Shona Malcolm looks ahead to the 2023 PGA tournament schedule

27/03/2023

We look ahead to an exciting season with The PGA's Head of Tournament Strategy, Shona Malcolm.

Shona Malcolm has enjoyed a varied career, which started in the world of accountancy before moving into golf.

Her CV boasts roles at a number of golfing organisations, including the Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association (SLGA), the British Golf Association Limited and the Ladies’ Golf Union.

She became Manager of The PGA in Scotland in 2015 and took on her current role in 2020.

Describe your current role

My role is Head of Tournament Strategy, which is a blend of all my past experiences really, golf knowledge and a bit of consultancy work. It’s a really interesting role, looking at how we can deliver equitable access to tournaments for all the Members within The PGA and to make the tournaments we deliver as aspirational as we can.

Tournaments are probably the biggest Member benefit The PGA provides, so our ultimate goal is to give our Members that access to competitive golf while they are developing their career in all sorts of other ways.

It’s looking at the tournaments we deliver and coming up with options to improve what we do in terms of tournaments, financing and resourcing. There’s a lot of analytical work going on behind the scenes and the options go to the executive committee to decide what best suits their needs.

How much work and preparation goes into preparing a national tournament schedule for all PGA Members?

Scheduling is a year-long process with some key milestones along the way. A number of strands need to come together to achieve an optimum schedule of the right quality, which can be properly resourced and delivered to the high standards expected at a PGA tournament.

Traditionally, the national schedule has been prepared pretty much annually and in isolation from regional activity, and this can cause a number of issues, not least of which can be conflicting tournament dates and not being able to announce schedules well in advance.

In a new overarching and innovative approach, it is intended to accelerate scheduling, probably to three or four years in advance, and to develop national and regional schedules in a cascading manner so that the risk of scheduling conflicts can be minimised.

Planning a few years in advance brings us in line with industry best practice and has the added advantage of allowing us to approach a wider variety of clubs as potential hosts of our championships and to build longer term relationships which will enhance the quality of the tournament service we deliver to Members.

None of our scheduling happens overnight, and the work that the tournament staff undertake behind the scenes to deliver solid schedules both nationally and regionally cannot be underestimated.

How important is it for The PGA to continue to provide plenty of playing opportunities for its Members?

Tournaments remain the most utilised Member benefit that The PGA provides, with around 45 per cent of Members taking part in at least one tournament in 2022.

Most Members join The PGA at the start of their careers because they love golf, are good at it and want to work in an industry that they are passionate about.

As their careers progress, their interest in playing opportunities can also change, so it’s important that The PGA continues to develop its tournament offering to meet the needs of all Members.

By providing the optimum number and variety of tournaments, The PGA supports each individual Member in the achievement of their career objectives in the golf.

The Open Series is back for a second year. How successful was this new format in 2022?

“The Open Series was a real leap of faith in the tournament scheduling in 2022, aimed at supporting Regional Orders of Merit while encouraging Members to travel to other regions to compete on a more open basis.

“It is testament to the success of last year’s Series that The PGA has committed to supporting it again in 2023.

“Last year, the average participation in Open Series tournaments across all regions was 101 players, and we have initiatives in place in 2023 to increase participation numbers further and encourage more Members to travel to other regions to enjoy these enhanced playing opportunities.

“By scheduling more evenly throughout the season, Members will have the opportunity to play in tournaments each carrying a £20,000 prize fund at least once every month from May to September.”

The Oceantee WPGA Series continues to go from strength to strength. How much are you looking forward to taking the series to Ireland for the first time?

“The Series has developed over the last few years. We now provide higher prize funds, different types of playing opportunities and a wider geographical spread.

“So far, this has been successful in increasing playing numbers, and I’m confident these numbers will continue to rise.

“We’re heading to Ireland for the first time, where we will have two separate tournaments on consecutive days at Glasson Lakehouse. We’ve already had a lot of interest from Members who are keen to experience golf in Ireland – many for the first time. By providing a more local opportunity for the Members in Ireland, many of whom have not previously played in WPGA events, we believe that participation will be pretty good.

“These are exciting times demonstrating our commitment to providing playing opportunities to WPGA Members throughout GB&I.”

Why should PGA Members take part in PGA tournaments?

For all different reasons: because they want to compete at the highest possible level against their peers; because they have pride in the PGA brand and want to support their Association; because they want to showcase their own game and that of their fellow professionals; because they want to interact in a team environment with amateur golfers, who might be clients, customers or colleagues, and give them a good day out; because they appreciate PGA sponsors that support tournaments; because they want social interaction with their fellow Members; because it provides them with networking opportunities; because a day on the golf course gets them away from the stresses and strains of their other working days; because they love the game of golf. The list is endless.

It tells a story that 45 per cent of the membership play in at least one tournament a year. Wouldn’t it be amazing if those who haven’t played for a while could be persuaded to dust off their clubs and get back out onto the links in a PGA tournament?

CLICK HERE to view the full 2023 PGA national tournament schedule.