The former director of golf at the renowned Penha Longa Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, in Portugal, has moved to the Home of Golf to take up an identical role at Fairmont St Andrews.
Australian Jason King, 37, joined the five-star resort in Scotland earlier this month and is delighted to be able to continue his career at the birthplace of the sport.
He said: “The Fairmont St Andrews Resort is fantastic. It is both an honour and privilege to be given the opportunity to take up a position located within the ancestral home of golf.
“With the Open Championship returning to the region in 2010, it will be my main focus to present the Torrance and Kittocks courses to the highest playing standards possible while complementing the player experience with first-class service delivery. I am looking forward to the role immensely.”
King began his career in his native Australia as a greenkeeper before moving into golf operations in the early 1990s. In 1998, he moved to the UK to take up the role of golf sales executive at Marriott St Pierre Hotel & Country Club, in Wales, and was made assistant director of golf at the four-star Chepstow property in 2000.
Two years later he took up the position of director of golf at Marriott Tudor Park Hotel & Country Club, in Kent, overseeing the entire golf operation, expanding sales in corporate and residential golf segments.
At the start of 2008, King moved to Portugal as director of golf at the five-star Penha Longa Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, where he oversaw a €2m course renovation project.
Another welcome new face at Fairmont St Andrews is Kent-born Stewart Elder, 28, who has taken up the position of golf sales manager.
This is a return ‘home’ for Elder who was raised in Fife and spent five years at nearby St Andrews University, before beginning a career in golf sales and event management.
A scratch golfer who is a member of the Fife county team, Elder has also represented both club and county at badminton.
Fairmont St Andrews www.fairmont.com/standrews or www.fairmontgolf.com