Augusta National Club Director Jim Armstrong to Retire

Jim Armstrong will retire this year as Augusta National Golf Club’s executive director after 34 years in the job, the club said.

Armstrong, 65, will be succeeded in his role at the home of golf’s annual Masters Tournament by Will Jones, 46, Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne said in a statement.

“Jim has certainly earned and deserves his retirement,” Payne said. “I sincerely and genuinely thank Jim for his personal and professional dedication.”

Armstrong has served under five of Augusta’s six chairmen since coming to the private club in 1978. He will retire in September, club spokesman Steve Ethun said in an e-mail. The club didn’t provide details on Armstrong’s decision.

Jones has worked alongside Armstrong since 1993 and serves as the Augusta, Georgia-based club’s senior director of business affairs.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Buteau in Atlanta at mbuteau@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net