About Terry

Terry Nelson is a sales professional with 24 years of experience in the golf and private club industry. He has a successful track record of getting results in his past roles working for three of the largest Golf Management Companies in the world. He has also been successful at leading and supporting sales teams to reach and exceed their goals while serving as a coach and mentor. Terry started his career with American Golf Corporation right after graduate school. Starting as a Group Sales Manager he worked his way up to a Regional Sales Director over his 10 years there. He moved on to Sequoia Golf in 2006 and helped to lead the membership and group sales areas to great success and was an integral part of the companies growth from 7 golf courses to over 50 from 2006 to 2014. When Sequoia was purchased by Invited in 2014 Terry stayed on and served in leadership roles with Invited. Terry attributes his past success to many factors and personal strengths he possesses.

About Mia

Mia Chargois is a Houston native and graduate of Texas Southern University with a Bachelors degree in Communications. Her internship with the Greater Houston Partnership propelled her into a career in the Hospitality Industry where she began working with Hotel ZaZa in 2010. There she was progressively promoted from Catering Sales Coordinator to her final role there as Associate Director of Catering and Special Events. There she managed both social and corporate contracts for the hotel from conferences to large upscale weddings in both Dallas and Houston.  Over the course of her career, she developed a love for weddings which lead her to the American Association of Certified Wedding Planners where she completed the course to become a Trained Wedding Planner in May of 2019. 

About Kelly

Kelly Paull, Member Relations Director, has lived in Kingwood for 17 years. She brings a vast knowledge of the Lake Houston community and experience as a Community Relations Director from previous professional positions. Kelly is involved in multiple local organizations, including Leadership Lake Houston and the Humble Rotary Club. She also volunteers her time with many other non-profit organizations in our area, such as Humble Area Assistant Ministries, Family Time Counseling and Crisis Center, In the Pink, Family Promise, and The Village Learning Center. Kelly enjoys planning events and working with both Members and the community to create unforgettable experiences here at the Clubs of Kingwood!

About Dick

Dick Smith Jr. served as Director of Golf and General Manager at Manhattan Woods Golf Club in West Nyack, NY from March 1, 2011-November 30, 2018. Prior to joining the team at Manhattan Woods, Dick was the Director of Golf at Woodcrest Country Club in Cherry Hill, NJ since 1992. He began his golf career at Woodcrest Country Club in 1984 as an Assistant Professional. During his tenure at both facilities, he has managed the golf, retail and teaching operations at the highest level. Dick most recently served as Head Golf Professional for Honma Golf Company, opening and running their only stand-alone fitting facility in the US at Reunion Resort in Orlando, Florida from November, 2019 until he joined the team at the Clubs of Kingwood.In addition to his service at Manhattan Woods and Woodcrest, Dick is very active in the PGA of America, serving for many years in many different capacities. His years of service were highlighted when he served as President of the Philadelphia Section PGA.

About Lisa

Lisa Vaught is the Head Golf Professional at The Clubs of Kingwood. Lisa started with the Club in 2014 as a Teaching Professional and quickly proved herself as a true leader and a favorite among Members.  Lisa manages a team of Assistant Golf Pros and the Outside Services staff as well as providing assistance in all aspects of the golf operation, including staffing, payroll and all Membership Organization tournaments.Lisa grew up in Knoxville, TN area and attended The University of Tennessee. She started in the PGA program in 1996 and has been a Class “A” PGA Professional since 2000.  Lisa’s great wit and Tennessee draw make her an outstanding and well liked Instructor. She was the 2012 Golf Instructor of the Year in the Knoxville PGA Chapter. 

About Catherine

Chef Cathy came to Deerwood Club in 2020 and hit the ground running with fresh ideas and great food paired with it. She has a background with BLAST Meals from 2010-2012, a project with a local gym to create healthy, client friendly meals. Before that, Chef Cathy was the Executive Chef for hospitality dining tents for corporate sponsors, such as Addidas and Mead Paper Company, for the Atlanta Summer Olympics in 1996. She was able to serve over 300 patrons, 3 meals a day, for 2 weeks! Her favorite job, was being the Executive Chef aboard George H.W. Bush Sr. election campaign train traveling from Atlanta to Washington D.C. back in 1992. As if that’s not enough, she also did a TV appearance with ABC news affiliate in 2014 to do a live cooking segment. Chef Cathy  is a member of the Slow Food Movement. She has loved Houston so far and cannot wait to continue creating fabulous menus and memories for all of our Members here at The Clubs of Kingwood!

About John

John Kudrick has been in the tennis professional business since 1985 when he joined the staff at Westwood Country Club in Austin, Texas.  John found out early that his true love of tennis was more off the court than on.  He has been in the club business since.  He has been a part of Houston tennis since 1991.  John was Director of Tennis at Hearthstone Country Club, Junior Director at Copperfield in 1994 and Director of Tennis at Giammalva Racquet Club until he acquired Copperfield Racquet & Health Club in 2004.Although John did not pursue any professional or collegiate dreams, he has had the pleasure of hitting or playing with many wonderful players.  Ricardo Acuna, Kevin Curren, Vijay Armitraj, Roy Emerson, Owen Davidson, Cliff Drysdale, Nicolas Kroon, Friday Otebar and Sammy Giammalva to name a few. John still enjoys teaching the sport he loves and seeing the growth of his students of all ages and abilities. 

About George

George Ancuta is a quarter century PGA Member and is PGA Certified in Golf Operations, General Management, Instruction and Retail. George has amassed a tremendous record of accomplishments throughout his career. He has served on the Board of Directors in the New Jersey PGA Section and on various National PGA Committees. He has been awarded National PGA of America 2014 Merchandiser of the Year and has won several PGA Section awards including Merchandiser of the Year and The Patriot Award. He is also a Certified Club Fitter, USKids Golf Coach, ADM-American Development Model Coach and PCA-Positive Coaching Alliance Coach. George has been a key player at prestigious clubs in NJ including Arcola and Alpine, he has been the Head Professional at Knickerbocker, Knoll and recently McHenry (IL) Country Clubs. He loves golf, its history and its traditions, however George’s passion is helping members and guests have fun, teaching and playing golf.

About Tom

Please welcome Tom Juarez, our new Retail Director here at the Clubs of Kingwood! Tom was born and raised in the Houston area and moved back three years ago to be closer to his family. He comes to us with over 25 years of experience in the fashion industry. Tom was with Barneys New York in Beverly Hills as the Women’s Manager for many years. After leaving Barneys, he was persuaded by the founders of Juicy Couture to join the team as the Director of Visual Merchandising for the U.S, Europe, and Asia. After Juicy Couture was sold he went on to work with other brands such as Tory Burch, Kelley Wearstler, Vince, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and Wisteria as Global Director Visual Merchandising. Please stop by the shop and introduce yourself to him!