Ever won a few club championships and wanted another avenue to scratch your competitive golf itch? Such an outlet exists for high-end amateur players.
It’s called the Silver Club Golfing Society.
Now in its seventh year, the Ohio-based organization combines travel to some of the most significant golf venues with a “friendly” competitive twist.
“We’re a unique entity because unlike many of the other golfing groups or societies out there that set up events at different places, we focus solely on single-digit handicap golfers,” says Silver Club Golfing Society founder Steve Scott. “That’s really our difference maker and that will always be our calling card. So, if you’re a serious player who wants to engage in some fun competition on some great golf courses, then our society may be for you.”
Scott was the head golf pro of The Outpost Club, which is an invitation-only, national golf society in the United States, before branching out to form the Silver Club Golfing Society in 2018.
The Silver Club Golfing Society’s name comes from golf’s simple beginnings in 18th century Scotland. In 1744, the Edinburgh City Council donated a silver club for its annual competition. The winner was declared Captain of the Golf for that year, and a silver ball with the date and the Captain’s name was inscribed upon it, and it was then attached to the silver club.
The current Silver Club upholds that tradition every year while staging its yearly tournament championship, Scott says.
There are about 300 members of the Silver Club, which includes golfers from 37 states, with an initiation fee and yearly dues required that align with various other national golfing society price points. The main requirement is a golfer must have a USGA handicap of 9 or lower.
“Certainly our society is full of golfers who want to be competitive, who also like to travel and who appreciate some of the great architects of the world,” Scott says. “It’s for golfers who want to experience a little bit more than just their local game at their local club. We’re not really built to substitute for your home club. Something like 99.9 percent of our members belong to a private club, but you don’t have to. We want our society to be a supplement to what you do in your local area or region competitively.”
Scott knows a little something about being competitive. The former three-time All-American at the University of Florida recorded one of the most memorable runner-up finishes in golf history, taking a 20-year-old Tiger Woods to the limit and then some in the 1996 U.S. Amateur final match. Scott fell on the 38th hole as Woods captured his third straight championship.
“It is something that I’ve always felt was a badge of honor that somebody with my lesser physical abilities was able to hang with a guy like that for as long as I did, and I gave him one of the best runs anybody ever has,” Scott says. “I can certainly hold my head high that I forced him to throw everything at me but the kitchen sink, and maybe including the kitchen sink. If I didn’t want to talk about it I wouldn’t be in the golf business or I wouldn’t be playing golf, I would be holed up in some cubical without any windows.”
Scott published a book about that experience four years ago titled “Hey Tiger — You Need To Move Your Mark Back.”
And Scott, who rose to be the No. 1 amateur in the world in 1999, makes a point to honor amateurs in the Silver Club. Its members voted on the top 50 amateurs of all time, which is posted on the society’s website. Not surprisingly, Bobby Jones and Woods nailed down the top two spots.
And its advisory board includes such standout amateur golfers as Nathan Smith, Jim Holtgrieve, Andrew Biggadike and others.
The society has what it calls its four majors and an end-of-season championship. In addition, the club executes between eight to 12 other events per year.
“Our society was really built on the gross (scoring) component, but very quickly we realized that we needed to add the net component, which gives golfers who are 6, 7, 8, 9 handicap the ability to win,” Scott says. “And we certainly like to get around to the architecturally significant venues that are very important to us and try to tackle all the works of the great architects.”
Scott, who also has a broadcasting career on various networks that include the Golf Channel, ESPN and Fox Sports, says the club traveled from the shores of Bandon Dunes to home of Golf in Scotland on its fifth anniversary in 2023.
“It’s definitely a labor of love,” says Scott of running the society’s operations. “A few of our good friends through the years have definitely helped spread the word. Most of our membership happens organically because other than social media we don’t really do any advertising. It’s been a lot of word of mouth that has really grown our society, and people who like to travel gravitate to our club.”
The Silver Club’s logo has a catchy looking Dutch theme of a golfer dressed in some throwback golfing attire taking a swing at a ball.
“It’s homage to the origins of the game,” Scott says of the club’s unique logo. “And our name is a nod to that competitive history of the game.”