“To think that we are going to determine where an Open Championship is held because of something somebody said on the political trail in America is absurd"
/Now, why Peter Dawson didn't just say that in July at the R&A's Open Championship press conference when asked, is beyond me. Oh right, he's leaving office this today! 
The Scotsman's Martin Dempster on Dawson cleaning out his Royal and Ancient clubhouse desk for Martin Slumbers, leaving the ceremonial note in the drawer that says "whatever you do don't touch the ball," and talking to a few writers.
Mostly, Dawson waxed on about his design projects underway at Portrush and Turnberry, but also talked about Donald Trump in much more honest fashion than he did in July.
Work is also underway on the Ailsa Course at Turnberry, where Donald Trump would like to be an Open host for the first time soon after its return to Northern Ireland. “To think that we are going to determine where an Open Championship is held because of something somebody said on the political trail in America is absurd,” said Dawson of Trump’s controversial comments about Mexican immigrants. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. We have other priorities, but that’s for a future committee to judge.”
Q. Does the R&A have a problem or is it compromised in terms of Turnberry's place in The Open rota in terms of Mr. Trump's comments?
PETER DAWSON: Well, it's had a lot of publicity, hasn't it. We don't have any decisions to make about Turnberry for quite some time, and I think we'll just let a bit of time pass and future championship committees will deal with them at the time.
As for reviews of his tenure, Alistair Tait at Golfweek says Dawson "can be proud that he left the organization in a better place than when he arrived" and highlights his efforts to take an R&A "kicking and screaming into the 21st century."
John Huggan in The Scotsman says he will miss Dawson "terribly" and deems the outgoing Chief Executive a great success on the business side. But then there is that one area...and naturally Dawson went out with another tangled take on why so little was done to prevent tampering with the most timeless of courses.
“The issues we have with clubs and balls have been the most intellectually demanding in my time at the R&A, both technically and philosophically,” says Dawson. “Everyone thinks that, when they played, that is how golf should be played. You never heard Jack Nicklaus say he really should be playing with Bobby Jones’ clubs. You never heard Bobby Jones saying he should be playing with Old Tom Morris’ equipment. And apart from one or two, the best players today are just as silent. They’re not saying they should play with Jack’s equipment.”
That silence is, of course, bought and paid for by the equipment companies through the contracts those leading players sign to use their clubs. But please continue.
I always love the effective imagery put forward by the distance-reigns-supreme-set that a rollback means playing hickories and guttas. But it's also a tad simplistic for a man of Dawson's intellect.
“It’s a balance between maintaining the skill level required to play the sport and responding to the call of golfers for better equipment,” argues Dawson. “That has been the case since the game began. And it remains the biggest issue in golf. There are those who call for a split in the rules between the elite and the rest. I think that is an awful prospect. We all want to play the same game. There is a huge gap between Roger Federer and the club tennis player, but they both play by the same rules and they both play the same game. Golf is the same. We don’t need to dumb it down.”
Except that we don't play the same game anymore. Or even something slightly relatable to what they play. More power to the players and their teams for maximizing the use of launch monitors and technology. But to disregard that divide just isn't an admirable way parting memory.
Now it's your turn, Mr. Slumbers. Piece of advice: don't play golf architect. Especially with The Old Course.
