On May 20, the Golf Historical Society of Canada (GHSC) announced to its membership the beginnings of working partnership with Golf Canada to create “a framework and structure to define a GHSC/Golf Canada Hickory Division.”
Golf Canada is the National Sports Federation and governing body of golf in Canada. In partnership with Canada’s provincial golf associations, Golf Canada currently represents approximately 272,000 golfers across the country as well as over 1,400 facilities.
For GHSC members, benefits may include:
- An extensive list of services, discounts, access to the first Hickory Handicap System sanctioned by any country’s national governing golf body;
- Loss/damage/breakage/theft insurance for hickory clubs and a set of club tags for one’s play set;
- Other benefits are listed at https://join.golfcanada.ca. (or see below).
Under this Hickory Division membership, broken, lost or stolen clubs are covered with a minimum deductible. Posting your hickory scores on the new hickory handicap web-based system provides members a formal, sanctioned hickory handicap that opens the door for equitable competition.
GHSC representatives are hopeful that the partnership will eventually lead to a Regional and/or Provincial hickory championship tournaments. As well, once current Covid lockdown measures are relaxed, the association looks to arrange formal hickory invitational and Open events on a come-one-come-all basis.
“We have been working behind the scenes with Golf Canada since early this year to create this Hickory Division which formally recognizes and legitimizes hickory golf and the GHSC in the eyes of Canada’s National Organizing Golf Body,” says GHSC’s president Jeff Rogers. “To the best of our knowledge, no other national organizing golf body anywhere has recognized the importance of hickory golf by taking these steps. This of itself is a major accomplishment, but when coupled with the other tangible benefits outlined herein, this becomes a serious win for both Golf Canada and the GHSC.”
The GHSC hopes to realize significantly more exposure from this new relationship via both the organization’s Facebook and web pages, info and print articles in both of its newsletters as well as opportunities for GHSC members to participate in Golf Canada/Golf Ontario events.
“This will elevate public knowledge about us and hopefully assist us in growing interest in the GHSC and growing our membership at the same time,” Rogers says. “At this point, we are only able to offer Golf Canada Hickory Division Memberships to GHSC members within the Province of Ontario where better than 90% of our members currently reside. We still need to grow our membership counts outside of Ontario significantly and hopefully this initiative will help in that regard.”
Golf Canada and the GHSC are continuing discussions. If you are reading this as a Canadian member of the SoHG, and are interested in joining the GHSC and becoming a full-fledged Hickory Division Member, or if you have any questions on the arrangement, please contact Jeff Rogers at jprogers@rogers.com.
Golf Historical Society of Canada
1346 Clyde Rd.
Cambridge, ON N1R 5S7
Canada