Martin Slumbers to step down as R&A chief executive

R&A Chief Executive Martin Slumbers will step down “by the end of 2024” after nine years heading up the governing body.

The 63-year-old, who is also Secretary of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, will oversee The Open at Royal Troon, as well as the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews and the Curtis Cup at Sunningdale, before handing over the reins.

He said: “It has been a privilege to serve golf at the highest level. It is a role that I have been proud to carry out on behalf of The R&A’s employees, the members of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club and all our global partners.

“In any career, there is a time to allow the next generation to have its turn. I am grateful to have had the honour, for nearly a decade, to have been the custodian of all that The R&A and the game of golf more broadly represents.“

Having succeeded Peter Dawson in 2015, his time in charge will be remembered as a period of modernisation for the governing body, which has seen the merger with the Ladies Golf Union, significant changes to the Rules of Golf, as well as the introduction of the World Handicap System.

Martin Slumbers to step down: ‘He has been true to The R&A’s purpose of golf thriving 50 years from now’

Consistently stressing a message of making golf open and accessible to all, and looking ahead to the sustainability of the sport in 50 years’ time, Slumbers has also been at the forefront of the Distance Insights process and the recent decision to introduce a universal golf roll back for all players.

The R&A’s new family friendly project, Golf It!, created in Glasgow to give more people the chance to play the game and for people to gain work, volunteering and training opportunities, was opened last year to huge acclaim and captured his vision for the sport.

Niall Farquharson, Chairman of The R&A said, “In Martin, we have been fortunate to have a CEO who has steered the organisation through a period of growth and enhanced the profile and reputation of our sport to make it more accessible, appealing and inclusive. 

“Through his stature and influence in the world of golf and sport more widely and in growing the proceeds of The Open to invest back into the game, he has been true to The R&A’s purpose of golf thriving 50 years from now and has shown transformational leadership.  He speaks often of reflecting history in a modern way and that will be his legacy to The R&A and to the Club.”
 
The R&A said an executive search firm has been appointed to assist in the search for his successor.

Now have your say

What did you think of Martin Slumbers’ tenure at The R&A? Does he leave the game in a better place than when he arrived? Let me know your thoughts with a comment on X.

• NOW READ: ‘There are no barriers’: How Golf It! could reshape how we play the sport

Main picture: The R&A