In a world of administrators that have shown nothing resembling leadership in recent years, Slumbers stands out as a voice of reason and wisdom.

At the AIG Women’s Open this past week the 64-year-old showed again why he is the one voice at the top of the game golfers should be listening to.

In the latest example of what a leader should look like, Slumbers was clear on the goals the organisation has set for the event as well as some of the pathways intended to get there.

While an extension of the AIG partnership to 2030 and a 23 percent increase in the 2023 purse to US$9 million were the headline announcements, they are not the most important elements of what Slumbers had to say.

Among the more interesting titbits was the increase in ticket sales from last year (from 30,000 to 50,000) and how that has been achieved.

“We have talked in this Championship a lot in the fast few years about how do we get more fans to come and watch, and I think it is a challenge for all women's golf to be honest to get people to come and watch,” he said.

“So, we did a lot of research, and what we tried to find out was how do we get people who don't currently play golf to come and watch this Championship? It's not usually a challenge you have with the men's Open.

“What came back with the research is if you want to attract different people, and we wanted to attract families, and we wanted to attract young girls who not necessarily play golf but who want to come and have a good evening, good day, and spend time here, what we needed to do is create that family-centred environment, and that's what we've tried to do here.”

The galleries at the AIG Women's Open were impressive. PHOTO: Getty Images.

The ’Golf – Opened Up’ tagline for this year’s event was more than just a marketing slogan and all reports from on-site suggest some creative thinking around the use of the interactive village area proved popular.

More than simple numbers, though, it is Slumbers’ commitment to genuinely making the event special which stands out.

Consider this response: “I think women's golf needs to differentiate itself from men's golf and not just be a smaller version of men's golf.

“What we are trying to do here is we created a different identity, and we hope that it's one that will really allow these great players to show us how good they are, and a lot of people have a really good time.”

It would be difficult to imagine any of Slumbers’ counterparts espousing such a notion let alone putting in place the tools to help make it happen.

As the AIG Women’s Open unfolded the PGA Tour played the first of their FedExCup Playoffs events featuring a field of the game’s very best men.

It’s the sort of clash of dates which not only unnecessarily takes attention away from a genuinely important women’s championship but also seems reasonably easy to fix.

If we can fly people to outer space and back surely some sort of round table conference to come up with an inclusive schedule (not just for gender but extending to markets outside the U.S) should be within our grasp?

Slumbers and the organising team at the R&A did a fabulous job of ensuring Walton Heath allowed the best women golfers to shine and the players more than did their part.

How much better off the game would be across the board if that same sort of creativity and commitment to task was mirrored elsewhere in the halls of power.

To hear more from Martin Slumbers, click here to listen to his The Thing About Golf podcast chat (Episode 39) with John Huggan.