at the same course.

They have developed a Wiltshire Junior Golf Tour for the U12s with nine tournaments and there are 120 boys and girls in the expanded junior programme, started by the boys at Hamptworth G&CC nearly 20 years ago.

Wiltshire Golf operations director Scott Talbert said: “We’re trying to change people’s attitudes to golf and to modernise the game.

“Wiltshire has never forgotten that the organisation is in existence to serve the interests of the clubs and players.”

Tomlinson is in the perfect position to promote Wiltshire’s successes on an even bigger stage with England Golf in 2020.

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