From the gold fish bowl to the golf course. At times, David Longmuir’s tenure as chief executive of the Scottish Football League must have been about as intense an experience as having a lion roaring in your face for days on end. There was the messy merger of the SFL and the Scottish Premier League into what is now the Scottish Professional Football League as well as a welter of financial palavers to deal with, not least the monetary meltdown at Rangers.
The frenzied, all-consuming nature of the domestic football scene is a stark contrast to the relative tranquillity of Scotland’s golfing landscape. It’s a different ball game for Longmuir these days as he begins a new commercial role with the Professionals Golfers’ Association (PGA).
“The politics in football were quite difficult due to the intensity that comes with football in Scotland,” reflected Longmuir, who has strong ties with golf from his 20 years with Diageo, the drinks company that sponsored the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. “When I went to the SFL, I went there predominantly - although it didn’t turn out that way - to bring commercial revenue in and I managed that the first year by bringing in Irn-Bru and Ramsdens as well as extending the Co-op deal for the League Cup. That was brilliant but in my time at the SFL I had five administrations to deal with, starting with Gretna then Livingston, Dunfermline, Dundee then, of course, the Rangers scenario. When I moved out of football I wasn’t sure what I was going to do but this will be an exciting new challenge for me.”
One of the first challenges for Longmuir will be to find sponsorship for two of the Tartan Tour’s most cherished events, the Northern Open and the flagship Scottish PGA Championship, which will celebrate its 100th staging in 2016. It is not just on the Tartan Tour where Longmuir will be beavering away, though. The PGA as a whole has seven regions around the UK and Ireland although Longmuir’s initial focus will be on Scotland as well as seeking new commercial opportunities for the PGA’s north of England set up.
“Everyone is fishing in the same pond in Scotland for commercial opportunities, but I think the PGA in Scotland has a massive opportunity to really enhance their commercial revenue streams due to the pull and power of the brand,” said Longmuir, who will work closely with the Scottish PGA’s regional secretary, Shona Malcolm. “The Tartan Tour has some magnificent tournaments in the likes of the Scottish PGA Championship and the Northern Open. I think it is important that after the major high of the Ryder Cup here at Gleneagles last year we don’t lose any momentum.”
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