Mark Bates

Born and raised in Innisfail, Alberta, Mark played and worked at the Innisfail Golf Club for the majority of his youth. He joined the PGA while working at Inglewood Golf Club in Calgary. Upon completion of a Bachelor's degree in Management from the University of Lethbridge, Mark moved to Thailand and secured a role in business development for Heartland Golf Schools, building their international programs. He returned to Canada, spending a year each at Turner Valley G&CC and Priddis Greens G&CC outside of Calgary. However, strong ties to Asia remained and Mark made the move to the island city-state of Singapore in 2006. There, he established the Singapore branch of Heartland Golf Schools, which he managed for over 10 years until the school's closure as the country club's land was acquired for city infrastructure works. Mark joined Laguna National Golf & Country Club in 2016 as the Director of Golf Operations. In this time, the club has completed renovations of both championship courses and built the multi-million dollar "Laguna Practice" facility, including the launch of the first Toptracer Range facility in Southeast Asia and the re-introduction of Leadbetter Golf Academy to Singapore. 2020 marked the grand opening of the newly reconstructed clubhouse, the largest green grass golf shop in Southeast Asia and the Dusit Thani Laguna Singapore resort hotel. in 2023, Laguna National returned to the international stage, hosting the Singapore Classic (DP World Tour), Aramco Team Series Singapore (LET) and the Singapore Ladies Masters (China LPGA). A multi-year Title Partner deal was struck in 2024 and with Porsche, securing the Porsche Singapore Classic through 2025.