Kings Norton is a company limited by guarantee. In 2015 the club moved from the traditional committee structure to being run by a Board of Directors. Directors are elected by members and the Board meets monthly to ensure the business is run in line with agreed objectives.

Members’ views are sought informally and through questionnaire to ensure that management decisions are understood and supported by the membership.

Chairman - Gordon Clark

I joined Kings Norton Golf Club in 1985 when, with my family, I moved to Worcestershire as I was joining Cadbury Typhoo in a senior financial role. During my career I have worked mainly in the food industry working for; Geest, Lonrho, Burroughs Computers and Sketchley Dry Cleaners. My final role was as Finance Director of Worldwide Fruit – the largest UK importer and packer of Topfruit (apples & pears), selling to all of the major UK supermarkets who, as you can imagine, are very demanding customers. I retired in February 2022.

I began playing golf in Scotland when my parents moved opposite Gourock Golf Club and this is where I developed a keen interest in the game, before moving to Worcestershire. I was a member of Royal Liverpool Golf Club for a few years; this course was extremely tough and I could not get my handicap below 18.

I remember the course conditions when I joined Kings Norton in 1985; the fairways were very wet in the winter and balls could be easily lost in the fairway. Fortunately, the investments we have made in drainage, greens, bunkers, planting of trees and pathways over the past 40 years have created what today is a very, very good golf course and we will continue to invest in course improvements.

I was elected as Treasurer in 2007, just before the nation’s financial crash, and spent 8 years in the role which I enjoyed tremendously in extremely challenging times – not too dissimilar to the nation’s equally challenging, financial issues of today.

I was invited to become the Captain in 2015 which was a great honour. During this time it was becoming obvious that the role of Captain was becoming too onerous for one person and I asked a small sub-committee, chaired by Bob Cashmore, to review the Governance structure, the outcome of which is the current structure of a Board of 7 Directors, elected by the members, who are empowered to make decisions with the specific objective of managing the strategic direction and financial stability of the club.

I was elected as the new Chairman on 14th November 2022 and I look forward to working with a great team of Directors, our new President, our new Ladies’ and Men’s Captains, our General Manager and the various teams at KNGC.

Club Captain - Mark Davies

Photograph and full details for Marketing Director, Jon Whitehead, to follow soon.

Finance Director - Rob Rhead

Photograph and full details for Marketing Director, Jon Whitehead, to follow soon.

Marketing Director - Jon Whitehead

I’ve worked within the property and financial services industries since 2005, when I was originally a mortgage advisor. Before that, I worked in the design & print industry. I’ve been playing golf since I was 12 years old and joined Kings Norton in 1993. I’m also a keen squash player and play for Worcs. 

Membership Director - Reiss Randall

Photograph and full details for Marketing Director, Jon Whitehead, to follow soon.

Course Director – Steve Earles

I am currently the European Technical Manager for a large, multinational paint manufacturer and have been involved in Research and Development and Specification Management for 35 years.

After 20 years of playing cricket in the Warwickshire and Birmingham League, time finally caught up with me and a gentler pursuit was needed to fill the sporting bug. Little did I know at the time that, 13 years later, golf would be the all-consuming passion that it has now become.

Over the 13 years that I have been a member of Kings Norton Golf Club, I have represented both the Scratch and the West Midlands teams, albeit mostly when they have been short of players!

I am honoured to represent the Kings Norton membership as their Course Director and to be given the opportunity to make a positive impact on our golfing experience.

Facilities Director – Krys Stanton

A proud member of Kings Norton Golf Club for over 30 years, I’ve been captain of the Scratch team and now Facilities Director at the club.  My role is to ensure the club meets all Health & Safety legislation and our aim is to enhance the built environment over the next few years, so it is aligned with the top quality golf course we have.

I am a results driven Facilities Management professional with strong leadership, negotiation, and motivational skills.  I previously held a Global Procurement directorship at the largest corporate real estate company in the world and am now founder of SPG-Group, offering a leading management consultancy service including access to neutralcarbonzone – the ultimate carbon management and certification platform.

Club President, Margaret Kennedy and Lady Captain, Carol Dent both sit at Board Meetings as a 'non-voting attendees' along with General Manager, Steve Dougan who is responsible for the day to day running of the club:

President – Margaret Kennedy

I first came to Kings Norton Golf Club in 1991 as an absolute beginner and had some lessons with the professional, but my application for membership was rejected until I had a handicap of 28. Having achieved this at The Vale Golf Club near Evesham, I was accepted into Kings Norton in 1993.

With the Ladies’ Section, I have held the roles of Treasurer, Secretary, Captain and Lady President. I also served on the club’s General Committee for seven years; five of which were as Chair of Greens at a particularly challenging time!

I have always enjoyed sport, having played hockey (in goal!) for 25 years before taking up golf. I have always been happy to take an active part in the administration of the clubs at which I’ve played and in the strengthening of the membership. I am currently Kings Norton’s, England Golf 'Charter Champion’ and also enjoy helping with our ‘Get into Golf’ programme, which is a wonderful introduction for absolute beginners, just like I was those thirty years ago!

My role as President is to help ensure that, building on the outstanding structure that has been created over the past few years, our club goes from strength to strength.

Lady Captain – Ann Hill

I  joined Kings Norton Golf Club  in 2008 having played social golf for several years, but it was only on retiring from full time professional roles in Education in 2015 that I was able to join the Ladies Section at Kings Norton and begin playing competitively. I have loved every minute of it!

I’ve served for most of the time since, on the Ladies Section Committee and have been both Ladies Secretary and Ladies Friendlies Captain during that time too.

Due to severe illness and a lengthy recovery I was not able to play for a couple of years. Since 2024 however I have come back to much better health and form and am loving playing again.

It’s a wonderful sport for women and men and my aim as Ladies Captain is to increase the number of girls and women taking up golf at Kings Norton and to continue the journey already started at KN creating more opportunities for men and women to mix and play very regularly  together.

As a Ladies Section we are also working hard to increase the numbers of women learning to play golf through the Get Into Golf scheme at KN and to increase the numbers playing on the Academy course and using the newly rated Black tees on the fairways.

We have a great Ladies section and our Ladies Committee members , KN Directors and Club Captain Mark Davies, Club President Maggie Kennedy and Club Manager Steve Dougan are all working to the same goals.

It’s an exciting time to be Ladies Captain. 

General Manager – Steve Dougan

After qualifying as a PGA Professional in 1997 I have continued my education through Continued Professional Development and in 2020 I become one of the few professionals to be awarded “Fellow” status by the Professional Golfers Association.

My initial golf career was very traditional and took the route of being a Head Professional at a couple of courses where I ran a pro shop, taught the members and visitors, and played in regional PGA events with some success, although I don’t get the chance to play much these days.

After completing the PGA Director of Golf Qualification, which covered all aspects of golf club management my career path changed, and I focused on becoming a full-time innovative Golf Club Manager.

After a spell of being employed as Director of Golf/Assistant Manager at Boringdon Park Golf Club in Devon I moved to Birmingham firstly to manage Moseley Golf Club before moving to Kings Norton Golf Club in 2018.

During the last 6 years and with massive support from the Directors and members I believe we have achieved a huge amount, especially in challenging times and we are now in an extremely strong position to move the club forward even further and become the “benchmark” for all members golf clubs in the Midlands.