Our Team
Southworth Development is a dedicated team of experienced professionals with a proven track record of leadership and innovation in the creation and operation of first-class residential resort & hospitality-branded real estate communities throughout the world. We are committed to creating unique and memorable experiences within sustainable communities, while striving to exceed the expectations of our owners, members and guests.
David Southworth
Principal, President & CEO
David Southworth brings extensive and unique experience in hospitality development and management. Mr. Southworth is recognized as a leader in the industry by both the standards he sets for service and design and the creative amenities he utilizes. A native of Scottsdale, Arizona, David is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration. Following Cornell, David’s career took him to San Francisco with Hyatt Hotels and then to The Pompano Beach Club in Bermuda. David joined Willowbend Development at its inception in 1992 as President & CEO, which ultimately led to founding Southworth Development in 2005 (visit The Southworth Story). During his career, Mr. Southworth has developed over $1 billion in golf and hospitality projects. David’s passions include his unconditional dedication to his four sons, and fostering a working environment that not only requires unrelenting goodwill, but embraces dignity for all.
Joseph Deitch
Principal
A longtime close friend of David Southworth, joined the Southworth team in 2006. Since that time, Joe has helped position the company to succeed in the dramatically changing world of real estate and resort development. As the Founder and Chairman of Commonwealth Financial Network, the nation’s largest privately owned, independent broker/dealer firm with over $50 billion under management, Joe’s financial acumen is well known. Even more important however is his dedication to quality and community. He is especially proud that Commonwealth was acknowledged as a Best Place to Work by regional publications in both Boston and San Diego where their headquarters are located.
Joe began his professional career in 1974 with Mass Indemnity and soon moved to New England Life. In 1978, he founded The Cambridge Group, which by 1981 was considered to be the most prominent financial planning firm in the area according to a Becker Research poll. In 1979 Joe formed Commonwealth. Over the years, he has been featured in most investment industry magazines and has spoken extensively to financial services professionals on topics of leadership, practice management, marketing, and strategic planning. In 2004, 2005, and 2006 Joe was recognized by Investment Advisor magazine as one of the 25 most influential people in the financial planning industry. His leadership style has also been celebrated in the book Leadership Secrets of the World’s Most Successful CEOs. Joe has spent his life trying to first find, and then create, “the ideal environment.”… and then make it consistently better. Joe is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, with a BA in International Relations, and an alumnus of Harvard Business School’s Owner/President Management Program.
Joe began his professional career in 1974 with Mass Indemnity and soon moved to New England Life. In 1978, he founded The Cambridge Group, which by 1981 was considered to be the most prominent financial planning firm in the area according to a Becker Research poll. In 1979 Joe formed Commonwealth. Over the years, he has been featured in most investment industry magazines and has spoken extensively to financial services professionals on topics of leadership, practice management, marketing, and strategic planning. In 2004, 2005, and 2006 Joe was recognized by Investment Advisor magazine as one of the 25 most influential people in the financial planning industry. His leadership style has also been celebrated in the book Leadership Secrets of the World’s Most Successful CEOs. Joe has spent his life trying to first find, and then create, “the ideal environment.”… and then make it consistently better. Joe is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, with a BA in International Relations, and an alumnus of Harvard Business School’s Owner/President Management Program.
Greg Sherwood
Principal & President of Southworth Golf
Greg joined the company (formerly Willowbend) in 1996. Since that time, Greg has construction managed some of the industry's most noted projects, including The Liberty National Golf Club on New York Bay, in Jersey City, NJ. In addition to Greg’s accomplished record of building golf courses and golf communities, he began his golf career serving in various Golf Professional capacities at the Hyatt Cerromar Beach, Hyatt Dorado Beach, Berwind Country Club, El Conquistador and the Rio Mar Country Club all located in Puerto Rico. He was also at the Carambola Golf Course located in St. Croix, USVI. Greg is a Class A Member of the PGA & an active member of the Golf Course Superintendent Association of America.
Peter A. Alpert
Executive Vice President - Director of Development
Peter joined Southworth Development in 2006. Prior to Southworth, Peter worked with David Southworth as Executive Vice President, General Counsel for Willowbend Development. While at Willowbend, Peter's primary area of responsibility related to the development of new projects including Liberty National GC and Starr Pass Country Club & Spa. Before joining Willowbend, Peter spent 12 years focused on development activities with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, owner of the Sheraton, Westin, St. Regis, Four Points and W Hotel brands, and its predecessor, ITT Sheraton Corporation, leaving with the position of Vice President, Associate General Counsel. Peter started his career in the real estate group of the Boston law firm now known as Edwards, Angell, Palmer & Dodge. Peter is a graduate of Brown University and earned a J.D. from Columbia Law School and an L.L.M. in taxation from Boston University.
Rowland B. Bates
Executive Vice President - Acquisitions
Rowland returns to the Southworth team to lead an acquisitions initiative for adding large scale Master Planned Communities and resorts to the Southworth portfolio. He has more than 30 years of residential and golf/hotel/resort acquisitions and development experience. Rowland was a founding partner and President of Golf Realty Advisors, Inc. the boutique golf consulting firm that managed golf development assignments across the US. GRA was acquired by Willowbend Development where Rowland became Executive Vice President and managed the acquisition of numerous properties in the US and Caribbean alongside David Southworth. In addition, Rowland was the senior executive of The Liberty National project responsible for managing and implementing all aspects of this golf club and residential development. Most recently, Rowland managed the Creighton Farms luxury community (now owned by Southworth Development LLC) on behalf of Pyramis Global Advisors, a Fidelity Investments company and was director of acquisitions and development for Sawyer Realty Holdings LLC focused on multi-family and hotel acquisitions on the eastern seaboard. Rowland holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, specializing in finance and real estate.
Kyle Biedenbach
Sr. Marketing Manager
Kyle joined Southworth in 2005. Kyle is responsible for creating membership sales, public relations, brand development, promotional activities, internet marketing strategies and advertising initiatives. Kyle has experience selling and marketing upscale resort and daily fee golf facilities in a number of international destination markets. Prior to Southworth, Kyle held positions at ESPN Winter X-Games, Bose Corporation and Longwood Cricket Club. Kyle is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a degree in Sports Management / Marketing.
Cathy Chauvin
Corporate Controller
Cathy returned to Southworth Development as Controller after two years of working at the Bay Club in Mattapoisett as their Controller. Cathy began working for the Willowbend/Southworth team in 1994. Prior to that she worked as the Controller for the Peters-Hartel Group, a real estate development company in Mashpee, Massachusetts. Cathy has a strong background in both golf operations and development accounting. She attended Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts.
David DeSmith
Director of Marketing
David brings a wide range of talents and experiences to his position as Director of Marketing. After earning a bachelor’s degree in writing and the humanities at The Johns Hopkins University and two years of graduate work at the University of Colorado, David embarked on a career in marketing and advertising that has taken him to some of the country’s most vibrant ad communities, including Richmond, Minneapolis, Portland and New York City. In New York, he was first a creative director at Young & Rubicam and later a founding partner and creative director at a new agency, Mezzina/Brown Partners. David’s often award-winning campaigns for dozens of consumer and business-to-business clients—including Walt Disney, General Electric, General Mills, Betty Crocker, DuPont, RJR Nabisco and others—has given him a skill set and base of experience that he draws upon daily in his marketing work for Southworth, its properties and its clients. David is also the author of two books that examine a pair of America’s more celebrated marketing and advertising campaigns (Café de Colombia’s “Juan Valdez” campaign and R.J. Reynolds’ “Joe Camel” campaign). He’s also the former publisher and editor of two of consumer golf magazines, New England Journal of Golf and GolfStyles New England, which he created after moving from New York City to Maine in 1995
Chris Duprey
Project Executive
Chris is responsible for the overall project development at Southworth's Meredith Bay development on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. Chris joined the company in 1997 and was responsible for the development of the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa. Chris has a history rich in real estate and golf development. After graduating from the University of New Hampshire with a major in real estate and business, Chris entered the commercial real estate brokerage business with Coldwell Banker in Pennsylvania. In 1984, Chris assumed partnership responsibility in a real estate development, management and general contracting firm where he supervised the development of over 750 housing units and a variety of commercial projects. He joined Golf Realty Advisors in 1992 (which was later acquired by Willowbend Development) where he was a senior executive involved in a wide variety of golf course assignments throughout the country including Steele Canyon in Jamul, CA.
Jason Paul
Director of Operations
Jason brings more than a decade of expertise, knowledge and experience in the golf, service and hospitality industries with him to Southworth. Jason is responsible for the sales and operations for all of the Southworth Golf-managed properties as well as managing owner/client satisfaction. A highly accomplished General Manager and Golf Course Operator, Jason has received numerous accolades from his peers in the industry including Golf Inc.’s “Most Admired Operators” in 2007 and Marriott Golf’s “General Manager of the Year” in 2002 and 2004. Prior to joining Southworth, Jason served as General Manager of the exclusive Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Creighton Farms outside of Washington DC, where Southworth Development served as Asset Manager overseeing the project. From 1999-2007 he was the General Manger of Westfields Golf & Country Club located in Clifton, Virgina, which under his direction was named Best New Course in the Mid-Altantic by Golf Digest. Jason became a PGA Professional in 1994 prior to taking a position as the Assistant Golf Professional at Desert Springs, a JW Marriott Resort located in Palm Desert California. Jason is a graduate of California State University at San Bernadino and holds a Bachelors degree in Business Administration.
Nancy Powers
Director of Public Relations
Nancy has over 18 years of public relations experience. Nancy began her career as Event Coordinator for O'Connell Brothers, developers for Marina Bay in Quincy, MA. In additional to her work at the time with Peter O'Connell, Nancy coordinated the JFK Regatta at Marina Bay, a two-day sailing event hosted by Senator Edward Kennedy and the Friends of the Kennedy Library. Nancy's career with David Southworth began as Director of Public Relations for Willowbend Development and Coordinator of the Willowbend Children's Charity Pro-Am in 1996. Nancy is a graduate of Suffolk University.
Tim Sullivan
Director of Construction
Tim focuses his attention on the planned townhomes at Meredith Bay, the Clubhouse at Creighton Farms, the hotel and golf cottages at Cat Island, as well as the golf cottages at Machrihanish Dunes and the restoration of the Ugadale and Royal Hotels in Scotland. Upon graduating from Union College in Schenectady, NY, Tim joined Turner Construction of Boston where he worked for 21 years. With Turner, Tim began as an Assistant Superintendent moving next to a Senior Cost Engineer, a Project Superintendent, a Senior Estimator/Preconstruction, a Project Manager - Special Project Interiors, to Operations Manager - Special Projects Interiors and finally to Project Manager. From 2001 until 2007, Tim was with Eastern Development of Woburn serving as Director of Golf Course Development and Aviation Services and then as Director of Design and Construction. Tim's final stop was with Pyramid Project Management of Boston which is a division of Pyramid Hotel Group which owns and operates some 40 hotels with 13,000 guest rooms throughout the United States. There he was the VP of Project Management. Tim resides in Andover, MA with his wife and two sons.
Marc Wexler
Project Executive
Marc is responsible for overall project development at Machrihanish Dunes in Scotland and the PGA Village The Bahamas. Marc previously held the position of Director of Asset Management at Sawyer Realty Holdings LLC. At Sawyer he was responsible for directing due diligence and underwriting activities for acquisitions as well as asset management and investor relations functions. Marc has been in the real estate field since 1981 and was previously employed at Brownfields Recovery Corporation and Northland Investment Corporation. He has been responsible for a full range of activities for over 5.2 million square feet of commercial property as well as asset management, acquisition, disposition and/or financing assignments for over 35,000 multi-family units. He is a licensed real estate broker in three states and is a member of IREM, the CCIM Institute, the National and Massachusetts Associations of Realtors, the Greater Boston Real Estate Board and the Real Estate Finance Association, as well as numerous community organizations. Marc holds a B.A. degree from Boston University and an M.B.A degree from the University of Chicago, as well as the Certified Commercial-Investment Member (CCIM) designation of the National Association of Realtors, the Certified Property Manager (CPM) designation of IREM and the RPA designation of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA).
Latest News
Renaissance Celebrates Clubhouse Grand Opening
Saturday, November 21, 2009
On Saturday, November 21, 2009 the band played on through the night while champagne was poured in celebration of the grand opening of the elegant 30,000-square-foot American Shingle-style Clubhouse at Renaissance Golf Club. The night's festivities included dinner, dancing, speeches, tours, and...
Jack Nicklaus Visits Creighton Farms
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus was hard at work during a recent appearance at Creighton Farms. Nicklaus began his recent visit with a two-hour tour of the Creighton Farms course, during which he assessed every aspect of its design, setup, and condition. With the same intense concentration and attention to detail that made him an 18-time major champion, Nicklaus offered suggestions on everything from mowing patterns to fairway widths and even used a special iPhone application to determine that the slope on one of the greens might benefit from a one-inch adjustment. The golf legend went over every shot on every hole and outlined several new teeing positions with an eye toward making the course more playable and enjoyable for the average player- a theme that Nicklaus spoke to again and again during his visit.
A press conference was held with Jack Nicklaus and Creighton Farms owners David Southworth and Joseph Deitch, Partners of Southworth Development of Newton Massachusetts. Mr. Nicklaus took the time to answer questions on the condition and design of the course, remarking: "this is a remarkably strong golf course. They could hold the U.S. Open here. It's a golfer's golf course for the individual who enjoys playing the game not only because it will be fair and fun, but that it will test your mettle."
Southworth eNewsletter - All Things Scotland
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
The Grand Opening of Machrihanish Dunes took place on Tuesday, July 21st. The festivities began the night before, when attendees and journalists were invited to mingle at the Old Clubhouse Pub. Those in attendance included Minister of Enterprise, Energy and Tourism, Jim Mather, course architect...
Southworth eNewsletter - August 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
The PGA of America and the partners of Cat Island Partners Ltd. broke ground on Friday, April 24th for the first-ever PGA Village® to be developed outside of the United States. The official groundbreaking took place on Cat Island in The Bahamas and was attended by...
Jason Paul Appointed Director of Operations
Friday, May 8, 2009
Today, Southworth Development LLC, leaders in development and management of residential resort and hospitality-branded real estate communities, announced that they have appointed Jason Paul as the Director of Operations for Southworth Golf (formerly Southworth Golf Management and Southworth Golf Construction).
Southworth Development Purchases Controlling Interest of Machrihanish Dunes
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Today, Southworth Development, LLC announced it has purchased a controlling interest in the Kintyre Development Company (KDC) through a Southworth affiliate. Southworth has been a minority shareholder of the company since 2006.
