On the eve of the 2016 European Tour season, europeantour.com caught up with new Head of the European Senior Tour, David MacLaren.
Tell us about your background and how you joined the European Tour
David MacLaren: I studied Modern Languages at Edinburgh University and through a chance encounter with Strokesaver, I found my first job. It gave me a lot of contact with golf venues and a chance to use my language skills.
Having made these contacts, the next logical step was to go into the world of venue management. My core skillset is the management of golf venues and I became Director of Golf at Hanbury Manor in Hertfordshire – that was then taken over by Marriott. I moved on to Marriott St Pierre, where we staged the Solheim Cup, and then to the Forest of Arden.
I became Director of Golf Operations in Europe and ran all of Marriott’s venues. I then joined PGA European Tour Courses in 2005 and the business – with me as part of it - was then reacquired by the European Tour and rebranded as European Tour Properties.
What is your golfing background?
DM: My family has always been involved in golf. My handicap is four, and I have the highest handicap in my family. My wife is an Irish Senior International and plays off three, my youngest daughter plays off four and my daughter Meghan plays off plus four and is about to play in the Curtis Cup.
I know about the game of golf and I think that the experience I’ve had of managing golf venues, and the needs of golf members, is a skill that is relevant to the Senior Tour.
Our players are our most important component and asset, which is how I viewed members of golf clubs I previously managed. I understand that to formulate a strategy, you have to properly understand what your product is and who your stakeholders are. My job is to marry the needs, desires and aspirations of all our stakeholders and turn that into a product that we can make commercially successful for the benefit of our players.
What are your initial thoughts after becoming Head of the European Senior Tour?
DM: I feel humbled by this opportunity. The best way to make the best decision for the Senior Tour is to absorb as much information from as many sources as possible in a short space of time. I’m as anxious to hear the views of players as I am from the likes of promoters, host venues and potential sponsors.
We’re looking intensively at our schedule for 2017. I think 2017 will be a period of transition for the Senior Tour and 2018 will be the year we deliver the product that we want to deliver. I’m absolutely committed to doing everything in my power to deliver a bigger and better schedule for next year.
When you look at the quality of venues we play on, and the quality of sponsors we have, it shows that the Senior Tour is in good shape. We have 13 tournaments across the year, and the best way to increase that number isn’t to tear up everything we currently have, but instead to build on the work that has already been done.
It would be wrong for me to not say I owe a lot to George O’Grady, former Chief Executive Office. He had the foresight to reacquire European Tour Properties and allow me the freedom to grow the business.
Moving to a Keith Pelley-led European Tour is incredibly exciting. He is an inspirational and incredibly creative leader. I would like to think the Senior Tour will benefit from that dynamic leadership. It feels like every part of our business has started with a blank sheet of paper.
In everything we can do, from small tweaks to much larger areas of the business, we have to create sustainable viability. I am very keen to listen to and talk to players at an early stage, butI don’t want to wipe the whole slate clean. I want to build on Andy Stubbs’ [former Managing Director of the European Senior Tour] leadership which has delivered during difficult periods of time, and then add in what our players are telling us needs to change.
I’ve been incredibly impressed with how helpful the team has been, they have so much knowledge and the Senior Tour is a lot more complex than a lot of people may think.
When Keith Pelley joined the European Tour as Chief Executive Officer last year, he prompted a survey of all Senior Tour players. What’s your reaction to the responses of our members?
DM: The board have been gratified by how much feedback came to us. There’s so much information, and so many ideas and opinions, that we can use as we seek to build this into a sustainable proposition.
We have got to be realistic about the fact that what’s most important is to find the product and format that appeals to sponsors. That’s how we will provide opportunities for the largest group of stakeholders.
That led to the tough decision to reduce the field size from 72 down to 54 for this year. I do believe that if we are going to improve on the Senior Tour, we have got to have a product and content that is attractive enough to the stakeholders required to fund the tournaments and funnel that budget back into our players.
I see myself as a golfer and a senior person within the European Tour. I’d like to think I know the Senior Tour, but there’s a lot that I need to learn. Every one of our events is slightly different and I’m sure I’ll find the best practice at each one of those, be it Jersey, Wales, Germany or France to name a few.
One of my strengths is that I recognise excellence and best practice where it exists. I’ll spend a lot of time at each venue, and the more I can see what does and what does not work, the better that will make our future tournaments.
What will you bring from your ongoing role as Director of Property and Venue Development?
DM: As well as being Head of the Senior Tour, I also retain executive and management responsibility for European Tour Properties. I already have two very good teams around me, and will add resource if required. I will have to learn quickly and want to make the most of the resources we have within the Tour.
My aim is to build a sustainable product by harnessing and integrating different parts of the European Tour for the benefit of the Senior Tour. I see Tour Properties as being a part of that.
We currently have 22 world-class venues, and I’d be very disappointed if we couldn’t find any Senior Tour opportunities across that portfolio. They see the attraction of tournament golf and I’m very excited to explore these opportunities.
We used the reacquisition of the brand to look at how we should involve ourselves in the business of golf venues. We looked at different models and came up with the strategy of licencing our brand to high-quality golf venues in return for a very intensive level of brand, sales, marking and operational support under my leadership.
We have grown the business over the last six years from eight venues to 24, and we aspire to find tournament opportunities for those venues – be it a First Stage Qualifying School event right up to a Ryder Cup.
We have been able to harness the huge resources that exist in the Tour: from media, agronomy and sales through to operations. I’m determined to build bridges both internally and externally.
Keith Pelley has made a very strong commitment to growing and reinventing the Senior Tour. Players can take comfort in his decision to make a senior appointment to spearhead that initiative. I am committed to delivering that vision which includes a sustainable tournament schedule with more events than we currently have.
Could we see the introduction of a Senior match; a Senior Ryder Cup, for example?
DM: A Senior match could provide a real showcase for the Senior Tour. It would be the pinnacle. Could it have huge appeal to each group of stakeholders? Yes, I think it would. It would be a great fillip for our Senior Tour members.
