The Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge announced that Don Emery has been named president and general manager. He begins his tenure on May 10. Emery joins Bay Hill Club & Lodge from The Riviera Country Club and The Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, California, where he was the general manager for the past six years. Prior to The Riviera Country Club, he was the general manager at Interlachen Country Club in Winter Park, Florida.
"We are excited to have Don join Bay Hill Club & Lodge,” said Amy Palmer Saunders of the Arnold Palmer Group. “Don brings more than 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, which will be instrumental for the ongoing success of Bay Hill Club & Lodge. Bay Hill is a unique property as it has both a lodge as well as one of the top-rated golf courses in the country, and annually hosts the PGA TOUR’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard.”
At The Riviera Country Club, Emery and his team hosted both top-flight golf and tennis tournaments including the 2017 USGA U. S. Amateur and the annual PGA TOUR’s Northern Trust and Genesis Open, as well as the annual ITA Women's All-American Tennis Championship. Under Emery’s leadership, both the Interlachen Country Club and The Riviera Country Club were named Platinum Clubs of America, each for the first time in their history. Riviera is currently a Platinum Club of the World and a Distinguished Club of the World with a special 'Iconic' status. For his efforts, Emery was named the Manager of the Year in California by the USPTA (United States Professional Tennis Association) in 2014.
Emery presently serves on the Advisory Board of the Collins College of Hospitality Management at Cal Poly Pomona and recently completed his term on the Board of Directors for the Japan American Society of Southern California. He is a graduate of Cornell University’s Hotel School of Hospitality Administration.