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Stephen Havrillam has arrived in the kingdom to take over the reins of the Royal Golf Club (RGC) as general manager of the facility that features the challenging Colin Montgomerie-designed championship standard course.
The club’s board of directors and management team are said to be ‘delighted’ to announce the arrival of the man who has taken over from outgoing GM, DJ Flanders, who has been promoted to Director of Operations – Troon Golf Middle East & Africa, based in the Troon Golf corporate offices in Dubai.
“On behalf of the board, I am delighted to welcome Stephen to Bahrain and the Royal Golf Club,” said Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, chairman of Bahrain International Golf Course Company, the owning company of the RGC.
“DJ has been instrumental in the club’s recent award as Troon Golf Facility of the Year and we are confident that Stephen is the ideal candidate to carry on the great work achieved thus far in getting the club up to Troon’s exacting standards and to reaching its full potential.”
Havrillam, a PGA Golf Professional who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management from Colorado State University in the US, has been with Troon Golf since 1999 when he was the head professional at Troon’s flagship property, Troon North Golf Club in Arizona.
He has worked in many countries all over the world for Troon including India, Australia, Fiji, Portugal, the UAE, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. This will be his second time in the Arabian Gulf having worked at the Montgomerie, Dubai, in 2002.
In addition to overseeing the day-to-day running of the RGC, Havrillam and his team will be working towards the goal of growing the game of golf in Bahrain and building a reputation for the country as a desirable golfing destination for both tourists and business visitors.
“Stephen has been with us for more than a decade and understands the Troon Standards and tools as well as anyone we have with the company,” explained Bruce Glasco, Troon Golf’s senior vice president & managing director, International Operations.
“He has a large pair of shoes to fill, but I am confident that he will continue to grow the business and build upon what DJ and the team have accomplished in our first 13 months of operations at the RGC.”
The RGC also boasts a par 3, 9-hole course, also designed by golf course architect and golfing legend Monty. Additional facilities include award-winning restaurants, a golf academy with full practice facilities, a golf and leisure shop, meeting and conference rooms and a country club featuring a temperature-controlled swimming pool, multi-purpose sports court, ladies and gents gyms, saunas and steam rooms and a fitness studio.
