Dawson's Reek

Shackelford points us to Alistair Tait planting a sloppy wet kiss on the lips of Peter Dawson, and all your humble blogger can do is suggest the pair get a room.  From my post title the you may have intuited that I see things through glasses with significantly less of a rose tint.

Here's a sense of Tait's paean:

Few had heard of Peter Dawson in 1999 when he was named as successor to Michael

Bonallack. Dawson came from an engineering background. He was a Royal & Ancient member since 1994 and served on the Rules of Golf committee. While the next man might not come from within the R&A, it’s a safe bet he’ll be a Royal & Ancient member. 

Taking over from Bonallack was a tall order. With five British Amateur victories and nine Walker Cup appearances, Bonallack was a natural for the role of R&A secretary. 

Things have changed fundamentally since Bonallack’s days. Dawson made sure of that.

That's all rather vague, no, but the last sentence hints at major accomplishments.  Such as?

Dawson, a native of Aberdeen, Scotland, has presided over radical change in the way golf is governed on this side of the Atlantic. In 2004, he instigated the separation of the governance from the everyday members’ club. Setting up the R&A as a separate governing body meant better tax breaks for profits from the Open Championship. It also shielded ordinary members from potential legal battles with club manufacturers.

Do tell.  I know when I think of the governance of our beloved game, my first concern is absolutely that the non-profit organization's profits receive the most favorable tax treatment.  Well done, Sir!

As for shielding the members from legal battles with the manufacturers, if only!  Haven't they kind of, you know, ducked all of those except for the relatively trifling issue anchored putting, and that might have been laudatory if they hadn't, you know, waited a decade too long.  In a different context (and one I'll be blogging on later), Shackelford quotes this 2002 joint R&A/USGA statement:

The R&A and the USGA believe, however, that any further significant increases in hitting distances at the highest level are undesirable. Whether these increases in distance emanate from advancing equipment technology, greater athleticism of players, improved player coaching, golf course conditioning or a combination of these or other factors, they will have the impact of seriously reducing the challenge of the game. The consequential lengthening or toughening of courses would be costly or impossible and would have a negative effect on increasingly important environmental and ecological issues. Pace of play would be slowed and playing costs would increase.

So, on the threshold issue of his era, one on which he staked out a clear position, what kind of grade do we give him?  

And since he didn't do as promised in controlling distance, he had to take his surgeon's scalpel rusty Samurai sword to the Old Course, you know the one that credits Mother Nature as its designer, and informed us of said alterations in the Mother-of-all-Friday news dumps.  Take a trip down memory lane with this contemporaneous Shackelford post, guaranteed to get your blood boiling.  There's a certain hubris in thinking you know best about the Eden green and Road Hole...

Again per Tait:

For what it’s worth, I’m sorry to see him go. Before Dawson, the R&A was seen as stuffy and secretive. He opened things up and never ducked issues.

Yes, people that open things up always avail themselves of Friday news dumps.

 In other R&A updates, sources tell me that the letter-writing campaign to open the ballot on admitting women members has failed, and the vote will be only amongst those in attendance at the Autumn General Meeting.  This means that less than 100 members could decide this important issue for some 2,500 members.  No matter how you come down on the issue, that's terribly undemocratic for a guy who, you know, has opened things up.

Lastly, I was also told by an R&A source that the concerns I noted about Turnberry, access and turnout, have been the subject of discussion on the relevant R&A committee and that there may be little inclination for a return of the Open Championship to the Ailsa.  No decision has been made, it needs to be reinforced, but these concerns preceeded Trump's purchase of the Resort.