AYRSHIRE'S IAIN HARVEY IS NEW SGU PRESIDENT

FROM THE SGU WEBSITE
 Iain Harvey, a member of Kilmarnock (Barassie) and Ayr Belleisle Golf Clubs and a past President of the Ayrshire Golf Association, has been appointed as the new Scottish Golf Union President following last weekend’s Annual Conference and AGM.

During a purposeful gathering at Tulliallan Police College – attended by around 90 representatives from across Scottish golf – Harvey took over the presidency reins from Windyhill’s Maurice Shields after his successful tenure in 2012.

Following AGM approval, the Borders’ Jack Keeney was also appointed as the new Junior Vice-President with David Calder appointed as Non-Executive Director for Finance.

Harvey, an ex-teacher who has served on his Area’s executive committee for more than 20 years and is also a former secretary of the Ayrshire Junior League, is relishing his forthcoming spell in office. “It’s a great honour to be the Scottish Golf Union President for 2013 and to follow in the footsteps of my 50 distinguished predecessors,” said the former SGU Vice-President.

“I’m looking forward to meeting people from across Scottish Golf in the coming months, at national and Area events, and to thank, at first hand, the many volunteers across the country who give of their time to ensure these events run smoothly and efficiently.

“We receive wonderful support from clubs to facilitate all our events and have wonderfully loyal sponsors, supporters and partners, who I look forward to working with more closely.”

Harvey paid tribute to Shields and Tom Craig, SGU Chairman, who visited and held positive discussions with all 16 Areas throughout 2012 to build relationships towards the goal of amalgamation with the Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association.

A new joint working group has been formed, meeting recently for the first time, and positive discussions on the subject are set to continue. “Maurice and Tom have to be applauded for all their hard work and the goodwill they have fostered. I hope to help in continuing that,” Harvey added.

The conference-style AGM, a new format to previous years, was favourably commented on by all those who attended, appreciating the efforts to engage and valuing a better insight into the breadth and quality of work the SGU do.

The weekend, which began with a presentation from key note speaker Dr Steve Otto of the RandA to debunk the myths around golf technology, featured concurrent workshops on subjects such as Pace of Play, Club Development and Business Planning and the Scottish Golf Development Centres.

An overview of the year from Craig and presentations from senior SGU staff on various key topics for 2013 were also heard, before the weekend concluded with A Working Together Session, facilitated by Stuart Ferrier from sportscotland, designed to consider how everyone can work better together within Scottish golf.

Former Ryder Cup player Andrew Coltart, a member of the SGU Performance Committee, was among those who attended the Saturday evening dinner, which featured a presentation to Shields and the ‘welcoming in’ of Harvey.

Professor David Purdie, Doctor of Medicine, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and a keen golfer who assisted Sam Torrance with speech writing at the 2002 Ryder Cup, was the entertaining guest speaker. 
Click here for the 2012 Annual Report on the SGU website