The R&A's Executive Leadership

Martin Slumbers - CEO

Martin Slumbers was appointed CEO of The R&A and Secretary of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in 2015. An early achievement has been the design, development and implementation of a five-year strategic plan for the organisation. He has also driven a number of initiatives to bring more women and girls to play and work in golf including the launch of the Women in Golf Charter in 2018. Born in Brighton and educated at Lancing College, Martin gained a BSc in Production Engineering and Economics from the University of Birmingham. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse in London before embarking on a career in investment banking. He spent 12 years working for Salomon Brothers International in London and Hong Kong, becoming Chief Financial Officer in Asia and then Europe.
In 1998, he joined Deutsche Bank and served in a number of senior executive roles. He was appointed Global Head of Deutsche Bank’s Investment Banking Operations in 2006 and the following year as Global Head of Global Business Services.
Martin is a member of several golf clubs including Crail in Fife and Worplesdon in Surrey.

Phil Anderton - Executive Director - Chief Development Officer

Phil joined The R&A in August 2020 as Chief Development Officer. He leads the Development activities of The R&A overseeing the golf development, amateur championships, sustainability and museum and heritage departments. In addition, Phil overseas The R&A offices based in Singapore and Argentina. The R&A plans to invest £200million in developing the sport around the world over the next ten years, with the objective of helping golf thrive, with more people playing golf, more often. This will be achieved by making golf more appealing, more inclusive and more accessible and by ensuring golf is sustainable with golf operations seeking to protect the natural environment, benefit communities and conserve resource. Phil has worked in commerce and sports industries for more than 30 years across brand management, commercial and general management as well as founding and running his own consultancy businesses. Originally from Edinburgh, Phil graduated from St Andrews University with a degree in Management Studies with International Relations and moved into brand management roles with Procter and Gamble and The Coca-Cola Company, where he was based in Atlanta in global strategic marketing. Phil then entered the sports industry as Commercial and Marketing Director at Scottish Rugby in 2000 with oversight of all commercial and marketing activities, including broadcast, sponsorship, ticketing, merchandise, PR etc. before becoming CEO. He moved into football as CEO with Heart of Midlothian and tennis as CMO of the ATP, the men’s global professional tennis tour and became chairman of the season ending ATP Finals in London. Phil subsequently moved to the Middle East as CEO of Al Jazira club based in Abu Dhabi, before returning to Scotland to run his own consultancy businesses and act as a non-executive director across politics, business to business and business to consumer organisations. He plays to a handicap of 12, having played much of his golf in Edinburgh at the Braids, the Merchants of Edinburgh and at clubs across the East Lothian coastline.

Neil Armit - Chief Commercial Officer

Neil joined The R&A in 2016 as Chief Commercial Officer. He leads the Commercial department at the governing body and oversees the commercial and marketing operations and activities at The Open with responsibility for driving revenues across ticketing, hospitality, commercial partnerships, broadcast, retail and licensing. The objective is to drive the commercial success of The Open to enable The R&A to invest £200million in development projects around the world over the next ten years. Neil has worked in the sport industry for more than 15 years across sports sponsorship, broadcast, hospitality, premium ticketing and sales as well as developing and implementing strategic business development programmes in sports rights management and commercial partnerships. Originally from London, Neil graduated from Loughborough University and moved into sales roles with Coca-Cola and ITV before entering the sport sector as Head of Hospitality and Events at Saracens in 2003. He became Commercial Director in 2005 with an oversight for generating revenue across all areas of the Club’s commercial activities. Neil subsequently joined the Rugby Football Union as Head of Business Development in 2008 with responsibility for maximising the sales and business development activity of the RFU and delivering business transformation projects to generate essential funds to invest in the game at all levels and continue to grow and develop rugby in England. He plays to a handicap of 8.

Johnnie Cole-Hamilton - Executive Director - Championships

Educated at Loretto School near Edinburgh, Johnnie Cole-Hamilton graduated from the University of the West of England with a degree in Social Science. He then attended Strathclyde University where he completed a Masters in Human Resource Management. He began his career in golf administration in 1995 as Tournament Director at the PGA, before joining The R&A in the Rules Department in 1999. Eighteen months later he returned to Championship staging responsibilities and has since been involved in the running of over 20 Open Championships. Johnnie was appointed as the Executive Director - Championships in 2012 and manages the team responsible for staging The Open. He also leads on R&A involvement at the AIG Women’s British Open and the Senior Open.

Grant Moir - Executive Director – Governance

Grant Moir joined The R&A in 1994 and has worked extensively with the Rules of Golf and Amateur Status Committees over many years. Since 1996, he has been an integral part of the collaborative work with the USGA, helping to ensure that the Rules are the same worldwide. He has played an important role ‘inside the ropes’, first as a referee, then planning course set-up for The Open since 2009 and the AIG Women’s Open since 2017, which he will continue to have responsibility for. He has refereed at other major championships across the world and was closely involved in the Rules operation when golf returned to the Olympic Games in 2016 at Rio de Janeiro.

John Murray - Executive Director – Finance

John Murray was educated at Banchory Academy and graduated from Edinburgh University with a degree in Business Studies and Accountancy. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen in Edinburgh before continuing in practice with Coopers & Lybrand. He moved into the golf industry in 2000 and spent 12 years with IMG Sports Management Group as Vice President - Finance for IMG Golf EAME, based in London. In 2012 he joined The R&A as Executive Director - Finance, with financial responsibility for The R&A Group and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. He is a keen golfer and a member of The New Golf Club St Andrews, where he plays to a handicap of two.

John Brink - Executive Director - Chief Legal Officer

John is responsible for The R&A’s Legal, Company Secretarial and Human Resources functions and is the Company Secretary for the companies in The R&A Group. John read Scots Law at the University of Edinburgh and has a postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, also from the University of Edinburgh. He trained as a solicitor at Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP, qualifying in 2007, before moving to London to work as a corporate lawyer at the technology, media and entertainment law firm Harbottle & Lewis. He became dual qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2008. Prior to joining The R&A in 2017 as The R&A’s first in-house lawyer, John was the Head of Legal at a global marketing and brand experiences agency. John grew up playing golf in South West Scotland. He is a member of The Golf House Club, The New Golf Club and The Writers to the Signet Golf Club.

Steve Otto - Executive Director - Chief Technology Officer

Professor Steve Otto is The R&A’s Executive Director - Chief Technology Officer. In this role he oversees the evaluation and testing of golf equipment, organises research into the fundamental science of golf, together with overseeing the use of technology within The R&A’s work and coordinating the organisation’s work on ranking systems. He is based at The R&A’s state of the art research and testing facility, Allan Robertson House situated at Kingsbarns. Both of Steve's degrees are in mathematics and he worked at NASA Langley as a Staff Scientist, before becoming a Senior Lecturer in mathematics at the University of Birmingham, where he now holds an honorary Chair. He has authored two books, over eighty scientific papers and supervised 20 PhD projects, over half of which have been focussed on golf.

David Rickman - Executive Director – Governance and Chief of Staff

Born in St Andrews and educated at Madras College, David Rickman graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a degree in Business Studies and Accountancy. He returned to St Andrews and joined The R&A in 1987, before taking over as head of the Rules department at the end of 1995. David was The R&A's Executive Director – Governance, from 1996 to the end of 2022, responsible for The R&A's governance functions – Rules of Golf, Amateur Status, Equipment Standards and Handicapping. David has gained extensive refereeing experience at over 120 major events across professional and amateur golf and remains Chief Referee at The Open and the AIG Women's British Open. Since 2016, David has also been The R&A's Chief of Staff, responsible for HR and Facilities. From January 2023 he will concentrate on this role, with a particular focus on the plans for a new R&A staff HQ. David is a keen golfer, playing off a handicap of 6, and is a member of the New Golf Club, St Andrews.

Stephen Toon - Executive Director – Membership, R&A and Members’ Secretary of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews

Stephen Toon graduated from the University of Warwick with a degree in European History, before embarking on a career in golf club management with Gulf Leisure Properties. With a career in golf spanning almost 40 years, Stephen has held senior roles in prestigious golf clubs and venues in Portugal, Spain, England and Scotland including Penina, La Manga and Skibo Castle, and has been involved in hosting a series of prestigious championships including, most recently, the AIG Women’s Open, the Senior Open and International Final Qualifying for The Open. He spent 14 years as the Secretary of Sunningdale Golf Club, and he previously held the position of Secretary at the Duke’s Course in St Andrews. Stephen was appointed to his current roles in February 2019. He oversees the day to day running and administration of the Club and is responsible for the Club’s busy calendar of competitions and matches. He is an Honorary Member of Brora Golf Club and also holds memberships at Royal Dornoch, Hartley Wintney, the Seniors’ Golfing Society and the James Braid Golfing Society. He plays to a handicap of ten. He is a former Board Member of the National Golf Clubs’ Advisory Association, a past Captain of the London and Home Counties Golf Club Managers’ Association and a Member of the Club Managers’ Association of Europe.

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The R&A employs staff in a diverse range of departments including: Championships, Rules, Development, Sustainability, Equipment Standards, Commercial, Legal, HR, Finance, Corporate Communications and Heritage. We are always on the lookout for talented individuals who wish to develop their career at The R&A. If you meet the requirements for any of our available roles then we encourage you to submit an application.

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