SLGA take action to halt decline in entries to 

championship: Tournament moves into June 

By COLIN FARQUHARSON 
Only months away from the amalgamation with the Scottish Golf Union, the wind of change is blowing through the Scottish Ladies Golfing Association's collective thought process on the staging of tournaments.
Next year's 102nd Scottish women's amateur championship at West Kilbride Golf Club will be played from May 31 to June 4 - a couple of weeks later than traditionally.
The number of entries to the annual championship has been declining steadily and last week's tournament at Monifieth Links attracted only 67 entries with Jess Meek's wrist injury withdrawal reducing the field to 66.
Two basic reasons - a clash with school exams and the fact that more than 20 of the best Scottish girl golfers are students at American colleges these days and cannot get released much before the end of May.

Said SLGA championship manager Tony Melvin-Ffinch (pictured left):
"All the Scottish girls in America will be able to get home in time, even if their college teams qualify for the NCAA Championship (which is being played in Florida at the moment) and all the girls who missed last week's championship because they were sitting exams, will be free to play next year."
A few years ago, the R&A moved the men's British amateur championship to a later date, recognising the fact that many of the best male amateur golfers in Europe were not entering the tournament because they still had college commitments in the States.
It's taken the SLGA some time to catch up, but better late than never. And there are other changes in the SLGA pipeline.
President Beth Paterson closed her Saturday prizegiving speech by saying  she hoped many more girls would play at in the championship at West Kilbride next year because it would be over a shorter championship course than in the past.
Last week's tournament at Monifieth Links was played over a course of under 6,000 yards - which helped explain why the better-ball score of the finalists was an extraordinary nine-under-par   ... 1 eagle and nine birdies ... on the first wind-free day of the week.
You may argue that championships over shorter courses won't produce GB and I players capable of winning the Vagliano Trophy and Curtis Cup but the gallery at the Young v Walker final were certainly not complaining. 
It was a terrific match-play contest, the best Scottish final in living memory with 18-year-old Young winning by one hole, thanks to a birdie at the par-5 18th hole. Young was three under par at the finish and Walker two under the card.
"We are trying to appeal to as many players as possible in order to increase the numbers participating," said Melvin-Ffinch.
"Each championship course is different so we will look at each individual one and make a decision (on its length) based on the degree of difficulty, etc.
"It may be that we keep courses shorter for the stroke-play aspect of the championships and then, dependent on conditions, we have the option to lengthen them for the match-play if we feel it's required."
If it takes shorter courses to get more girls (a) playing golf and (b) playing competitively, then so be it. In England, the PGA has added its weight to England Golf in its drive to make golf a more attractive sport for young girls to take up.
Full marks to the SLGA for carrying on the campaign in the Home of Golf.
Other changes for 2016 and beyond:

+The SLGA Under-16 girls' open stroke-play is to become the SLGA Under-18 girls' stroke-play over 54 holes and will be a World Amateur Ranking points event. The Under-16s tournament will be played later in the season alongside the present Under-14s compeition. CHAM

+The Scottish Under-21 girls' open stroke-play championship will be played for the last time this year.