Martin Dempster: Still could be bright future after Hamish Grey

Regular readers of this column will know that I responded to Hamish Grey's appointment as chief executive of Scottish Golf in December by saying it was akin to placing a safe bet and the man leading the new unified body was a good human being.

Now that he has departed after just over three months in the post, I’m certainly not going to turn on the Kiwi because he wouldn’t deserve that after steering the Scottish Golf Union through some choppy waters during a lengthy stint as that organisation’s chief executive.

Whatever his “new challenge” may be, he deserves our best wishes, even though this development at such an early juncture is not exactly the start Eleanor Cannon, the chair of Scottish Golf, would have been hoping for as the new umbrella body tries to deliver a bright future for the sport at grass-roots level in the game’s home.

It will be very interesting indeed to see who gets the job, but a cross between two other new chief executives in golf would be what this correspondent would now like to see. Keith Pelley may be a bit bold and brash for some and faces a challenge to deliver his aims for the European Tour, but he appears to have brought a new vitality to that organisation and its staff.

The same could probably be said of the R&A, where its new head honcho, Martin Slumbers, is going about his business with less bluster than Pelley but already speaks with real authority.

My one real criticism of Grey was that he lacked the ability to light up a room when he was speaking about Scottish golf and that perhaps was more down to the individual than someone lacking passion.

Let’s grab this unexpected opportunity then to get someone to lead Scottish Golf into its bright new future who doesn’t just come to the table with bold, exciting ideas but is also able to back them up with strong and meaningful narrative.