Fred Perpall named USGA president-elect, set to take over in 2023

Fred Perpall has been nominated as the USGA’s president-elect and in 2023 he will become the organization’s first Black president since its inception in 1894. 

Next year will be the third and final year of current USGA president Stu Francis’ term. Francis is also serving in his seventh year on the USGA’s Executive Committee, a group of 15 volunteers that provide strategic and financial oversight to the USGA’s policy-making and governance board. Perpall will sit behind Francis for a year as the president-elect, a position that was created in 2019 to facilitate the transitioning process. 

For the past two years, Perpall, a Bahamas native, has been on the Executive Committee alongside Francis and is the Championship Committee’s chair while serving on the Amateur Status Committee. 

“I’m excited to work with Stu, Fred and all the members of the USGA Executive Committee,” said Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA, in a statement. “I’m grateful for their support of the organization and our mission and their commitment to and passion for the future of the game.”

Perpall, 47, is the CEO of The Beck Group, where he leads the firm’s domestic and international architectural design, planning, real estate consultancy and construction businesses.  

He attended the University of Texas at Arlington, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. Perpall ran track in college and was a member of the 1994 Bahamian National Basketball Team. 

Perpall was a member of Dallas’ Trinity Forest Golf Club’s Board of Trustees, helping build the course that is host to Southern Methodist University’s golf program, while serving the underserved community and numerous charitable tournaments and events for the Dallas chapter of The First Tee.

In addition, Baltimore native Sinclair Eaddy Jr. and Kevin Hammer of Boynton Beach, Florida, were both nominated to serve a three-year term on the executive committee.