John Williams to be England Golf  President in 2017    John Williams, who has played a key role in running national amateur golf championships, has accepted the nomination to become President Elect of England Golf for 2016 with a view to becoming President in 2017. “To read the list of past Presidents is a humbling experience,” he said. “I am deeply honoured and delighted at this invitation and I’ll do my very best to match the standards set by my predecessors in representing and promoting England Golf, also in supporting Marian Rae, our President in 2016.”  John took up golf in the late 1970s and joined Barnham Broom in Norfolk.  He relocated to Cambridge and has been a member of The Gog Magog Golf Club for 30 years and was captain in 2007. He lives in Royston and is an active member of the Cambridgeshire Area Golf Union. He says he’s struggling to maintain his five handicap, but still occasionally plays for CAGU Seniors: “If they’re scraping the barrel!” John has been a referee for the English Golf Union (EGU) and England Golf for the last 10 years and is a past Chairman of the Championship Committee.  He’s looking forward to renewing the contact and relationships with counties and clubs which host England Golf championships.  “These were aspects of my role as Chairman of Championships which I so much enjoyed.  I’ll be able to express my own and England Golf’s appreciation to all of those who devote so much time, effort and expertise to the amateur game we love,” he said. John was also a member of the steering group which guided the merger of the EGU and the English Women’s Golf Association to create England Golf.  He’s an active supporter of England Golf’s strategy to create a brighter future for the game and says, that as President: “I will relish the opportunity to support the many exciting initiatives being taken to address a number of well-known problems facing our game.” John spent his business life as an industrial relations and management specialist, after studying at Cambridge University and being called to the Bar. He joined the conciliation service, ACAS, soon after its launch in the mid-1970s, when the country faced many industrial relations issues. After 11 years he formed his own consultancy and training business, from which he retired five years ago. John is 64 and has been married to Ali for over 40 years. They have a daughter, Emily, and a son, Tom, who plays off plus-one, and they delight in twin grandchildren.  Ali is a non-golfer who enjoys attending championships and the social side of game – and, says John, shows great tolerance of the male family members’ addiction.  John enjoys a number of other sporting interests. He is a member of the MCC and loves watching Test match cricket. He has supported Norwich City for most of his life and is delighted with the club’s promotion back to the Premier League. When time permits, John and Ali enjoy cruising in their boat, “African Queen”. Lyndsey Hewison Press Officer England Golf pr@englandgolf.org 07825 752 193