Scottish Golf loses its CEO Hamish Grey

Alistair Dunsmuir
By Alistair Dunsmuir March 7, 2016 11:15

Hamish Grey, who has led Scottish Golf in one form or another since 1998, is to leave the organisation, its new board has announced.

According to a statement, the departure “has been agreed between the parties”. No specific reason has been given for the departure and it is thought it is immediate, with deputy chief executive Andy Salmon filling in Hamish’s duties until a replacement is found.

New Zealand-born Hamish Grey became secretary of the Scottish Golf Union (SGU) in 1998, and later its chief executive. At the end of last year, following a difficult period for Scottish golf clubs, with participation and memberships in decline in recent years, the all-male SGU merged with the Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association to form Scottish Golf, the new governing body for amateur golf in Scotland. It now features a nine-strong board of directors, all with extensive business experience.

“The board of Scottish Golf announces that Hamish Grey, chief executive, is leaving the organisation,” said the statement.

Hamish Grey commented: “I have enjoyed my time in Scottish Golf immensely and look back on my time with great pride. I have been very fortunate to work with many dedicated people, volunteer and executive, throughout this time and their commitment to Scottish Golf has been an inspiration.

“Amalgamation is now achieved and the new body established. Scottish Golf in is good health and has an excellent base from which the new board can consider the future strategy for golf in Scotland. It is therefore timely for me to seek a new challenge.”

Eleanor Cannon, chair of Scottish Golf, said: “Hamish leaves Scottish Golf with our thanks for a significant contribution to the game in Scotland over a number of years and with our best wishes for the future.

“The new board of Scottish Golf will engage our clubs and our members and put in place the leadership we believe is required to help bring about the change we want to see in the game in Scotland.

“Our priority is to recruit a new chief executive and we have started that process. In the meantime, Andy Salmon, deputy chief executive, will report to me.

“The excellent work undertaken by the wider team at Scottish Golf goes on and we look forward to working with them.”

Nick Rodger, golf correspondent for herald scotland, said he wasn’t surprised by the announcement.

“Golf in Scotland was boldly going where it hadn’t gone before … but then it swiftly went back to where it had been before anyway by appointing Hamish Grey into a similar role with the new body.

“It was a case of out with the old and in with the old. No disrespect at all to Grey but surely the start of the much-trumpeted merged body would have been the ideal time to ring the changes, instead of adopting a business as usual approach before agreeing a parting of ways a couple of months down the line? The fact that Grey had a membership at Royal Burgess, a male-only club in Edinburgh, was possibly not the kind of thing a newly forged mixed gender body promoting all-inclusiveness would have wanted to dwell on.”

 

Alistair Dunsmuir
By Alistair Dunsmuir March 7, 2016 11:15
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3 Comments

  1. Ian Muir April 16, 11:01

    It was quite amazing that he had lasted so long; inept would best describe things at the SGU. To compound matters regarding falling club memberships and participation I’m amazed to see that the SGU’s previously much-vaunted Scottish Golf Academy set-up (much vaunted at least by the SGU themselves if by no-one else) has dumbed-down their entry requirements for 2017. Previously boys needed to be a maximum handicap of 5…now it’s raised to 10. Girls needed to have a 12 or less handicap and now it’s 20! Those new entrants at these levels show the falling standards of Scottish under 18s golf. Along with Grey being ditched the new Chairman, Mrs Cannon, needs to bin the performance coaching team run by Steve Paulding too. He doesn’t even play golf!

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  2. DJM March 10, 20:53

    Just what do grassroots golfers get for their GU tax ? Spats like this just emphasise how little relevance the Blazer folk are to the great game.

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  3. A Chinaski March 10, 19:10

    Hopefully more of the buffoons who sat through the drumoig fiasco and are still somehow collecting stipends will also be put out to grass.

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