Hannah McAllister has been in the role for just over a year, with some significant boosts for the game in that time. McAllister may have been the first female CEO of a merged golf union in the Home Nations, but she is pleased to see more opportunities for women at the top level.
“As the CEO of Wales Golf, I understand that some might see me as a role model for women coming into the sport,” she said. ‘’We need more women working in golf and highlight better that the industry is an attractive place to work, offering a tremendous variety of roles.
“We must change the perception that in order to work in golf, you need to play golf, which is not the case. You just need to have knowledge and a passion for the game by understanding the many life-changing benefits the sport offers.
‘’Organisations within the industry need to continually work on developing and improving their culture to ensure they are supportive and inclusive to all.
‘’We know that diversity leads to better business decision-making. However, it is still about getting the right person for the role, not just your background or your gender.
“Proactive strides are already being made in the industry. The R&A’s Women in Golf Leadership Programme, which I have just completed, provides a wide range of support to women looking to build a career within golf, with over 100 women who have completed, or are working through, the programme.
“There is work to do to get more female leaders, but the situation is improving within organisations such as The R&A, The Golf Foundation, and the National Governing Bodies, where the gender balance has improved. For example, in Wales Golf, more than half the staff are female.”
McAllister was appointed in August last year, with a lot having been crammed into the last 12 months as golf came out of the covid pandemic in a strong state.
“I am quite proud of what we have achieved in the last year due to the brilliant support of staff and the board,” she said. “It was a challenge at the start, but I have settled into the role, and I look forward to taking Wales Golf onward and upward.
“The first year has gone really well. We already had a strong team in place with a wide range of skills and lots of experience, so it was a question of getting the best out of each individual.
“It has been interesting going from my previous role to CEO. It was a step up, and at times I questioned if I was the right person for the role. I needed to have more confidence in my abilities and remember the reasons why I was selected.
“The Leadership Programme has helped me to be myself, embrace my differences, focus more on my strengths and realise it is good to have a variety of approaches.”
This fresh approach seems to be paying off for golf in Wales. “It is fantastic that the latest bi-annual club satisfaction survey shows that there is over 90% satisfaction from clubs in terms of their dealings with Wales Golf, we provided a very good service to our clubs through the pandemic,” explained McAllister.
“Club membership in Wales has gone back up above 52,000 for the first time in a decade, with increases in every category. Our championships have expanded to include more events for all abilities and combined Amateur Championships for men and women.
“Through the World Handicap System, we now have contact with individual golfers, with 17,000 players registered with us for communication and 27,000 using the Wales Golf portal, so those are significant figures to build on.
“We were really pleased to be the first sport in Wales to achieve the Advanced Level of the Equality Standards in Sport because that is at the heart of the Wales Golf agenda and has been for the last 10 years.
“I led the team through this to make golf more inclusive for the benefit of everyone.
This summer has also seen a wide range of new initiatives to help support clubs and grow the game:
“One of the things I am most proud of is the connection with Gareth Bale through ICM Stellar Sports, which included running the Gareth Bale Festival of Sport and Junior Golf Championship this year, with Gareth himself presenting the prizes. He is promoting health and wellbeing benefits as well as inspiring the next generation to play golf.
“We are the first sport in Wales to get direct support for sustainability projects, £100,000 from the Welsh Government with club grants at the heart of that. Other sports are watching and learning from our experiences.
“The Midnight Ramadan project saw 65 members of the Muslim community, including former Ladies European Tour player Sahra Hassan, getting the chance to play and practice golf during Ramadan with the opportunity to take advantage of follow-on coaching sessions.
“Finally, the R&A chose Wales Golf to pilot their global marketing campaign to grow the game of golf by focussing on the health benefits through the ‘Golf is Good for you’ campaign.
“A large investment has been put into Wales to test this campaign with a link to our schemes which should boost our club membership, New2Golf and Flexi Club schemes.”
So plenty of positives to focus on, while acting as a role model for other women in golf is an added bonus.
