Mark took up golf as a 12 year old and instantly fell in love with the sport.
An obsession with the game ultimately led to Mark attending College in America on a Golf Scholarship. On his return to the UK, he qualified as a PGA professional in 1996 and focused on the coaching aspect of professional golf. Mark coached winning professionals on all the main European Tours and became a PGA Advanced Professional.
In 2021 he graduated with a BSc in Business Management and Leadership at The University of Leeds and subsequently moved into golf club management. He joined the team at Otley Golf Club in July 2023.
Mark has two children, James and Edward and in his spare time he enjoys golf, the gym and cycling.
Gavin is a director of Power Group Services Ltd, an independent Building Engineering Services Design and Consultancy Practice, and has over 25 years’ experience in the construction and engineering industry. Gavin attended the University of Central Lancashire obtaining a B-Eng (Hons) degree in Building Services Engineering and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers and Institute of Engineering and Technology.
Gavin lives in Menston and has been married to Amanda for over 20 years, and has two children Finley and Freya who are both members and keen golfers at Otley Golf Club.
A golfer for over 35 years, Gavin is still mastering the beautiful game. He also enjoys travelling, fine wine, dining, music and reading.
Phil trained and qualified as an arboriculturist straight from school before moving into greenkeeping, which he has done for 20 years. Fifteen of those years he served at Scarcroft Golf Club where he gained his level 3 sports turf qualification.
Phil left Scarcroft in 2018 as deputy head greenkeeper and moved to Otley Golf Club, as a deputy. He became Course Manager in 2020 and is passionate about making Otley one of the top courses in Yorkshire.
Phil is married to Helen, and they have a son, William. When not at work Phil enjoys playing golf and striving to get better at the game.
Ollie has been a member of Otley Golf Club for five years and lives locally in Menston with his wife Emma. He plays golf regularly throughout the summer season and enjoys competing in the Winter League.
He looks forward to playing an active part in shaping the future direction and long-term strategy for the club, to make sure Otley remains enjoyable and engaging for members, financially sustainable and continues to modernise with investment and innovation in course development, facilities, technology, marketing and communication.
Oli has a degree in Economics from Durham University and is a Chartered Insurance Broker for a large, multinational brokerage. He has responsibility for all aspects of the corporate division of the business and hopes this experience will assist in driving the commerciality of Otley Golf Club, to increase its non-subscription revenue and protect its future for many years to come.
David is in his early 70’s and was born in Otley where is father was a butcher. After attending Prince Henry's, and finding the butchering trade not to his liking, he obtained a law degree and joined Newstead & Walker solicitors, before ‘emigrating’ from Otley to Burley and moving to work, consecutively, in Bradford, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Cairo (briefly) and back to Leeds (where he still works part-time). He has been married to Zandra (a club member) for nearly 50 years, and they have two daughters – one a Detective Inspector and one a GP – and five grandchildren. He is a moderately capable golfer, but loves the game and our club.
Mark is a ‘Leeds lad’ who has lived in Menston for the last 30 years and Otley prior to that. An accomplished rugby player, Mark played for Otley and following his retirement from the pitch went on to be Treasurer and a Coach with the junior section. Mark’s career was in banking and finance and he is now semi-retired. He is married to Susan and they have two adult children. He does take his golf seriously but like all golfers wishes he was really good at it!
Having attended Leeds Girls’ High School from the age of 4 to 18, Jill then went to Bedford College of Physical Education and subsequently taught PE for a few years.
Moving into the holiday industry saw Jill dividing her time between the company London office, Spain and the South of France for the next 10 years, until another change of direction saw Jill buy and run the oldest aeroplane club in England, the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club, based at Leeds Bradford Airport. She successfully built the club up from a small flying club to a highly regarded commercial flying school with full time catering and bar facilities. During this time Jill gained her Commercial Pilots Licence and Instructor Rating, so was teaching people to fly while also running the business.
Following the sale of the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club, Jill took the opportunity to return to full time education, gaining a B.Sc. Hons (First Class) in Aviation Technology and Management at the University of Leeds.
Immediately following her graduation Jill was invited to join the staff on the course and by the time Jill retired in 2018, she was Head of Aviation and Director of Flight Training at the University.
Jill lives in Askwith, with Helen, her partner of 28 years, and when not trying to reduce her handicap, Jill enjoys watching football (she supports Leeds United), classic cars, quizzing, home improvements and travelling.
In his early fifties, Simon has been playing golf since his late teens but only joined a club when he moved to Yorkshire 20 years ago. He’s a dad to two boys, Tom who is just finishing a law degree and Max who is doing his A-Levels.
Simon started life in the food and beverage industry working in bars and restaurants in London. He has worked at Asda Head Office in Leeds for 20 years and is now a Category Technical Manager for Baby, Nursery, Optical and Pet. This means he looks after and audits factories that produce products for Asda Brand. He loves to travel, which is helpful given his job and he would count San Diego or Bangkok as his favourite cities. He loves playing golf abroad and has played in the US, Thailand, South Africa and many countries in Europe.
Steve joined Otley GC in 2017 soon after retiring. Before getting into golf, he was a career civil servant with HMRC for 43 years, working in Cardiff, London and finally Leeds. Most of his working career was spent in investigation, tax avoidance and international work and Steve also spent some time in training, heading HMRC’s inspector training programme in the early 2000s. His final role was heading up a new compliance department in the North East of England and Scotland. Following retirement, Steve was a trustee and treasurer of a local charity.
Steve is married to Christine and they have two children: Jen and Hayley, two grandchildren, Daniel and Ollie and a miniature schnauzer called Lottie. Outside golf, Steve’s interests and hobbies include wine, art appreciation and cooking, when he has the opportunity. Christine and Steve are also keen quizzers and prior to the Covid pandemic, he used to run a wine group for the u3a.