Barry Hyde Named USGA Chief Marketing Officer


March 31, 2005 

Far Hills, N.J. - Barry Hyde, 39, of Rye Brook, N.Y., who has spent the last 15 years in golf marketing, including the last four years as vice president of global sponsorships and events for MasterCard International, has been named chief marketing officer for the U.S. Golf Association.

Hyde will join the USGA senior staff May 3, reporting to Executive Director David Fay.

"The USGA, for years, has marketed itself in various ways," said Fay. "Barry will coordinate these efforts and explore new opportunities for the Association."

Hyde joined the staff at MasterCard International in 1996 as director of global sponsorships and events, bringing golf into the company's sponsorship portfolio, adding 80 events in 16 countries over a four-year period. He was promoted to vice president in 2000, with new responsibility to extend golf sponsorships to 12 additional global markets, including Australia, China, Mexico and South Africa. He forged working partnerships with the PGA Tour, the European PGA Tour, the LPGA, ABC/ESPN and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland. Additionally, he helped in the creative development and media planning behind the company's golf-themed "priceless" advertising campaign.

A native of Palisades, N.Y., and a 1988 graduate of Occidental College in Los Angeles, Hyde joined the PGA Tour on the ground floor the following year as a cart barn attendant at TPC Sawgrass. In 1991, he was named operations manager at the new TPC River Highlands course in Connecticut.

In 1994, he was called to the Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., to become manager, consumer marketing.

"I've seen firsthand that golf and corporate American are wonderful partners," said Hyde. "I'm delighted to join the USGA team."

An avid golfer, Hyde is married to the former Katie Mullin.