GCMA Accreditation – the association’s landmark programme that aims to recognise your skills, your achievements, and boost your professional and personal development – has officially launched.
At our dedicated webpage, you can now find all the information you need and begin putting together your application to become GCMA Accredited.
Tom Brooke, GCMA Chief Executive, hailed the “exciting and progressive” new initiative, which he said would play a pivotal role at the association for years to come.
“It is really exciting now it is here”, he said. “We’ve been exceptionally busy over the last couple of years with a number of new initiatives and really focusing on supporting the professional and personal wellbeing of our members and professionalising the role of golf club management. This programme is at the centre of that.
“Everything that we do around professional and personal development and education will point towards GCMA Accreditation. This is now the centre piece of our offering and so we’re really delighted to be getting it off the ground.”
GCMA Accreditation is a flexible, inclusive, and rewarding Accreditation pathway designed to represent you and your value to the industry, while providing a clear and achievable route to developing your career.
It’s designed to value and recognise the wide range of backgrounds, skills, knowledge, experience, learning and qualifications that contribute to making a successful golf club manager.
Crucially, GCMA Accreditation is flexible. It doesn’t matter which pathway you took, or where you gained your qualifications. Recognition is given to a range of experience and CPD.
You can apply for one of four Levels – from GCMA Aspiring Manager right up to GCMA Accredited Manager (Level 3), with a Senior Leader/Master Manager status arriving in 2025.
The GCMA Aspiring Manager category is open to Affiliate and Full GCMA members, while Accredited Levels 1, 2 and 3 are open to Full members only. You can apply for any Level you wish, providing your historical CPD and prior learning, along with your skills, knowledge and experience, match the requirements for that particular level.
While the application form is live now, submissions will be accepted from September 1 and will close on October 31. They will reopen again on May 1, 2023 until June 30, 2023, with an annual renewal process in place from 2024.
Tom added that the GCMA team are on hand to help guide you through the process.
He explained: “We’re really looking forward to working with you on your applications, supporting you through that process, and in the next couple of months announcing and celebrating our very first intake of Accredited GCMA members.
“Your own online accreditation form will be there for as long as you are a member of the GCMA. It’s an ongoing process, with an annual review. You can use it as a tool to capture and represent your skills, value, and experience and as a resource to manage your own personal and professional development. Use it to assess where you are, identify gaps, and map out your future development.
“I think that’s going to be particularly useful to those newer to the industry, looking to develop as an individual and build a career into golf club management. It is also equally as relevant and important for those already established within the industry, who now have a way of capturing and representing their considerable range of skills, knowledge and achievements in Golf Club Management.
“GCMA Accreditation is going to be fantastic and an opportunity to really celebrate success”
A video guide, explaining the application form, is available now, which you can view in this piece, or access here.
There will also be a series of live, online workshops for members to attend, ask questions, find out more about the programme, or get help with their application.
They will be staged on:
- August 25, 10am: Join here.
- September 2, 1pm: Join here
- September 5, 2pm: Join here.
- September 20, 2pm: Join here.
To learn more about GCMA Accreditation, visit the dedicated webpage here. You can also find an overview of the programme, check out the CPD Points Guide, and browse a selection of frequently asked questions.
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