The Georgia State Golf Association announces that Matt Williams has been named its new Executive Director. Williams will begin his duties with the Association on November 16, 2014.

In his new role, Williams will oversee the Association’s staff of 13, which carries out various services benefitting GSGA member golf clubs and individual golfers across the state. As Executive Director, he will be charged with developing a strategic plan that adapts to golf’s changing industry, identifying creative ways to grow the game in Georgia, and leading collaborative efforts among Georgia’s golf organizations.

‘We could not be more excited about Matt becoming our new Executive Director,” said GSGA president Chuck Palmer. “Matt is highly regarded in the golf association world for his dynamic and innovative leadership. We know that golfers throughout Georgia will benefit from his passion for the game and his vision for its future.”

Williams comes to the GSGA from the Kansas City Golf Association, headquartered in Shawnee, Kansas, where he worked since 2012 serving as Executive Director. Prior to his time in Kansas City, he spent seven years with the Sun Country Golf House in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is the combined entity that governs amateur golf and the PGA Section in New Mexico and West Texas.

Williams played golf at Kansas State University and is still a competitive player in his own right, having competed in 15 different USGA national championships.

“I am honored to be selected to lead one of the premier golf associations in the country,” said Williams. “Golf begins and ends in Georgia. We will work hard to honor and to build upon these traditions. As a father of two young daughters, the future of the game is vitally important to me.”

Founded in 1916, the Georgia State Golf Association (GSGA) received its official charter on June 24, 1924. Since that date, the GSGA has grown to one of the largest state amateur golf associations in the country, with nearly 340 member clubs and 75,000 individual members. With a mission to promote and preserve amateur golf in the state of Georgia, GSGA offers a computerized handicapping service, course rating and measuring, and annually conducts a full schedule of statewide competitions for men and women of all age groups. Other services include a summer-long junior sectional program, award-winning Golf Georgia magazine, membership recognition and rewards programs, management of the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame and a charitable foundation administering two college scholarship programs.