Martin Slumbers Facts: 20 Things You Didn't Know About The R&A CEO

Martin Slumbers became well known to golf fans when he was appointed CEO of The R&A and Secretary of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in 2015. 

He will leave the roles by the end of the year, but he will walk away having developed a reputation for helping to grow and modernize the game throughout his tenure. But what else do we know about Slumbers? Here are 20 things you may not be familiar with about the Englishman. 

1. Martin Slumbers was born in Brighton on 19 March 1960.

2. He played rugby and cricket and ran cross country as a youngster and told globalgolfpost.com that he “had absolutely no background in golf.”

3. However, that all changed further in his childhood, and he explained to gcma.org.uk that he learned to play golf “aged 10 or 11.”

4. He mainly did that at West Hove in Brighton after being mentored by the golf professional at the course, and also caddied there as a way of earning pocket money.

5. He was educated at Lancing College, before he obtained a BSc in Production Engineering and Economics at the University of Birmingham.

6. Slumbers also represented Lancing in athletics, cross country and squash.

7. Nowadays, he is Chair of Governors at Lancing.

8. After his education, Slumbers became a chartered accountant with London-based Price Waterhouse, then pursued investment banking, eventually becoming Chief Financial Officer in Asia then Europe for Salomon Bankers International. From 1988, he also held several senior executive positions for Deutsche Bank, including Global Head of Global Business Services.

9. At Deutsche Bank, he met present-day PGA or America CEO Seth Waugh for the first time.

10. He was appointed CEO of The R&A and Secretary of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in 2015.

11. Before taking on the roles, he dedicated his time to playing golf every day after leaving Deutsche Bank to retire at the age of 53. He then received a phone call asking if he wanted to interview for the roles, and it went from there.

12. It came at the right time, because his dream retirement hadn’t quite gone to plan. He told globalgolfpost.com: “I dreamed of playing lots of competitive golf as a senior amateur,” he said. “But after six months, I was bored out of my brain.”

13. He is a member of golf clubs including Crail Golfing Society and Loch Lomond in Scotland, and Worplesdon in England.

14. He has played off a handicap as low as two.

15. Slumbers only found out about the talks between the PGA Tour and Saudi Public Investment Fund that finances LIV Golf “two hours before the announcement was made.”

16. He later played alongside PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan at the 2023 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

17. He was appointed an OBE in the for his services to golf in HM The King’s Birthday Honours List in June 2024.

18. He is married to Jill and they have two sons, Matthew and William.

19. Slumbers' favorite courses are Royal Dornoch and blown and Royal Melbourne.

20. In January 2024 it was announced Slumbers would step down as CEO of The R&A and secretary of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews by the end of the year.