For golf, change is the price of survival

When the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, the custodians of the world’s oldest professional golf championship (the Open Championship), confirmed last week that it was severing its 60-year exclusive TV partnership with the BBC in favour of Sky, it divided opinion amongst those most qualified to talk on the subject.

The chief executive of the R&A, Peter Dawson, justified their position by saying that the agreement with Sky “would enable the R&A to take their support of golf’s development in the UK and Ireland to unprecedented levels” — but others like Lee Westwood saw things differently. As much as he appreciated what Sky had done for the European Tour and the game of golf, showcasing golf’s oldest major championship to the largest possible audience should have been their priority, given that the number of golfers in Britain and &Ireland is dwindling.

As guardians of the game, no one should doubt the R&A would have taken this controversial decision lightly, but having taken the decision to sell their soul to the highest bidder, the onus is on them now to invest those extra funds wisely.