R&A chief Martin Slumbers to step down from role at end of 2024

Slumbers is also an excellent golfer and said in November he played to a one handicap

R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers is to step down from his role at the end of 2024 after nine years as one of golf's leading administrators.

Slumbers, 63, will oversee the running of this year's Open Championship at Royal Troon and AIG Women's Open at St Andrews before leaving his post.

He succeeded Peter Dawson as the boss of the R&A and secretary of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club after joining the St Andrews-based organisations in 2015.

"It has been a privilege," he said.

"It is a role that I have been proud to carry out on behalf of the R&A's employees, the members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and all our global partners."

Since then Slumbers has been involved in a number of key developments in the sport, including new rules that will limit the distance golf balls can fly in future years.

Insisting that "something needs to be done" the Englishman, formerly an international banker, worked in tandem with the United States Golf Association to introduce the rule changes.

They take effect in 2028, despite heavy opposition from several leading players and manufacturers during a prolonged consultation period.

Slumbers introduced an all ticket policy for The Open which first came into play when the championship was played at Royal Portrush in 2019, the same year as he oversaw the the modernisation of rules of golf.

In the recreational game, a revolutionised World Handicapping System was rolled out the following year.

Slumbers also led a merger with the Ladies' Golf Union, the body that represented women's golf and brought in initiatives aimed at making golf more open and inclusive.

The R&A says it has doubled its financial commitment to golf with more emphasis on women and girls. Last year the prize fund for the Women's Open rose 23% to $9m (£7.07m).

"In any career, there is a time to allow the next generation to have its turn," Slumbers added in a statement issued by the R&A.

"I am grateful to have had the honour, for nearly a decade, to have been the custodian of all that the R&A and the game of golf more broadly represents."