I couldn't find anything on the England Golf webite about this.
https://www.thegolfbusiness.co.uk/2021/02/england-golf-disappointed-isvs-handicap-cost-clubs/
England Golf has released a statement saying that it is disappointed to learn that independent software vendors (ISVs) have passed on a World Handicap System (WHS) cost they have been charged by it to golf clubs.
Under the new WHS, England Golf took over the calculation of a golfer’s handicap from ISVs. As part of the deal, ISVs signed a WHS licence last year to gain access to the new WHS platform, which came with a charge of £74.50 plus VAT every six months for each golf club to which they provide handicapping software, made payable to England Golf.
‘The ISV service charge covers the full cost of all maintenance and ongoing enhancement of the WHS platform and My England Golf app to effectively support golfers and golf clubs,’ reads the statement. ‘It is not an individual charge to golf clubs from England Golf.
‘We have not instructed ISVs to pass on and collect this fee from clubs on our behalf.
‘However, we are aware that some ISVs have now made the business decision to include this service charge in their invoices to golf clubs and we are disappointed that a licence holder would choose to pass the full burden of their responsibility for payment to golf clubs.
‘Should any golf club that has been presented with this scenario and has had a genuine financial challenge in meeting the payment for 2020 (£74.50 during an unprecedented pandemic year), then we would ask you to contact us at
whs.support@englandgolf.org to discuss the matter further.’
However, one ISV has said they made it clear from the offset that the cost would be passed on to clubs, and a golf club manager has said he believes the revenue is being used to fund the new independent golfer handicap scheme.
Richard Peabody, managing director of an ISV, Club Systems International (CSI), responded to England Golf’s statement by saying: “CSI made all GB&I governing bodies aware at the outset that any fees levied would have to be passed on in this way.
“CSI have an established business model, which has for many years dealt with the gradual increase in our overheads and other costs. It is an inevitable consequence, in any business, that an increase in unavoidable charges, taxes or fees will be passed on directly to the customer.
“At a time when all golf businesses are struggling and are facing extraordinary challenges ahead, we feel that all stakeholders should be coming together for the good of the game we love.”
Scottish Golf is also charging £149 per club per year.
However, in Wales, which has 141 clubs, the charge is £100 per year (equating to £14,100 of income for the national union), and in Ireland, where there are 418 affiliated golf clubs, the cost is 50 euros (£43), bringing in a total of just under £18,000 for the year.
England has approximately 1,800 golf clubs, meaning the annual charge of £149 each brings in £268,200 of income.
A spokesman for another ISV, who did not wish to be named, said: “Between England, Wales and Ireland, that’s £300,000 per year to run the WHS system. If the money is only being used to fund the system, then presumably all of that is being paid to Dot Golf, which is wholly owned by an overseas governing body, Golf New Zealand.”
One golf club manager added: “This is a poll tax, plain and simple. When the government imposed that, no one blamed the local councils who sent out the bills. There is no doubt in my mind that England Golf are charging this levy to the clubs, via the ISVs, to fund the nomad golfer scheme. Why else would the system cost £270,000 in England and only £17,000 in Ireland?
. The rules are as stated: LHI is determined with 20 scores present, but most EU/UK software systems will not be able to cope if the initial (transition) index is based on less than 20 scores and the 'real' LHI after 20 scores is higher. The basically neglected to implement that rule.