[St Andrews, Scotland, 1 July 2024] Mr. Mark Darbon has been appointed as Chief Executive and Secretary of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, The R&A.
Darbon will succeed Martin Slumbers in November, leading the governing body and organization that stages The Open, the AIG Women’s Open, and invests in the development of golf worldwide. He will also serve as Secretary of the 270-year-old club with over 2,400 members globally.
Darbon, a former senior member of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee, will step down from his role as CEO of Premiership Rugby club Northampton Saints to take up the position in St Andrews.
At 45 years old, Darbon led Northampton Saints to their first Premiership title since 2014 last month and implemented a commercial strategy that saw the rugby union club recover from the pandemic with record revenues for several seasons running.
“I am thrilled and honored to take on these roles at The R&A and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, entering the world of golf, a sport I have always loved,” he said. “The R&A is a globally recognized institution that has made significant contributions to the growth and prosperity of the game. I look forward to working with a talented team of employees, club members, and an impressive network of partner organizations to achieve even greater success in the years ahead.”
Niall Farquharson, Chairman of The R&A, commented: “Mark’s knowledge and experience within the global sports industry, combined with his track record in leading high-performing teams and delivering major events, made a strong impression on us. We are confident that he will be an excellent leader for The R&A and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club, playing a key role in helping us ensure the continued growth and sustainability of golf.”
Darbon began his career as a management consultant at Marakon Associates before joining Diageo, where he held various strategic and commercial roles across markets around the world, including the USA, Russia, China, and Australia.
After transitioning into sports event organization in 2009, Darbon held several senior positions with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organising Committee, later serving as Operations Director for the Olympic Park, which oversaw nine competition venues, a 20,000-strong workforce, and welcomed 250,000 spectators daily throughout the 2012 Games. From 2013 to 2018, he continued as an expert advisor to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Following the London 2012 Olympics, Darbon served as Senior Vice President at Tough Mudder Inc., contributing to the planning, promotion, and delivery of mass participation events in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Oceania.
Before joining Northampton Saints as CEO in 2017, Darbon was the CEO of Madison Sports Group, a sports events and content company that created an award-winning international professional track cycling series, securing new sponsorship arrangements and media rights deals for the sport in the process.
Educated at Worcester College, Oxford, where he studied Geography, Darbon is not only an avid golfer with a handicap index of 3.1 but also a former England Under-21 hockey international and a full Blue for Oxford University Hockey Club. He serves as a non-executive director for England Hockey and Women’s Super Rugby.
Darbon is married with two children and plans to relocate his family to St Andrews upon taking up his new role.
(The R&A)
