As you are aware, GB9 have been taken over by a new committee and recently announced tour dates for 2024, which we have been unable to fulfil, perhaps due to a bit of over-enthusiasm to get GB9 back up and running, and due to players focusing on qualifiers for the UK Open.
We’ve spent a lot of time talking to players about the direction of GB9. It is our intention to listen to players as the origins of GB9 were supposed to be “for the players, by the players”.
We also brought on board a new committee member, Dan Suh, who funded the running of the Amateur UK Open, recently held in Telford alongside the UK Open. Dan brings a pragmatic approach to GB9 and we are undergoing significant changes to ensure the future of GB9, whilst preserving what made GB9 so unique.
Our event management of the Amateur UK Open demonstrated to many players (and ourselves) that we have full capability to run significant events, and we want to express our gratitude, again, to everyone who made it so successful.
Moving forward, it seems fairly clear that there is still a lot of rebuilding work to ensure that GB9 can get to where we think it could be. This mainly refers to the financing of the tour, but we have already saved costs in some areas, mainly by securing Bradmoor Farm for events in 2024 without charge, securing the new Z9 cloth (courtesy of Z9 and Spots and Stripes Club in London), and having new Tournament Black Aramith balls with scoring tablets, all provided free of charge (courtesy of Korea Foods Company).
We will be publishing summary accounts at the end of each year, so you will see where money is being spent, and what money is being utilised towards the investment for GB9’s future. All finances are being administered independently of GB9, with an accountant to verify all transactions. This is at no cost to GB9. This is purely to demonstrate to players that the committee is committed to maximising value.
As a result of the efforts that have been ongoing for the past few months, we will be announcing two events for the remainder of 2024, which we hope all players will be supporting us with. More details will be announced very soon.
We know that we’re not going to get everything right, but we can assure you all of our best intentions at all times.
Yours faithfully,
GB9 Committee
