The chief executive of American Golf has left amid a board room shake up by its private equity backer, Endless.
Gary Favell had served in the role since October 2018, having previously been CEO at Bathstore from 2012.
He has now taken on the same role at Lights4fun in Harrogate
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It has now been confirmed that ormer Matalan interim CEO Nigel Oddy is to succeed Mr Favell at American Golf.
Mr Oddy will step down from his role at the Liverpool-headquartered fashion chain at the end of March after six months.
His departure comes after Matalan's new owners announced a new chairman and chief executive yesterday.
Mr Oddy has previously held senior roles with The Range, House of Fraser, and Marks & Spencer.
He said: "I am very excited to join the team at ILG and have been a customer of American Golf for many years. I have watched the progress of the company as an omnichannel golf retailer since Endless LLP acquired the company in 2018, and the new store concept is best in class in the UK and European golf retail.
"Additionally, it has a market leading position in Custom Fit golf clubs, a portfolio of wholly owned brands, and is developing multi-dimensional golf leisure sites.
"This is a group incredibly well positioned to maximise the opportunity created by the explosion of golf participation over the last three years."
According to filings with Companies House for its holding company, International Leisure Group, Endless partner James Woolley has been appointed as a director.
At the same time, fellow Endless partners Richard Harrison and Tom Jack have stepped down.
The rest of the board includes chairman Richard Cotter, chief financial offer Simon Owers, chief commercial officer Stuart Middlemiss, and marketing director Scott Taylor
Mr Cotter added: "We are very pleased to have Nigel join the Board of International Leisure Group as CEO, this is a very exciting time for the group and for golf in general as participation levels remain very strong vs pre-Covid numbers, with lots of new players joining the game and golf club membership flourishing.
"Nigel will bring a huge depth of experience having run multi-site retail, online and leisure businesses across Europe as we build on our position as the UK and Europe’s biggest and best golf retailer."
Mr Woolley said: "Endless are delighted to bring Nigel on board as the new CEO. He brings a wealth of retail experience and will complement the existing board as we invest more into our retail footprint and omnichannel operations.
"We remain committed to ensure we continue to lead the way in bringing the best products and unparalleled service to help enhance the game of five million golfers in the UK."
In its most recently filed set of accounts, the Warrington-headquartered group reported sales of £166m for the 12 months to January 30, 2022, up from the £115.4m it achieved in the prior year.
The turnover figure was also ahead of the £141.6m the group posted in the year before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
Its pre-tax profits also surged from £152,370 to £7.8m for the year.
In April 2022 the company revealed plans for a £6m investment programme during the following 12 months which would create 50 new jobs in the UK, taking the group’s total employees to over 1,000.
ILG is planning to add 30 new leisure sites to its portfolio by the end of 2027, consisting of stores, golf ranges, food and beverage and adventure golf offerings.
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