Mark Darbon has been appointed Chief Govt of The R&A and Secretary of The Royal and Historic Golf Membership of St Andrews.
Mr Darbon will succeed Martin Slumbers within the function main the governing physique and the organisation which runs The Open and AIG Girls’s Open and invests in growing golf all over the world in November.
He may also grow to be Secretary of the 270 year-old Membership which has a worldwide membership of greater than 2,400.
A former senior member of the crew main the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Video games and Paralympic Video games in 2012, Mr Darbon is leaving his function as CEO of Northampton Saints, the Premiership Rugby membership, to take up the St Andrews-based place.
Mr Darbon (45) led Northampton Saints to their first Premiership title since 2014 final month and carried out a industrial technique which enabled the rugby union membership to bounce again from the pandemic to realize report revenues in consecutive seasons.
THE FUTURE OF THE R&A
“I’m thrilled and honoured to be taking on these positions with The R&A and The Royal and Historic Golf Membership of St Andrews and to be shifting into golf, a sport I’ve all the time cherished,” he stated.
“The R&A is a globally famend organisation and does a lot to make sure that golf prospers from grassroots by way of to the skilled sport. I’m trying ahead to working with a vastly gifted crew of employees, the Membership membership and such a formidable array of companion organisations to realize much more success within the years to return.”
Niall Farquharson, Chairman of The R&A stated, “We have been drastically impressed with Mark’s information and expertise of the worldwide sport business and his capability to develop profitable groups and ship implausible occasions.
We consider he can be a superb chief for The R&A and The Royal and Historic Golf Membership of St Andrews and can play a key function in serving to us to realize our purpose of making certain a affluent and sustainable future for golf.”
Mr Darbon began his profession as a administration guide at Marakon Associates, earlier than becoming a member of Diageo plc the place he held various strategic and industrial roles, residing and dealing in markets all around the world, together with the USA, Russia, China and Australia.
Having transitioned into sport occasion organisation in 2009, Mr Darbon held a number of senior roles with the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Video games and Paralympic Video games and was latterly Head of Olympic Park Operations, overseeing the Olympic Park which housed 9 competitors venues with 20,000 staff and welcomed 250,000 spectators a day all through the 2012 video games.
He went on to function an Professional Adviser to the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) from 2013 to 2018.
Following London 2012, Mr Darbon was Senior Vice President of Powerful Mudder Inc in New York and was concerned in planning, selling and staging mass participation occasions in North America, Latin America, Europe and Australasia.
Earlier than becoming a member of Northampton Saints as CEO in 2017, Mr Darbon served as CEO of Madison Sports activities Group, a sports activities occasions and content material firm which created an award-winning worldwide sequence {of professional} monitor biking occasions and, in doing so, introduced a sequence of recent sponsorship preparations and media rights offers to the game.
Mr Darbon is a graduate of Worcester School, Oxford College, the place he learn geography.
In addition to being a eager golfer, enjoying to a Handicap Index of three.1 as a member of Northamptonshire County Golf Membership and Saunton Golf Membership, Mr Darbon is a former Below-21 England hockey worldwide and a Full Blue for hockey at Oxford College.
He’s a non-executive director of England Hockey and Girls’s Premiership Rugby.
Mr Darbon is married with two youngsters and plans to maneuver his household to St Andrews when he takes up his new function.
