Martin Slumbers to step down as R&A chief executive

The R&A has announced that Martin Slumbers will leave his role as chief executive after nine years.

Slumbers, who has been in the position since replacing Peter Dawson in 2015, will exit the sport’s ruling body by the end of 2024.

The 63-year-old will oversee The 152^nd Open at Royal Troon in July and the return of the AIG Women’s Open to St Andrews in August before signing off from his role.

Slumbers 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.

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“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.“

Slumbers, a talented amateur player who had a career in investment banking before joining the R&A, has also been serving as the secretary of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club.

The Englishman has been central to some key changes to the sport, including working with the USGA to implement the rollback rules which will limit the distances golf balls will fly from 2028.

He has prioritised the sustainability and growth of golf throughout his tenure, and recently told bunkered in a wide-ranging interview that he is “immensely optimistic” about the game at grassroots level.

The 2019 modernisation of the Rules of Golf and the roll-out of the World Handicap System a year later were announced under Slumbers’ watch.

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The R&A also credited Slumbers for leading a “paradigm shift in the approach to the commercial affairs which has enabled them to “substantially increase its investment into amateur golf around the world.”

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.”

Slumbers will also be remembered for delivering on a four-year project for “Golf It!”, a new community based golf hub in Glasgow which aims to increase opportunity and enjoyment of the sport across all abilities.

The R&A says that “an executive search firm has been appointed to assist in the search for his successor.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.