A quartet of golf club management professionals joined Tom Brooke on the latest GCMA Insights edition of the Golf Club Talk UK podcast to extol the success of GCMA Accreditation…
This article is part of GCMA Insights – topical content for golf industry professionals, discussing the things that matter to those who work in golf clubs.
“There are only 45 people that have achieved this so far,” said Haydock Park general manager John Jackson. “It puts us in a position that stands out from the crowd.”
Jackson’s been a golf club manager for six years but, having completed GCMA Accreditation and become recognised as a Level 2 manager, he told GCMA Insights he believed going through the process had given him an edge in terms of his career development.
He was one of four managers who joined GCMA chief executive Tom Brooke and host Leighton Walker on the Golf Club Talk UK podcast to extol the virtues of the ground-breaking enterprise, which aims to ensure excellence in golf club management can be measured and recognised by the entire industry.
GCMA accreditation has proved a big success, with Jackson, along with Hythe general manager Matt Hart, Caldecott Hall’s Reece Maybury, and North Hants’ Rob Climas, among the near four dozen golf management professionals to become the first accredited managers.
It’s open to any GCMA member active in a golf club management role and the scheme aims to provide a clear route to develop, while encouraging those who apply to think about what they’ve achieved and how they’ve handled triumph and adversity, while also rewarding them for Continued Professional Development and helping them to map out their future career progression.
While the platform is accessible all year round, submissions open once more on May 1, close on June 30, and managers can apply for one of four GCMA Accreditation Levels ranging from Aspiring Manager to Level 3 Accredited Manager.
“It’s a value system, so it enables recognition of experience, of skills, knowledge and achievements, as well as CPD, learning and professional development and education background,” said Brooke.
“That’s really important in golf club management. It’s not all about your work history. It’s not all about education. We’ve got to find a way of balancing all of that in one place and recognising that there’s a huge variety of skills and knowledge that go into being a great golf club manager. We’re hoping that’s what the accreditation programme is enabling.
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“It’s an open framework. It’s not about channelling everyone through one particular route. The programme’s open to recognising a wide range of different experiences, people coming into the industry from different backgrounds and, as well as that, enabling you to complete the CPD section based on a number of different learning and education backgrounds.
“So whether it’s PGA, CMAE, a university degree, or bite size learning, the CPD framework allows for that. A lot of research went into building the programme and we were really pleased with the response we got from members when we launched in September.”
For Maybury, it was an easy decision to get involved. “It was two-fold,” he explained. “The first was why not do it and get a recognised accreditation in the industry and among managers, and the second was to provide myself with the roadmap for my career.
He added: “It’s really good that there is this recognised accreditation now that guys are getting involved in, applying to the different levels, and how that can boost your career.
“We don’t often get time to sit back and reflect on all the things we’ve done and accomplished because every day is not the same.”
At its heart, Climas said he believed schemes like GCMA Accreditation reflected the huge changes that the industry has gone through over the last two decades.
“The responsibilities you have as a general manager now, and the need to be professional in those areas, is so much different to where it was 20 years ago. Twenty years ago you’d be known as the club secretary. That’s less prominent nowadays,” he explained.
“What you do day-to-day in that role looked completely different to what guys have to do today. It’s anything from health and safety to making sure your kitchen operation is running smoothly, and the pro shop, and the tee sheet. There are a lot more elements to being a club manager now, that the golfer or the member doesn’t see, compared to where it was 20 years ago.”
Hart revealed he is now looking at what’s required to move up the GCMA Accreditation ladder as a way of improving the job he is doing as well as the overall golf club at Hythe.
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He said: “Interestingly, some of the projects I’m now taking up at the golf club do link into GCMA Accreditation. I’m obviously looking at what I need for Level 1 and what I’m going to need moving forwards.
“There are a few categories, like our catering, that I’m not too involved in. We don’t really have a catering option so, when it comes to Accreditation, that’s not really an area I can currently vouch for.
“So I’m looking at now outsourcing some form of catering, which is ongoing, and we’re hoping to have in place. A golf club that’s never had any form of catering is now going to have that on the map.
“Obviously, that’s someone I can work alongside and adds another string to my bow. It’s a busy time and I’m looking forward to it.”
To learn more about GCMA Accreditation, and how to apply, visit the association’s dedicated webpage.
This article is part of GCMA Insights – topical content for golf industry professionals, discussing the things that matter to those who work in golf clubs.
Get involved in the debate. To join the GCMA, click here, or to organise a call with a member of the GCMA team, just complete this form and we’ll be in touch!
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