The two New Hampshire golf associations that govern the game for men and women in the state will continue to operate as separate organizations.
The New Hampshire Golf Association, which oversees men’s amateur play, and the New Hampshire Women’s Golf Association reached an agreement during a meeting at Manchester Country Club on Friday, ending negotiations that have been on hold since June. The sides released a joint statement announcing the decision on Tuesday.
“Each New Hampshire association will retain its independent structure and mission, but will work collaboratively to deliver services such as course rating and building engaging playing opportunities for women,” the statement reads.
A mandate handed down by golf’s national governing body, the USGA, limits handicapping services to one organization in each state or region. Prior to Friday’s meeting, that service was facilitated through both the NHGA and NHWGA. If NHWGA members vote to accept the agreement, handicap service in the state will be organized through a third entity, the Allied Golf Association.
New Hampshire is the final state to reach an agreement. USGA officials flew to New Hampshire on Friday to participate in the meeting and see that a conclusion was reached.
The tipping point in negotiations focused on revenue derived from the handicapping service for female players and how it would be divided between the NHGA and NHWGA. The NHWGA previously received all revenue from women’s handicaps but get 62 percent moving forward. The rest gooes to the NHGA to support its services for female players.
“The New Hampshire Women’s Golf Association believes this tentative agreement outlines a fair and equitable division of resources moving forward,” NHWGA Board President Dana Harrity said in the statement. “Most important, it will allow our association to remain independent and continue to serve New Hampshire’s women golfers as we have for more than 94 years.
“We sincerely thank the USGA for its leadership and the NHGA for working toward this compromise,” Harrity said.
Friday’s meeting lasted more than five hours. Matthew Schmidt, executive director of the NHGA reached by phone Tuesday, called it a “healthy conversation.”
Last week, Harrity and others were concerned that the NHGA would absorb all or a significant portion of handicapping revenue through the USGA’s mandate and end the NHWGA’s long history in the state. A Change.org petition was created by the NHWGA last week asking supporters to help “Save NH Women’s Golf Association.” The petition remained online Tuesday and had 560 supporters.
“The NHGA believes our relationship with the NHWGA has never been stronger,” Schmidt said in the statement. “The USGA’s presence at Friday’s meeting shows the commitment they have in seeing the AGA model work, not only in New Hampshire but nationwide. … This agreement with the NHWGA ensures that the game will continue to flourish in New Hampshire for decades to come.”
(Nick Stoico can be reached at 369-3338, nstoico@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @NickStoico.)