Adroitly assessing the buoyancy of the game and the generosity of its membership through its foundation, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and the R&A announced a scholarship program in late 2024.
With a global eye, the innovative Royal and Ancient Golf Club Scholarship program provides financial support for educational and professional pursuits to 10 young people who hopefully will be among the next wave of leaders in golf.
The first class of recipients are from the United Kingdom, Canada, France, India, Ukraine and the United States and will receive up to £10,000 per year for education, up to £5,000 per year of golf-related support and one-to-one mentoring from the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews membership. The commitment to each recipient is for up to four years with no need to reapply each year.
“We are going to go on a journey with those young people who have been awarded a scholarship. Wouldn’t it be amazing to see them further down the track become a future leader?” — Jackie Davidson, R&A director of golf education
A weeklong conference planned for August at the R&A headquarters in St Andrews, Scotland, is another valuable piece of the scholarship program.
“This first cohort represents our members’ continued commitment to shape the sport’s evolution while preserving its traditions and values,” said Niall Farquharson, chairman of the R&A. “In barely a year, the generosity of our club community has brought this idea to life.”
The R&A received more than 200 applications for the first class and recruiting for the second class is already underway. The selection jury includes two club members and two R&A staffers.
Citing the quality of the first class, with impressive CVs despite their youth, Jackie Davidson, the R&A’s director of golf education, already feels momentum for the new initiative. She compares its potential to the R&A’s existing Women in Golf Leadership and Greenkeeping Scholarship programs.
“We’ve got real stories to share now with the first group,” Davidson said. “We are going to go on a journey with those young people who have been awarded a scholarship. Wouldn’t it be amazing to see them further down the track become a future leader?”
According to Davidson, the club and the R&A are actively employing their respective industry and personal networks across the globe to reach candidates in other sectors of the game because there is “such a vast array of careers across the golf industry.”
Two members of the first class exemplify the wide spectrum of recipients.
Amanda Cunha of Kaneohe, Hawaii, is using the scholarship to complete her degree in communications at the University of Arizona (with a double minor in public relations and Chinese). She was declared legally blind when she was a high school golfer because of a genetic mutation that caused optic neuropathy. She has no central vision, sees only large objects in her long vision and uses her father to assist in lining up her shots during competition.
A junior who plans on at least 10 competitive adaptive tournaments in 2025, Cunha has played in all three U.S. Adaptive Opens with a best finish in the overall women’s division of fourth in 2024 (with a final-round 71). She finished T4 in 2023.
A native of Kazakhstan who is adopted, Cunha is a member of Arizona’s adaptive golf team and is considering both the business and advocacy angles of the golf industry.
“In my classes we talk about how we can take sports so that all little kids and grown-ups can enjoy them. I watched little kids watching MLB. How can we make it inclusive for them to watch?” — Amanda Cunha
Focusing on athletics, Cunha is interested in engagement through PR and communications.
“In my classes we talk about how we can take sports so that all little kids and grown-ups can enjoy them,” she said. “I watched little kids watching MLB. How can we make it inclusive for them to watch?”
Despite her visual limitations, she remains steadfastly upbeat. She credits her parents for helping her form that outlook.
“It’s definitely taken time, it’s four years coming up,” Cunha said. “I have a very good support system in my parents. My mom always instilled in me to stay on the positive side of things and my dad is disciplined in everything he does. Both of their ways of living helped me be the person I am.”
Simon Richalot, who was born in the French Alps near Chamonix, will soon graduate from Penn State with an associate’s degree in golf course turfgrass management. His father, David, who worked for many years for Cleveland Golf, including as a clubfitter on the DP World Tour, introduced him to the game.
A competitive player as a youngster, Richalot realized his on-course talent was going to be in maintenance and conditioning.
His list of work experience is almost unbelievable for a 23-year-old, not only for the actual places he’s worked but for the number. Since 2019, Richalot has served as an employee, intern or volunteer at 11 courses.
“I am trying to take advantage of the fact that I am young, and I don’t have any reason to be anywhere, and I can jump on different jobs,” he said. “I am trying to find a place to stay for a long time.”
As a prelude, Richalot worked at France’s Evian Resort as a caddie in the 2018 Palmer Cup for American player Emilia Migliaccio. He started his enviable run in 2019 with brief stints of two or three months at the Evian Resort and Geneva Golf Club in Switzerland, where he met one of his mentors, Joe Buckley. Richalot followed Buckley to Golf Club du Domaine Impérial, also in Switzerland, where he worked for nearly three years.
After a monthlong stint at Apawamis Club outside New York City, he moved to Adare Manor in Ireland before traveling to Kingston Heath Golf Club near Melbourne, Australia, for six months. He then volunteered at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill in 2023 and moved back to Adare Manor before starting at Penn State.
In the winter of 2023, he volunteered at Cabot St. Lucia before doing the same at the 2024 Players Championship. His most recent stops were an internship in the summer of 2024 at Oakmont Country Club and a month this winter at Streamsong Resort in Florida.
“I think we are in a lucky time, everyone is seeking young people. All of my classmates have found great places to work around the world.” — Simon Richalot
He says learning how to manage staff and coordinate them to be engaged and work toward a team goal is his biggest lesson from his exposure to so many course maintenance operations.
Following graduation in March, he will return to Oakmont, the site of the 2025 U.S. Open, as a full-time employee under the title of assistant in training. In the summer of 2024, as the USGA ramped up its prep for this year’s Open, he was responsible for collecting data such as green speed, firmness, moisture content and other measurables.
Penn State’s renowned turfgrass program and a fertile job market led to his placement at the hallowed Pittsburgh-area club.
“I think we are in a lucky time, everyone is seeking young people,” Richalot said. “All of my classmates have found great places to work around the world.”
Richalot, who sent a memorable handwritten thank-you note to Davidson upon receiving his R&A award, is grateful himself.
“I would say thanks,” Richalot said. “Going to college in the States is expensive, so getting the support through (the R&A) to finance part of my program is a big deal to me because I am financing everything on my own.”
The other inaugural recipients of Royal and Ancient Golf Club Scholarships are:
- Atirath Deb Roy, India (PGA professional golf management, University of Nebraska)
- Ellie Smyth, Northern Ireland (sport and business management, University of Sterling)
- Hannah Isinghood, Canada (turfgrass management, Olds College in Alberta)
- Ivan Malovychko, Ukraine (golf coaching and rehabilitation program in Ukraine)
- James Harris, United Kingdom (Club Managers’ Association of Europe qualification)
- Mason McKenna, Olathe, Kansas (PGA professional golf management, University of Nebraska)
- Sarah Brannigan, New York, N.Y. (business and finance, Georgetown University)
- Tim Manzello, Shoreham, N.Y. (recreation, park and tourism management/PGA professional golf management, Penn State University)