Privacy Policy

Last updated: 17th May 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Golf Empire Limited ("Golf Empire," "we," "us," "our") collects, uses, shares and protects your personal data when you use our website at golfempire.co.uk. We are committed to protecting your privacy and complying with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).

For information about cookies specifically, please see our Cookies Policy. For information about using our website, please see our Terms & Conditions.

Golf Empire Limited is the data controller for personal data collected through this website.

• Company: Golf Empire Limited
• Registered office: Dipford House, Queens Square Huddersfield Road, Honley, Holmfirth, England, HD9 6QZ
• Company number: 11279686
• ICO registration number: ZA925879
• Contact: info@golfempire.co.uk

We collect the following categories of personal data:

• Account & membership data — name, email address, password (held by our membership provider Memberstack, not us), country, golf club affiliation. Collected when you sign up for a free or Premium account.
• Payment data — if you upgrade to Premium membership, your payment is processed by Stripe. Stripe receives your card details directly — we never see or store full card numbers. We do retain a record of the transaction (date, amount, last four digits, billing email).
• Newsletter & marketing data — email address, first name and surname, county/region preferences, and other information you provide when subscribing. Held in Mailerlite.
• Competition entry data — when you complete a generic Golf Empire entry form, the details (name, address, handicap, payment etc.) are posted directly to the host golf club. Golf Empire does not collect, store or process this data — see Section 7.
• Correspondence — if you contact us by email or via a form, we retain the correspondence and any personal data within it.
• Usage & technical data — IP address, browser type, device type, operating system, referring URL, pages viewed, time spent, click data. Collected automatically via cookies and analytics tools where consent has been given.
• Open competition organiser data — if you submit your golf club's open events to us as an organiser, the contact details you provide may appear publicly on our website (for example, on event listings).

Under UK GDPR we must have a lawful basis for processing your data. We rely on the following:

• To provide the website and member services (account management, Premium features, log-ins) — lawful basis: contract.
• To process Premium subscription payments — lawful basis: contract.
• To send transactional emails (account confirmations, payment receipts, service notices) — lawful basis: contract.
• To send marketing emails (newsletter, event alerts, partner offers) — lawful basis: consent. You opt in at the point of sign-up and can withdraw consent at any time via the unsubscribe link.
• To use non-essential cookies and analytics — lawful basis: consent, given via our cookie banner.
• To display personalised advertising — lawful basis: consent, given via our cookie banner.
• To publish open competition organiser details on event listings — lawful basis: legitimate interests (running the service and helping golfers contact organisers). Organisers can request removal at any time.
• To respond to enquiries and correspondence — lawful basis: legitimate interests.
• To comply with legal obligations (e.g. tax records, responding to lawful requests) — lawful basis: legal obligation.

We never sell your personal data. We share it with the following categories of third-party service providers ("data processors"), each of which is contractually required to protect your data and use it only on our instructions:

• Mailerlite — email newsletter and marketing platform. Stores your email address, name and engagement data. Mailerlite privacy policy.
• Memberstack — membership and account platform. Stores your name, email address and password (hashed). Memberstack privacy policy.
• Stripe — payment processor (used by Memberstack to process Premium subscription payments). Receives card and billing details directly. Stripe privacy policy.
• Snack Media / MediaDrive — advertising partner. Receives data necessary to serve advertisements (IP address, browser, location, cookie data) where you have consented. MediaDrive privacy policy.
• Google (Analytics & AdSense) — analytics and advertising. We use Google Analytics with IP anonymisation. Google privacy policy | How Google uses data from partner sites.
• Our website host and infrastructure providers — technical service providers who host the site and store basic usage logs.

We may also disclose your personal data:

• If required by law, court order, or a request from a regulatory authority.
• To protect the rights, property or safety of Golf Empire, our users, or others.
• In connection with a business transfer, merger, acquisition or sale of assets — in which case the recipient would be bound to honour this Privacy Policy.

Some of our service providers (including Mailerlite, Memberstack, Stripe and Google) may transfer or store your personal data outside the United Kingdom, including in the United States and other countries.

Where this happens, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data as required under UK GDPR, including:

• The UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses;
• The UK-US Data Bridge, where the recipient is certified to it;
• Other adequacy regulations or appropriate safeguards as recognised by the UK government.

We keep personal data only for as long as we need it for the purposes set out in this policy, and to meet our legal and accounting obligations.

• Member accounts: for as long as your account remains active. If you delete your account, we will remove your personal data from our active systems within 30 days (subject to backups).
• Newsletter subscribers: until you unsubscribe. After unsubscribing, your email is suppressed (kept on a suppression list to ensure we don't email you again) but no other data is retained.
• Payment records: 7 years from the date of transaction, to meet UK tax record-keeping requirements.
• Correspondence: typically 2 years from the date of last contact, then deleted unless retention is required for legal reasons.
• Analytics data: as configured in Google Analytics (currently 14 months for event data).

When you enter an open golf competition using a generic Golf Empire entry form, the details you provide (name, address, handicap, phone, email and payment information where applicable) are posted directly to the host golf club. Golf Empire does not collect, store or process this entry data.

The host golf club becomes the data controller for the information you submit. They are responsible for how it is stored and used. For questions about their data handling, please contact the host club directly — their contact details are on each event listing.

Where the entry form includes a marketing consent box, ticking it gives the host club permission to send you marketing communications. This is an active opt-in — you do not consent to marketing simply by submitting an entry.

You have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

• Right of access — to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification — to correct any inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten") — to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to restrict processing — to ask us to stop processing your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to data portability — to receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to object — to object to processing based on legitimate interests, including direct marketing.
• Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.
• Right to complain to the ICO — you can lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

To exercise any of these rights, please email us. We will respond within one month. There is no fee for most requests, but we may charge a reasonable fee for manifestly unfounded or excessive requests.

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure. These include encrypted connections (HTTPS), restricted access controls, and contractual obligations on our service providers.

However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. If we become aware of a personal data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify the ICO within 72 hours and you without undue delay, in accordance with UK GDPR.

Golf Empire is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 13 without parental consent. If you believe we have done so, please contact us and we will remove the data.

Users aged 13–17 may use the site but should do so with the awareness of a parent or guardian.

Our website contains links to host golf clubs, partner tour operators, advertisers and other third-party sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites — please consult their own privacy policies.

We may update this policy from time to time, particularly when our services or service providers change. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page will always show when it was most recently revised. Significant changes will be notified to active members and newsletter subscribers by email.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact us:

• Email: info@golfempire.co.uk
• Post: 10-11 Little Lepton, Lepton, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD8 0LN