LIV Golf appoints regional managing directors to run its 14-event world tour

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LIV Golf has appointed five regional managing directors and three regional commercial leads, putting named leadership on the ground in each of its key markets as the league delivers a 2026 calendar of 14 events across 10 countries and five continents.

The regional managing directors are Chris Bentley for South Africa, Federico Valdez for Mexico, Ben Slack for Australia, Faisal Al-Jedea for Saudi Arabia and Martin Kim for Korea, with Kim also continuing as team general manager of Korean Golf Club.

In their new roles, the regional leaders take responsibility for everything the league does in their market: event delivery and operations, commercial growth and local partnerships, fan experience, and relationships with government partners, community organisations and golf federations. The remit is to deliver a global product with genuine local relevance.

The commercial bench strengthens alongside them. Daniel Andree becomes vice president of regional commercial for North America, Seb Salter vice president of global commercial for EMEA, and Chris Beadle vice president of global commercial for APAC, each tasked with deepening partner relationships and aligning global commercial strategy with local market opportunity.

The appointments expand the business organisation led by Chris Heck, LIV Golf’s president of business operations. ‘As a growing global league, our next step is to operate with a more focused local mindset, and strengthen how we deliver events, build partnerships and connect with fans in every market,’ Heck said. ‘That means having trusted leaders on the ground who can develop deep local relationships, and build teams that are enabled to grow the business in ways that genuinely resonate with fans, partners and communities.’

Why the appointment matters

Golf properties have historically been run from a single head office, with events delivered by touring production teams. LIV’s structure moves the opposite way: a permanent, commercially accountable leader in each region, backed by dedicated commercial vice presidents. For venues, suppliers, sponsors and event partners in those markets, the practical change is a named local decision-maker to deal with rather than a distant headquarters.

The league the new leaders are joining runs at serious scale. The 2026 roster draws players from 20 countries, the partner list spans global brands from banking to equipment, and the broadcast footprint reaches households across more than 200 countries and territories. Delivering that with local depth rather than a travelling roadshow is the job these appointments exist to do.

For the eight appointees, the mandate is the same in every region: make a worldwide golf league feel local, and build the partnerships that keep it there.

What the appointments mean for operators

For venue operators, the practical change is a named door to knock on. A league that once ran its markets from the centre now has a single accountable leader in South Africa, Mexico, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Korea. Venues that want tournament business, practice week traffic or hospitality spillover are no longer pitching into a queue. They are pitching to a person whose success is measured on local delivery.

That matters for the trade around each event as much as for host venues. A tournament week pushes demand into nearby courses, simulator lounges, retail and hotels, and a regional managing director has a direct incentive to organise that halo rather than leave it to chance. Operators within reach of a 2026 date should treat the appointments as an invitation to open conversations early.

The same logic applies to suppliers. Catering, temporary infrastructure, transport, turf services and staffing firms all sell into a global league through local buyers. A named regional leader shortens the route from capability statement to contract, and rewards firms that arrive with event references rather than generic brochures.

What sponsors and venues should read into it

For sponsors, the commercial half of the announcement is the more telling. Splitting commercial leadership across North America, EMEA and APAC moves partnership sales closer to the buyer, with packages built around a market’s own calendar, audience and corporate culture rather than a single global rate card.

Brands weighing golf against other sports can read that as a maturing sales operation. A regional commercial lead can bundle hospitality, media and community activity around a single event, then hold the relationship between events instead of reappearing once a year with a renewal form.

Host venues gain a counterparty who understands local planning, licensing and community sensitivities. That lowers the friction that has historically made big event hosting feel like a gamble, and it strengthens a venue’s hand when negotiating legacy benefits such as infrastructure upgrades and profile that outlasts the event week.

The wider hiring pattern

The structure will look familiar to anyone who has watched other global sports properties mature. Leagues tend to start with a small central team, then decentralise once the calendar stabilises, because event delivery, government relations and sponsorship all reward local knowledge. Professional golf is following that curve, and it is drawing executive talent from federations, agencies, broadcasters and club management as it goes.

For golf’s hiring market, the signal is that commercial and operational leadership is now a career path inside the sport rather than a sideways move out of it. Clubs and venue groups are already competing for the same profile of hire, a shift we mapped in the nine roles every modern golf venue now needs. Expect movement between league offices, federations and larger venue operators to become routine.

Who should act, and how

Operators in or near the named markets should map their distance to the nearest 2026 date and decide what they want from the week: tee sheet volume, hospitality sales, retail footfall or simple profile. Each asks for a different conversation, and the regional office is now the place to have it.

Sponsors and agencies should ask for the regional contact rather than the global one, and arrive with a market-specific brief. Suppliers should register interest before delivery calendars fill. None of this guarantees business, but named leadership removes the excuse that there was nobody to call.

Hiring managers across the trade should also note what appointments like these do to expectations for senior commercial roles. If you are recruiting against this market, write the role around outcomes rather than tasks, benchmark it honestly, and advertise it where golf’s business audience already reads. You can post a job with Golfer9 in minutes. The bigger story is the one we keep returning to: golf is quietly becoming a serious business, and it is hiring like one.

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