The golf writers have always been a fairly chivalrous bunch so it’s perhaps no surprise that the annual blether with the heid honchos at the Royal & Ancient is commonly known as ‘The Round Table’. Of course, this knight-like, Arthurian elegance tends to fly out the window when the complimentary finger buffet arrives and the various trays are frantically ravaged with all the ferocity of a shoal of Piranha fish stripping a stricken ox down to its bare bones. The feeding frenzy of said Piranhas is marginally more civilised, however.
Amid all this chomping, sooking and slootering, there is always plenty to discuss with Martin Slumbers, the R&A’s chief executive.
SHOULD MUIRFIELD BE WELCOMED BACK WITH OPEN ARMS?
When Muirfield failed to get the required majority on the vote for women members, the R&A removed the club from the Open rota quicker than you could mutter the word “stooshie.” The Honourable Company will have another vote next month and should it be a ‘yes’ then it appears Muirfield will be back on board as quickly as it was flung overboard. The Open returning to East Lothian in 2022 or 2023 is a distinct possibility. “We would reconsider and make an announcement very quickly,” said Slumbers. Given the wide scale reputational damage the initial Muirfield decision had on golf as a whole, an instantaneous welcoming back as if nothing had happened would almost look like the R&A were paying lip service to discriminatory policies. Slumbers remains keen to promote his own, all-embracing vision for golf. “It's always important to look forward,” he said. “The more the game is open, the more the game is looking at families, the more the game is looking at encouraging younger people, the better. I'm very clear how I see golf, not just at the top end of the Open Championship, but right through. I think our merger with the Ladies Golf Union was something that I pushed very, very hard. You're going to get that same consistent view from me as long as I'm sitting in this chair.”
We await the Muirfield result.
TRUMP IS MAKING TURNBERRY GREAT AGAIN BUT AT WHAT PRICE?
They say that you should never mix sport and politics but it’s pretty hard when the owner of one of the courses on the Open rota is the President of the USA. Pictures circulated yesterday of Rory McIlroy playing golf with Trump which, in the eyes of many, is akin to playing in Satan’s own Texas Scramble. Turnberry remains on the Open rota but the R&A have always stated that they have no plans to return there just yet. The earliest it could head back to the Ayrshire resort would be 2022 and goodness knows where Trump, or indeed the world, will be then. “We are clearly now in uncharted territory with the President’s family owning golf courses” said Slumbers. “We've never had this in our game. We're all learning as we go through this.”
It’s a tricky one for Slumbers. Given Trump’s rampant divisiveness, the R&A could have assumed the moral high ground, stated that Turnberry wouldn’t be getting another Open while he was involved there and promoted golf’s sense of inclusiveness. The flip side is that Turnberry remains a storied and much cherished venue. Oh, and Trump now just happens to be the most powerful man on the planet. “Turnberry remains absolutely as one of our nine golf courses,” added Slumbers. “There’s nothing that has happened in the last year to change that. I think that golf has been a success of his ownership. Look at some of the courses that he owns and the money that he's invested into those courses and the quality of courses?”
So, Mr Slumbers, would you have a round of golf with the 45th President in the current climate? “With all senior people in the world, I think it's polite and respectful to listen to them and work with them,” he said. “It's very important that we work with the President if Turnberry did come back on. That would just be foolhardy not to.”
The R&A don’t have to say anything about Turnberry and future Opens for a year or so at least. Perhaps Slumbers and co will be hoping Trump just disappears into the rough.
DON’T TAKE ALL DAY, MR DAY
There have been jokes going around that mannequins had started doing the Jason Day Challenge in statuesque tribute to the world No 2’s funereal pace of play. When the Australian stated earlier this year that he would become even more ponderous and deliberate, the sighs, groans and harrumphings were considerable. “The professionals are fantastic role models for young people,” said Slumbers. “But I would just encourage the Tour pros to realise that pace is part of that role model. It's not helpful to growing the amateur game when the youngsters are slowing down.”
In other words, get a bloomin’ shift on.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here