Ireland's K Club named Bill Donald as the new director of golf, responsible for overseeing all aspects of the 500-acre estate property's two 18-hole Palmer-designed championship golf courses.
A 14-handicap golfer and extreme soccer enthusiast, Donald comes to The K Club from Nick Faldo's new development in Ireland, the Lough Erne Golf Resort in County Fermanagh, where he spent three years as director of sales and marketing, responsible for the development of Loch Erne, situated on the shores of Lower Lough Erne and Castlehume Lough. Slated to open in 2008, Donald was instrumental in all critical pre-opening marketing efforts for the resort's private club membership and home sale divisions, as well as its 125-room hotel property.
Prior to Lough Erne, Donald was with Hilton UK and Ireland, where he was director of golf and leisure. While there, he successfully opened Hilton Templepatrick in 1999. During his successful tenure with Hilton, Donald's team was awarded the company's prestigious Customer Service of the Year award.
Before his time with Hilton, Bill had been invited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers 1996 to apply for the highly coveted general manager position at the famed Clandeboye Golf Club in Northern Ireland, including its two golf courses and 1,500-member base. Here he honed his management skills, overseeing every detail of the property for three years.
Influenced by sporting legends such as Arnold Palmer, Nick Faldo, Lee Trevino, Ian Botham and George Best, Donald's love of golf was evident at an early age. He attended Campbell College in Belfast, and left Northern Ireland to study Business and Finance at Sheffield and Huddersfield Universities, and soon landed a position as a graduate trainee manager with First Leisure Corporation PLC. It was here Donald shined, working his way up the corporate ladder to ultimately manage sports facilities in Bournemouth, Derby and Stafford.
A career change of direction came in 1992 when he studied PGCE at Greenwich University, where Donald earned the position of Course Team Leader at the University of Westminster and Uxbridge College, frequently lecturing on Sport & Leisure Studies. A multi-tasker extraordinaire, Donald found time while lecturing to earn a Master's degree in marketing and diploma in marketing management from the Chartered Institute of Marketing. A passionate, charismatic born leader with a love and respect for all things sports-related, especially the game of golf, Donald also found time to lecturer for the Institute while managing his studies.