David Yates, Managing Director of Octagon’s golf division, brings over 27 years of experience in sales, sales management and business development to the agency.

Yates personally managed the careers of some of professional golf’s top players as Senior Vice-President at Gaylord Sports Management (GSM) for 13 years. Prior to joining GSM, Yates spent 15 years as a Vice President at IMG. Serving on the late Mark McCormack’s executive advisory committee, Yates was the recruiting coordinator for IMG Golf globally and managed the careers of major winners Mark Calcavecchia, Bernhard Langer, Nick Price, Hal Sutton and Ian Baker-Finch, among others.
One of the organizers of the Golf Coaches Association of America, Yates served as the Director of Golf at the United States Military Academy, Stanford University and the University of Oklahoma. Yates was appointed Chairman of the NCAA Golf Committee in 1985.

A First Team Division I Baseball All-American at the University of Delaware, Yates was selected in the 10th round of the MLB draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He earned a B.S. in Business from Delaware in 1971 and a B.S. and M.S. in Physical Education in 1974. Yates and his wife have been happily married for nearly 40 years and have six children and five grandchildren.