The Lancashire Union of Golf Clubs has announced that their President Elect for 2019-20 is to be Norman Fletcher. Norman, a member of Chorley Golf Club for 58 years, is well-known in golfing circles for his work with the Professional Golfers Association, the Ryder Cup and a number of national golf development projects.
Following an early teaching career, Norman worked for the Professional Golfers Association for 33 years before retiring in 2017.
Initially he was the PGA North Region Secretary before moving to the PGA National HQ at The Belfry in 1992. He undertook a number of roles and was Assistant Chief Executive from 1997 to 2005.
A move to the role of Director of Regional & External Relations in 2005 provided a little more time for Norman to continue playing competitive golf at Seniors level.
During his career with the PGA, Norman’s notable responsibilities have been extensive and wide-ranging. They include his work with the England Golf Partnership, being the first Chairman and Partnership Manager from 2005-09, working on the whole sport plan for golf 2005-09, and being a Director of EGP until 2017.
He was Director of the PGAs of Europe from 1994-2010 and a Trustee Director of the Golf Foundation from 1994-2017.
Norman was involved in the Ryder Cup as a referee from 1985-89 while from 1993 to 2006 he was responsible for Ryder Cup ceremonies and co-ordinating all arrangements for the Royal Household, Heads of State and VIP visits to the event, including logistics and liaison with security services.
A member of Chorley Golf Club since 1960, Norman was Captain in 1982, President in 1990 and Club Champion on six occasions.
He has held a Category 1 handicap since 1966, which he still retains. While at the University of Exeter he captained the golf team and represented the English Universities v Scotland in 1971-72. Norman has also represented the Bolton Golf Association team in five decades, also playing for Lancashire County Seniors from 2005 to 2016, going to three National County Finals as a player, Captain and non-playing Captain.
Norman is also a member of Royal St. David’s Golf Club at Harlech since 2000, was Chairman of the club in 2017 and is the present Captain. He won the Welsh National Teams’ Championship with Royal St. David’s GC and represented Wales in the European Club Team Championship.
He has been married to wife Kathryn for 45 years and they have two children, Sarah and Daniel.
Norman said of his appointment: “I was surprised and delighted to be offered the office of President and I hope to represent this great county to the best of my ability in 2019.
“Being asked to be President is a real honour and serves as a link back to my grandfather – Norman H Fletcher – who was known as Norrie and represented the Lancashire Union for many years in its early days of the 1920s and 30s.”
He will officially take up his new role in March 2019.
Lancashire Union of Golf Clubs www.lancashiregolf.org