Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A, will become the first president of the International Golf Federation on 1 January 2011. Ty Votaw, an executive vice-president of the PGA Tour, will be installed at the same time as the IGF’s vice-president.

Votaw served as executive director of the IGF committee that coordinated golf’s bid to be readmitted to the Olympics, starting with the Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016.

Antony Scanlon, formerly head of Games coordination, operations and services at the International Olympic Committee, took over as executive director of the IGF, which recently relocated to Lausanne in Switzerland, on 1 November 2010.

“I am honored to become the first president of the IGF,” Dawson, who has served as Joint Secretary of the IGF since 1999, said. “With the collective strength of the world’s leading golf organizations behind us, I am confident that the IGF is well-placed to meet the challenges that lie ahead.”

“I look forward to continuing to work with Peter on behalf of the IGF and the sport as a whole,” Votaw said. “As we look ahead, the work has just begun in regard to the Olympic Games and the coordination efforts that are required in order to ensure success in Rio. But we very much look forward to the challenge.”

Both Dawson and Votaw, whose appointments are for two-year terms, will continue in their existing roles with their respective organizations.

Alongside Dawson and Votaw, the IGF board of directors also includes: John Byers, director of rules and international affairs of the Brazil Golf Confederation; David Fay, executive director of the United States Golf Association; Tim Finchem, commissioner of the PGA TOUR; Jane Geddes, LPGA senior vice-president, tournament operations and player services; George O’Grady, chief executive of the European Tour; Joe Steranka, chief executive officer of the PGA of America; and Dilip Thomas, council member of the Indian Golf Union. Jane Geddes has been elected as the chairman of the board.