Mark Darbon appointed new Managing Director of the Golf Club of St. Andrews

The R&A Board of Directors announced on Monday that it has appointed the rugby club’s CEO, Mark Darbon, as the new managing director and secretary of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Darbon, CEO of Northampton Saints, replaces Martin Slumbers, who announced his retirement at the end of the year on 10 January.

“I am extremely excited and honoured to take on these positions at The R&A and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and to enter golf, a sport I have always loved,” Darbon said in a statement.

“R&A is a world-renowned organisation and does a lot to ensure golf thrives from grassroots to professional level. I look forward to working with an extremely talented team of staff, the club members and such an impressive range of partner organisations to achieve even greater success in the years to come.”

Darbon, 45, is a former senior member of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and last month helped Northampton Saints to their first Premiership title since 2014.

Darbon previously served as senior vice president of Tough Mudder and CEO of Madison Sports Group, which created an international series of professional track cycling events.

“We have been very impressed with Mark’s knowledge and experience of the global sports industry and his ability to build successful teams and deliver fantastic events,” R&A chairman Niall Farquharson said in a statement. “We believe he will be an outstanding leader for The R&A and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and will play a key role in helping us achieve our goal of securing a successful and sustainable future for golf.”

Slumbers, who has held the role for the past nine years, will this month oversee the Open Championship, which runs from July 18-21 at Royal Troon Golf Course in Scotland, and the AIG Women’s Open at the Old Course at St. Andrews from August 22-25.

DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley resigned in April and took a job with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment in his native Canada. On Wednesday, PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh announced he would not renew his contract, which expired on Sunday.