R&A And Ladies Golf Union Complete Merger
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A) and the Ladies Golf Union (LGU) have completed a merger, effective 1st January 2017.
Once the merger has commenced, all LGU operations and staff will be within the R&A. Under the agreement, R&A will run next year’s schedule of LGU amateur golf championships, however, the Women’s British Open will continue to be managed by IMG as part of the agency’s existing agreement with the LGU.
An outline of the agreement was signed in June and an agreed structure has also been finalised so that LGU board members are represented on R&A committees.
In February this year it was confirmed that the two organisations would merge, with talks between the pair as well as shareholders of the LGU including, England Golf, Scottish Golf, the Golf Union of Wales and the Irish Ladies Golf Union for more than 12 months beforehand.
Trish Wilson, chair of the LGU, said: “The completion of the merger is a progressive and important step for the development of women’s golf. Bringing the two organisations together creates a platform that will allow us to develop our aspirations for women’s golf on a global stage and encourage more girls and women to play golf and become members of clubs.
“The success of the Ricoh Women’s British Open and the Curtis Cup demonstrates the growing strength of women’s golf in both the professional and amateur game and we look forward to building on this with the R&A.”
