If you are involved with a dispute or a disciplinary matter, whether you are a golf club or county official, or a member or visitor at a golf club, you should bear in mind the following principles:

• Disputes should be dealt with, in the first instance, at their most local level. This means that a dispute arising at a club should be dealt with by the club.
• Any club or county dealing with a dispute should ensure that it has in place appropriate disciplinary rules and procedures. You can find templates for these documents here.
• It is expected that every disciplinary matter should be dealt with in a manner consistent with the principles of natural justice. This means ensuring that the accused is given adequate notice of the accusation and/or charges brought against them, that there is a fair hearing or process, and that there is no bias or conflict of interest in dealing with the matter. Put simply, the accused must have the opportunity to have their side of the story heard, and have their case dealt with by people who do not have any vested interest in the outcome of the matter.
• Remember that there is a contractual relationship between a club and a member regardless of whether there is a signed written agreement. It will likely be an express or implied term of that contract that the club will follow the rules and regulations that it puts in place to manage complaints and disputes. If a club fails to follow its own rules and regulations, a member might accuse the club of breaching the membership contract.

Involving England Golf

England Golf is a governing body for golf, but we are not a regulatory body. This means that we do not have the regulatory power to impose our decisions or judgment on clubs or county bodies in the vast majority of cases.

England Golf has in place robust Disciplinary Regulations , and whilst England Golf may decide to take its own disciplinary action following any complaint or grievance brought to our attention, we will not act or advocate for or on behalf of any individual, club, or county in a disciplinary matter.

We are generally unable to become involved in, or to interfere with, matters of day-to-day club or county management. This means that, whilst we can give guidance to individuals, clubs and counties on such matters, we will generally not be able to interfere with or take enforcement action in matters related to:

• Member suspensions, bans or club level disciplinary matters;
• Membership fee or subscription refunds;
• Other contractual disputes between clubs and members;
• Corporate governance issues such as breaches of a club’s constitution;
• Club or county squad selection issues.

Appeals

England Golf is the National Governing Body and Authorised Handicapping Body for amateur golf in England. For matters relating to the playing of the game, England Golf provides oversight to ensure that all organisations within our jurisdiction implement and apply the Rules of Golf and the Rules of Handicapping in a manner that is correct, consistent and in compliance with the rules that are laid down by the global governing bodies for golf, namely the R&A and the USGA.

For golfing matters, matters should be dealt with at their most local level with a right of appeal in line with the following table:

The decision of the appeal body is final and cannot be appealed.

An appeal can only be heard if it is made within the time limit contained in the relevant regulations, and a valid ground of appeal is made out.

For non-golfing (conduct) matters, individuals may ask the relevant county body to hear an appeal if the disciplinary regulations of that county permit. There is no automatic right to an appeal to the county for conduct matters.

Likewise, England Golf only has a limited ability to deal with conduct matters, where an issue is a matter of national importance or where the game or England Golf is brought into disrepute.

For Further Assistance

The Civil Mediation Council has a useful tool to find mediation services near you.