The R&A appoints Mark Darbon as Chief Executive

Held senior executive roles in sport and business around the world

Mr Darbon started his career as a management consultant at Marakon Associates, before joining Diageo plc where he held a number of strategic and commercial roles, living and working in markets all over the world, including the USA, Russia, China and Australia. 
Having transitioned into sport event organisation in 2009, Mr Darbon held several senior roles with the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and was latterly Head of Olympic Park Operations, overseeing the Olympic Park which housed nine competition venues with 20,000 employees and welcomed 250,000 spectators a day throughout the 2012 games. He went on to serve as an Expert Adviser to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 2013 to 2018.
Following London 2012, Mr Darbon was Senior Vice President of Tough Mudder Inc in New York and was involved in planning, promoting and staging mass participation events in North America, Latin America, Europe and Australasia. 
Before joining Northampton Saints as CEO in 2017, Mr Darbon served as CEO of Madison Sports Group, a sports events and content company which created an award-winning international series of professional track cycling events and, in doing so, brought a series of new sponsorship arrangements and media rights deals to the sport. 

Keen golfer and former hockey international

Mr Darbon is a graduate of Worcester College, Oxford University, where he read geography.
As well as being a keen golfer, playing to a Handicap Index of 3.1 as a member of Northamptonshire County Golf Club and Saunton Golf Club, Mr Darbon is a former Under-21 England hockey international and a Full Blue for hockey at Oxford University. He is a non-executive director of England Hockey and Women’s Premiership Rugby.
Mr Darbon is married with two children and plans to move his family to St Andrews when he takes up his new role.