Mark King Receives 2024 NGF Graffis Award

Mark King, whose leadership spearheaded the success at two of the biggest global sports companies, is the recipient of the National Golf Foundation’s 2024 Graffis Award for outstanding and long-time contributions to the game and business of golf.

King was presented with the NGF’s highest honor at this year’s Golf Business Symposium in Carlsbad, California, where he was recognized in front of more than 120 of the golf industry’s leading executives at La Costa. The Graffis Award is named after the organization’s founders, Herb and Joe Graffis.

The Graffis Award is the latest in a long line of notable recognitions for King, who spent over three decades at TaylorMade and ascended to the role of president and CEO in the early 2000’s, helping grow the company’s business five-fold to more than $1.8 billion in sales. King also served as president at adidas North America from 2014 to 2018, doubling the company’s market share in less than three years and re-energizing its culture. During his time in the golf industry, King – who stepped down as the CEO of Taco Bell at the start of 2024 – was consistently recognized as one of the 10 most powerful people in the industry.

King’s TaylorMade tenure saw the introduction of transformative technology such as adjustable weights in drivers, a concept that two decades later continues to help recreational golfers play better and enjoy the game more. King also oversaw the release of the white-headed driver that drove the company’s metalwood market share to unprecedented levels at the time and opened the door to color and customization in the equipment industry.

“I always think of Mark most clearly as perhaps the greatest salesman in golf business history,” NGF President and CEO Greg Nathan said of King, who spent a decade on the NGF board of directors, including a two-year stint as chairman in 2005 and 2006. “He’s always fully engaged and had a way of cutting through everything and giving advice that was both profound and simple.”

Mark King (left) receives the Graffis Award from NGF President and CEO Greg Nathan at the annual NGF golf business Symposium in Carlsbad, California.

Past NGF award recipients include high profile golfers (Palmer, Nicklaus and Patty Berg); equipment company CEOs (Karsten Solheim, Ely Callaway); golf administrators (Judy Bell, Deane Beman); and golf educators/teachers (Peggy Kirk Bell, Bob Toski). In recent years, longtime First Tee CEO Joe Louis Barrow Jr. was honored in 2021, the 2022 award went to longtime PGA Master Professional and Morton Golf CEO Ken Morton Sr., and Golf Digest editor-in-chief Jerry Tarde was recognized last year.