IT’S a numbers game but for Blane Dodds, the chief executive of Scottish Golf, those numbers are not adding up.

Like a particularly wayward day at the medal, some of the figures make for grim reading.

The recent reduction in sportscotland funding to the amateur body of around £350,000, for instance, has not sparked a panic-stricken rummage down the back of the collective couch just yet but Dodds insists that changes have to be made on the financial front to keep Scotland’s clubs and development programmes healthy and competitive.

Dodds has been out and about over the past month and has hosted a series of consultations with over 100 clubs across the country.

Formulating a four-year plan for the future will involve plenty of discussion and debate and one key area is at the top of the agenda.

“I think the annual subscription has to go up, it has to,” said Dodds, of the per capita affiliation fee that clubs pay the national body.

At present it stands at £11.25, which is considerably cheaper than other nations around Europe. In Ireland, it is around £23 while in France it comes in at about £46.

“France is investing £20 million a year, our investment is three to four million,” added Dodds. “Our annual sub works out at 94 pence per month.

"It is a tiny amount of money compared to what is paid around the world and we are falling behind in terms of investment if we want to be a serious player in the world market.

"This is about catching up. Our turnover of £4 million is not enough. It is tiny. We have six development officers in Scotland at the moment and we want to do more. We want to put golf clubs back on the radar as they used to be.”

Dodds is keen to draw on the ideas and innovations from all 587 of Scottish Golf’s affiliated clubs while trying to forge a more streamlined, efficient approach to governance.

There are 13 committees involved in Scottish Golf which “are not particularly fit for purpose,” according to Dodds.

“It’s impossible for them to be effective when you are trying to co-ordinate 130 people to meet up,” he noted.

Golf clubs have been guilty of standing still in an age of change and challenges but there are plenty doing some fine work across the board in a bid to attract new members, maintain existing ones and branch out into new revenue streams. There is still plenty to do, of course.

“Only one in 10 of our members are under the age of 34,” said Dodds of a national membership of around 211,000. The average age of a golf club member is between 53 and 58 while only 14 per cent of the membership is female.

“Young families are not getting the chance and that’s why we are trying to get clubs to re-position their approach,” added Dodds.

“It doesn’t need to be expensive. If we get more money coming into the sport, club membership doesn’t need to be going up. It’s value for money that has to be driven.

"If we all work together, we can have huge power on this. Do you (the clubs) want to come on this journey? Amalgamation is done and gone and that’s great, but we need to move on as we’re getting left behind. We need more resource to invest into what we want to deliver.”

On the performance front, meanwhile, Scottish Golf was handed a lift with the announcement that Stephen Gallacher, the Ryder Cup player and European Tour campaigner, will be joining the performance committee.

He joins Catriona Matthew, the national female standard bearer, in offering guidance, support and general pearls of golfing wisdom to a new generation coming through.

"If you get used to winning regularly as an amateur, you’ll have a better chance of making it as professional," said Gallacher, who was a Scottish and European Amateur champion as well as a Walker Cup player before forging a successful pro career.

"Hopefully I can provide advice, help and assistance to support players.”