The National Golf Foundation recently elected officers and directors for 2005. The newly elected officers are Mark King, Jim Connor, and Stephen F. Mona; while the newly elected directors are Gerard Hinckley, Gary Schaal and Jim Thompson.

New officers:

  • Mark King, president and CEO of TaylorMade-adidas Golf, has been elected chairman of the board. He was previously secretary/treasurer of NGF. King replaces Cindy Davis, general manager of Nike Golf U.S., who served as chairman for three years, and retains a seat on the board. King is a 23-year veteran of TaylorMade.
  • Jim Connor, president of FootJoy, has been elected vice chairman. Connor has been with FootJoy since 1987 and has been president since 1999.
  • Stephen F. Mona, CEO of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA), has been elected secretary/treasurer. Mona, GCSAA’s CEO since 1993, has held positions with the USGA, the Northern California Golf Association and the Georgia State Golf Association.

New members on the board of directors:

  • Gerard Hinckley, vice president and national sales director for Textron Financial Corporation’s golf finance division. Hinckley has over 10 years of golf- and resort-related lending experience. Before joining NGF’s board of directors, he was on the board of governors. He follows in the footsteps of his grandfather, Joe Jemsek, who served on the NGF board for many years.
  • Jim Thompson, president and CEO of Golfsmith. Veteran retailer Thompson has been with Golfsmith since 1999 and became its chief executive officer in 2002. Prior to Golfsmith, he held management positions for several of the largest brands in consumer electronics, including Circuit City, CompUSA and Highland Superstores.
  • Gary Schaal, principle, Cannon Ridge Golf Club. Schall is a past president of the PGA of America (1992-94). He is principle of TSC Golf, Inc., a golf management company headquartered in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

“The new appointments reflect NGF’s commitment to having the NGF board represent the many important segments of the golf industry,” says Joe Beditz, president and CEO of NGF. “They also reflect the faith that these golf industry leaders continue to place in the National Golf Foundation.”