About Mark

A Private Club General Manager for 37 years, Mark previously served 16 years with ClubCorp, including 4 here at (Haile Plantation), and 8 years with Troon Golf. He has led member-owned, corporate-owned and developer-owned Clubs during that successful tenure, including several of the most prestigious Clubs in America: The University Club - Houston, Windsor in Vero Beach, The Loxahatchee Club in Jupiter, and Carolina Country Club in Raleigh among them. Prior to returning to Hawkstone in 2022, Mark served as Chief Operating Officer of the Timber Pines Community Association, one of the largest and most active Club Communities in the country, as well as the Heritage Springs Community Association in Trinity, Fl. He is also the recipient of numerous company and industry awards and honors. Originally from Michigan, Mark attended Cranbrook School and then received his B.A. from Michigan State University. Mark and his wife, Maribeth, have been married for 35 years and lived in Alachua County since 2003. Maribeth is a small business owner, an active equestrian, and an alumnus of the University of South Florida. Their daughter, Alexa, is an attorney at Carlton Fields in Tampa, having attended Oak Hall School in Gainesville and receiving her BS, MS and JD all from The University of Florida.

About Neal

A native Floridian, Neal has deep family roots in North Florida and Gainesville. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and has enjoyed a very successful career in medical sales and management with some of the world’s most prestigious companies. With 12 Gator grads and 3 Gator athletes (himself, daughter, and son-in-law) his family also has deep ties to UF. Neal is active in the Gainesville community with organizations like SWAG and FCA, where he serves as a Board Member. He and his wife, Sandy, have been married for 37 years and have an adult son in Austin, Texas and a daughter, son-in-law, and grandson right here in Gainesville. Neal is excited to join the team of a Club he was twice a member of. Go Gators!

About Anthony

Anthony was born in New York, but grew up in New Port Richey, FL. He attended the University of West Florida , majoring in Communications. Anthony has worked in the hotel, restaurant and club business for the past 13 years, and been a vital part of the Hawkstone golf operations team since 2017. An avid New York Giants fan, Anthony and his wife, Kayla, reside in Gainesville.

About Evan

Evan Walker, our Head Golf Professional since 2018 is a Florida native, and graduate of the University of Florida. Evan has worked in the Golf and Country Club industry for more than 10 years. Evan has been playing golf since the age of ten and has always loved the game. Besides golf, Evan enjoys spending time with his wife, Candice, son, Ryan, and he also enjoys attending Florida Gator sporting events.

About Joe

Joe Holden is from the Tampa Bay area and has been the Golf Course Superintendent here at Hawkstone Country Club for 30 years. He was involved with the original construction of the golf course. His prior experience was in golf course construction, including the Mean Five Nations Golf Course in Belgium, and was employed for five years with Augusta National. He is a graduate of Gateway College in Lake City with a degree of science and golf course operations. Joe has a total of 45 years combined experience in the industry and continues to volunteer each year at Augusta National at the Masters Tournament.

About Mike

Grew up in Miami Florida and was a top junior tennis player in Florida and the United States. Mike achieved a United States ranking of number 2 in the country when he was 21 years old. Mike graduated from Louisiana State University, where he lettered in tennis and earned all SEC honors as a top collegiate tennis player in the U.S. After graduating, Mike played professional tennis in South America Europe, Mexico, Canada, and the US. He achieved a world ranking on the ATP tour. After his playing days, Mike established the Gainesville Tennis Academy at Westside Park and ran the academy for over 37 years.

About Dave

Dave was a 4-year letterman for the University of Florida Men’s Tennis Team and 1994 SEC Champion. For 21 years, he was a Collegiate Women’s Tennis Coach, spending 19 of those years as the Associate Head Coach at the University of Florida. Along the way, Dave won 5 National Championships, and 12 SEC Championships, coached 8 different players to Individual National Championships, coached 3 doubles teams to National Championships, compiled an overall record of 507-53, a home record of 231-4, and was undefeated at home from 2004-2017. He is a two-time National Assistant Coach of the Year, a four-time Regional Assistant Coach of the Year, and the recipient of the 1996 Presidential Recognition Award as a Student-Athlete.

About Tyler

Tyler was born in Gainesville and has been a member of our golf staff since 2016. A lifelong Gator, he graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Food and Resource Economics. In addition to golf, Tyler is also an avid tennis player. He enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter and attending as many Gator baseball games as possible!

About Dani

Dani has been in the fitness field for almost 20 years. She has a degree in exercise and sport science from UNC Greensboro and MS in sports/recreation management from NC State. Dani started with us in 2018 and loves her daily water aerobics and workouts!

About Angela

Angela relocated to Gainesville (Haile Plantation) from San Luis Obispo, CA where she was a medical practice manager for the past 30 years after having attended Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, CA. She and her husband (a plastic surgeon at Shands and a Professor at UF) have two adult children and are excited to be closer to their extended family and enjoy the great Gainesville lifestyle.