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R&A's Martin Slumbers Wide Awake To Need To Reform Golf And Cash In On The Olympics

By: Golfshake Editor | Tue 02 Feb 2016


Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements


MARTIN SLUMBERS had better be careful – he may be building a reputation as a man who understands where the game of golf is going wrong. And, as the new chief executive of the Royal and Ancient, he may find himself at odds with the blazer and tie brigade as he implements new ideas designed to freshen up the game and, woe betide him, attract a new, young audience.

It also seems that, unlike so many others in authority, he has no intention of burying his head in the said when it comes to issue of possible gambling infringements or drug taking. In other words, Slumbers has no intention of living up to his name. That may be a shame for the headline writers, who couldn't quite believe their luck, but it should be a positive thing for this great sport of ours.

Keith Pelley, the head honcho on the European Tour, recently dismissed the possibility that golf could be hit by a betting scandal, saying there was “absolutely no concern” on the European Tour about the issue. You will be aware that tennis is still reeling from reports that players threw matches after being paid to do so by shady individuals linked with gambling syndicates. 

Thankfully, Slumbers is rather more of a realist than Pelley and said golf cannot afford to be complacent. Contradicting Pelley, he said that the subject of inappropriate gambling is now moving towards the top of the agenda for the sport's authorities. "We have not been made aware of any evidence yet of the type of issues currently being discussed happening in the game of golf," Slumbers said.“That doesn't mean we are complacent about it. Anything where you have inappropriate betting undermines that sport. So it's something we are keeping our eye on very closely and we are looking at the implications.”

There are already rules in place requiring European Tour players to sign a declaration that forbids them from betting on golf. This also applies at The Open. Slumbers believes the authorities  will respond in the right way if evidence emerges of suspicious betting patterns or allegations of deliberate cheating. 

"If there was evidence starting to build of inappropriate betting, the game is run by some very responsible and sensible people who have the game at heart and I'm sure will do the right thing. We are certainly keeping this under careful attention. I'm sure if we have to go further, we will go further because inappropriate betting will undermine the sport," Slumbers added.

This is a momentous period for golf, with the sport returning to the Olympic Games, the USA finally looking like it might have the young talent to challenge Europe in the Ryder Cup and a rivalry at the top of the game like nothing we have seen since the days when Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player were in their prime and became known as The Big Three. With Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day emerging as major winners, and Rickie Fowler showing all reasonable signs of challenging them, we wait to see what the 'Fab Four' can achieve.

Slumbers knows as well as anybody that golf must act fast if it is to grow, and he believes that the Olympic Games could put golf in the shop window because, unlike the sport's four majors, the Olympics attracts a television audience that numbers billions. Slumbers is certain that many of them will tune in to watch the golf tournament, and hopes to capitalise on what he believes will be a resurgence of interest.

"Hopefully golf will be stronger for being featured at the Olympics," Slumbers said. "I'm always amazed every four years when the Olympics comes along at what sports I watch. So there will be a lot of people out there who will say, 'Right let's watch the golf,' and that exposure to hundreds of millions or billions of people watching the Olympics could be fantastic.

“But we mustn't be complacent, either. There are probably a number of sports that have been in the Olympics that haven't had a long-term surge in participation from it. We are now focused on two things. One is making sure the event itself is a great success, and the IGF [International Golf Federation] is doing some huge work in that regard, and then how do we build on that through to 2020 and beyond?”

For Slumbers the biggest challenge is “to actually capitalise on the Olympic enthusiasm that will arise. But we mustn't let that enthusiasm die." 

There is an irony that won't be lost on Slumbers, although he would never comment upon it in public. At a time when golf boasts such great young champions as McIlroy, Fowler, Day, Spieth, Dustin Johnson and others, it is still, in the main, a sport that is run by upper-middle class men who are incapable of relaxing unless they are wearing a jacket, shirt, tie, trousers, socks held up by garters and brogues while holding a gin and tonic – the very sort who wouldn't have wanted the aforementioned young tyros on their golf courses when they were setting out to learn the game. And who still think that a mobile phone needs to be the size of a large brick.

The truth is that golf is stuffy, and as long as that perception and that reality exist, it will struggle to move forward.

It appears that Slumbers has no concerns about upsetting the stick-in-the-muds. He has made it clear that he supports the European Tour's decision to allow players to wear shorts in practice.

"I don't think golf should be frightened of making sure it is modern and relevant," Slumbers said. "The climatic conditions of the Middle East were slightly different to Scotland in July. I think it would be wrong in the tournament itself. The real balance is preserving the integrity, the history of the game but also staying modern and relevant.

“So it is something we will keep talking about, maybe for practice days for the future.”

It is, however, hard to imagine that we will ever seeing players walking into the R&A clubhouse while wearing shorts.

Slumbers will also probably have to deal with Donald Trump and his link to golf in Scotland. The presidential hopeful owns a course in Aberdeen and Turnberry, the Open venue that hosted the historic Duel in the Sun in 1977, and Tom Watson's incredible bid in 2009 to become the oldest winner of a major.

Trump is spending £200m upgrading the course at Turnberry, but he has made it clear that he doesn't care who he upsets along the way, whether it be Mexicans, the gay population or America's Muslim population. He is not too keen on Scottish golfers either, by all accounts.

"The important thing for us is to focus on what is the right thing for golf," Slumbers said. "Politics is something that we should not comment on and we should not stray into. My belief is that golf should be open to all, regardless of gender, race, nationality or religion. I think that's a strength of this game.”

So will The Open return to Turnberry? Slumbers said that the championship would not return to Turnberry until 2022 at the earliest. “That's something we don't have to consider for a couple of years yet," he said. "The world may change quite a lot in the next six years and we will consider it at that point.” 

Perish the thought that, by then, we could be looking at President Donald Trump enjoying his second term at the White House.


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Tags: Turnberry Martin Slumbers Keith Pelley Donald Trump



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