Martin Slumbers leaves his position as Chief Executive of The R&A today [December 13] after serving the governing body for almost ten years.
During his tenure, which began in 2015, Slumbers has played a leading role in instigating many significant changes which have positively affected not only the inner workings of The R&A and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club, but many areas of the wider game, from the staging of the Open Championship and the Women’s Open, to the multitude of initiatives that have been implemented to help grow the game at the amateur level around the world.
Following his decision to step down as chief executive, which was first announced in January, 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. In any career, there is a time to allow the next generation to have its turn. I am grateful to have had the honour to have been the custodian of all that The R&A and the game of golf more broadly represents.”
Key successes during his time in office include the sharp growth of both the Open Championship and Women’s Open in commercial terms, with prize money for both events have been significantly increased during his time in office thanks to an influx of new sponsors.
The Open has also grown significantly during Slumbers’ reign, with the championship now regularly attracting over 250,000 spectators during the week. His decision to turn it into a pre-sold event, with no option to buy tickets on the day, drew criticism at the time, but has since become the accepted norm for virtually all major global sporting events in the modern age.
The decision to bring the championship back to Royal Portrush, which hosted the Open in 2019 after a near 70-year absence, and will do so for the third time in 2025, was widely welcomed, although the decision to not return to Turnberry following the Scottish resort’s acquisition by The Trump Organisation, has been a source of debate.
“I think we’ve moved it [The Open] on a long way,” Slumbers says. “We’ve very much focused it around wanting to be one of the world’s great sporting events. Its size has grown. Its branding has grown. I think its reputation has grown. And I’m very proud of The Open.”
Slumbers is also proud of the development of the AIG Women’s Open, previously known as the British Women’s Open, which now boasts a prize fund of almost $10m. He said it was previously “run on a shoestring” but insists now it has turned into “one of the best championships in the world for women”.
Elevating female influence in what has always been a male dominated sport is one of Slumbers’ biggest success stories. Merging The R&A with the Ladies Golf Union occurred early in his reign.
While the women’s professional game is in far better state than it has ever been, Slumbers leaves his role at The R&A with the men’s professional game in a huge state of flux, with the split created by the arrival of LIV Golf in 2021 continuing to drive a wedge between the main tours.
Speaking to the Golf Channel in the US a few weeks ahead of his departure, Slumbers said that the divisions that currently exist at the top of men’s golf need to be ‘swiftly concluded’ for the greater good of the sport.
He said: “We do need the professional game to sort itself out in that regard and support what is a great momentum for our sport generally. The divisive position that we have in the professional game has been very damaging for golf. It’s been damaging in terms of our reputation as a sport.
“I was hoping that we’d have had peace by now, because we need to get some stability. We need to see the game become financially sustainable, because it cannot carry on like this. If it is to have a long-term future, we need to stop talking as much about money and get back to being about values of the sport. If we do that, I think the public will start to watch it again.”
Slumbers departs his role with the amateur game in good health, with club membership and those experiencing the game in all its forms enjoying a significant uptick, partly buoyed by golf’s popularity during and following the pandemic, but also by the more welcoming and inclusive attitudes adopted by golf facilities, from golf clubs to driving ranges and indoor golf venues.
Slumbers has also been at the forefront of reducing the impact that modern equipment technology has on the challenges presented by golf’s historic championship venues, with plans to limit the distance the ball travels for elite players due to come into operation in 2028. He also made sustainability, both of golf courses and the sport in financial terms, a theme of his tenure.
Awarded an OBE for his services to golf in the King’s Birthday Honours List in June, Slumbers said: “Golf has been a huge part of my life and has been extremely good to me over many years. When I took up the role at The R&A in 2015 I was motivated to give something back to the game I love. I discovered a real passion for our sport and a desire to increase its popularity and appeal. It really has been a wonderful experience that I will treasure for the rest of my life.”
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’ replacement at The R&A is Mark Darbon, the 45-year-old former chief executive of Northampton Saints rugby club, who boasts an extensive career in sports event management, including serving on the organising committee for the 2012 London Olympics.