Aug. 27--Just a week after the death of its founder, Dallas-based ClubCorp Inc. will name a new president on Tuesday and elevate Robert Dedman Jr. to chairman of the board. 

New president John A. Beckert, who once ran the nation's largest independent hotel company, will also become chief operating officer, succeeding Jim Hinckley, who resigned in July. 

"He's got an ideal background to come in and hit the ground running," Mr. Dedman said of the company's new No. 2 executive. 

Robert Dedman Sr., who founded the company in 1957, died last Tuesday at age 76. He served as chairman until his death and played a key role in the decision to bring Mr. Beckert to ClubCorp, which with 200 properties is the world's largest operator of golf courses, private clubs and resorts. 

According to Mr. Dedman, his father's death didn't affect the timing of Mr. Beckert's hiring. "We'd always planned on Aug. 27 being the day," he said. 

In addition, Nancy Dedman -- the founder's widow and the younger Mr. Dedman's mother -- will rejoin the board of directors. 

Mr. Beckert had Mr. Dedman Sr.'s stamp of approval. So his hiring amounts to a founder's last act, rather than Mr. Dedman Jr.'s first move as his father's successor. The son has been ClubCorp chief executive officer since 1998. 

Both Mr. Dedman and Mr. Beckert said they expect no radical changes in the direction of the company. They say the company will take a back-to-basics approach to operating in the current environment. 

"My first focus is going to be on the company's historic strengths," Mr. Beckert said. 

Both executives acknowledge that ClubCorp's business has been hurt by the slump in travel and tourism after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "Everybody in the hospitality industry is struggling," Mr. Dedman said. "All of our competitors are having a more difficult time than we are." 

After Mr. Hinckley stepped down, ClubCorp launched a nationwide search for a president. But the right man was just a few miles from the company's North Dallas headquarters. 

For two years Mr. Beckert has been a partner in Seneca Advisors, a Dallas-based consulting and private investment firm. Before that, he was president and chief operating officer for Bristol Hotels & Resorts, a Dallas-based company that grew to 110 hotels and 30,000 rooms. 

He joined Bristol Hotels in 1981. Some of his early jobs included opening and running the company's Harvey Hotels in Dallas and Plano. 

In 1985, he became vice president of operations for the chain and was part of a management team that acquired about 100 hotels in three years, including 60 Holiday Inns. 

He also played a key role in taking the company public in 1995. In 1998, Mr. Beckert became president and COO of Bristol when it formed a separate hotel company and transferred its real estate assets to FelCor Lodging Trust Inc. In April 2000, the British hotel company Bass PLC bought Bristol, and Mr. Beckert helped establish Seneca. 

At ClubCorp, Mr. Beckert will oversee a worldwide network of golf courses, city clubs and resorts. 

The company, with assets totaling $1.6 billion, owns such resorts as the Homestead in Virginia and Pinehurst in North Carolina. Other prominent ClubCorp assets include Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, and Indian Wells and Mission Hills country clubs in California. 

ClubCorp made key acquisitions in the late 1990s, but the company hasn't made deals in the last year or two. 

Mr. Dedman said the company has "been busy assimilating all the development projects." 

And while ClubCorp is closely held, Mr. Dedman has said he would consider going public if market conditions were right. 

Mr. Beckert said he didn't know the Dedmans personally before the recruiting process began a month ago. And although he's a ClubCorp outsider, he said he's an industry insider, with nearly a quarter century of experience in the hospitality business. 

He said he believes in emphasizing service to the customers, especially in hard times. "It's a people business," he said. "A private club is a relationship-driven business." 

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