John McNair, PGA, was born into golf and has spent every day of his life around the game. His childhood home was a house on Fox Bend GC, just outside of Chicago, where his father was the longtime general manager and head professional, his mother kept the books, and his uncle served as superintendent. Before he was a teenager, McNair began working at the club in the cart barn and restaurant. As a junior golfer, he finished runner-up in two state championships.

McNair attended the University of South Florida where he experienced his first year-round golf season. He played on the men’s golf team where they achieved a national ranking inside the top-25 during his junior year. When McNair finished college golf, he became a full-time touring professional on the mini tour circuits.

In 1995, McNair took the head professional job at the brand-new Black Bear GC, just north of Orlando. It was here where McNair started to gravitate towards the business side of golf after meeting the owner of the course, who was only 33 years old and had just retired from a successful stint as a Wall Street financial professional.

McNair would soon take a job to serve as general manager at Cherokee Run GC near Atlanta. The club was managed by ValleyCrest and McNair was on-hand to participate in growing a portfolio of properties through golf course construction and acquisition. As his résumé and experience grew, so did his demand and, in 1999, JC Resorts recruited him to San Diego to run their golf division where McNair began a 27-year career that continues today.  

While he has ascended as a golf executive and expanded JC Resorts as their Chief Operating Officer, McNair has always maintained his PGA membership. In 2015, after serving as secretary and vice president, he was elected as President of the Southern California PGA. During his time on the board, McNair played critical roles in initiatives driven to make golf more accessible for area youth including Neighborhood Golf and Golf in Schools.

McNair was subsequently elected to represent the regional district on the national level with the PGA Board of Directors in 2020. While on the board, he authored the PGA Endowment Fund and Reserve Policy. This policy ensured the continued growth of the PGA investment account and safeguarded the long-term sustainability of PGA programs for future generations of PGA Golf Professionals. He announced Phil Mickelson’s arrival to the 72nd green at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island in 2021 where Mickelson would become, moments later, the oldest winner of a major golf championship.  

Passionate about getting golf clubs in the hands of junior golfers, McNair serves on the board of the Wadsworth Golf Charities Foundation which funds projects like Links Across America, an initiative designed to build short courses to introduce young golfers to the game at “feeder facilities.”