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It's hard to move far in Scottish business without bumping up against the influence of golf.

It's not just the size of the industry - worth about £220m to the nation's economy annually. It's also its importance as a forum for doing business.

Although a non-golfer (I'd retired by the age of 11) I've been out on the new Earl of Mar course near Erskine Bridge to learn a bit more about how golf contributes to Scotland's bottom line.

This was with David Rae and two of the first clients he's signed up for Networkingolf, a company he says is needed to turn the idea of doing business at the golf club into a lucrative reality.

Membership of his club is exclusive to owners of small or medium-size companies, in a bid to avoid domination by people at the grade of business development executive.

Rae says most corporate golf is about reinforcing existing client relationships, when it could be used to win new business.

And he says those companies already spending a bit of money and lots of time on networking by other means could do with taking their networking approach more seriously.

And quite expensively. Membership of his company this year costs £1,850 plus VAT. That buys you six rounds on three courses, plus hospitality and entertainment.

Whether that seems good value is up to you, or how you use it. If you land one contract worth more than that, then it's obviously paid off.

Sell yourself

But what interested me is the etiquette of golf networking. It doesn't do to give it your full-on business pitch while you putt.

You might casually refer to your line of work. But Rae says the skill is in selling yourself and your personality rather than your business product.

Over four hours, people get a pretty good feel for whether a playing partner is someone they could do business with, and they know they're being watched by their playing partner for the same reason. The harder business talk is at the 19th hole, or by keeping in touch after.

One important question is whether you should play to win, when you're up against someone you want to impress.

Absolutely, say these networking golfers. Your potential business partner wants to know that you're competitive, and anything less than your best would be patronising.

One other tip - it's best not to cheat with the lie of your ball. That tends to be a sign you're not much good for business either.

* Hear more about golf networking on a special golf edition of Business Scotland, on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Scotland at 1005 BST this Sunday 3 April - available after on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ iplayer and podcast. It also includes reports on golf clubs in trouble, traditional golf club manufacturing, and the golf tourism market.