PGA captain calls for golf clubs to offer training to their managers
25th October, 2011 by Jenny Yu
The captain of the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA), Eddie Bullock, has said that golf clubs need to offer more educational offerings to their managers in order for the club to survive in current, difficult market conditions.
“Every club member expects the club’s food to be good, the finances to be solid, the clubhouse to be pristine and maintained, all legislation to be fully understood, contracts and legal issues to be controlled, the insurance to be renewed and of course the greens, tees and fairways must all be manicured to the highest standards,” he said.
“This can only be achieved by a trained and educated professional manager.
“Many laws are forcing small and medium-sized businesses to review their operations constantly, and without a manager who has the required competence, breaching legislation could easily become a headache to those responsible for the future of their club’s business operations and prosperity – and perhaps even long-term existence!
“Quite simply, it is time for club officials to reconsider the role of management and the business of operating our golf clubs.”
Bullock added that the best way for clubs to achieve this is for their manager to join the Golf Club Managers’ Association (GCMA).
“The GCMA] has set out to provide a fast-track educational concept to address this changing role,” he said.
“The GCMA has also introduced a membership structure to recognise the individual’s proven knowledge and experience in the management of a golf club. Entry into the higher membership grades is based on the assessment of the individual’s record by managers who have themselves had success in operating golf clubs. Furthermore, the requirement that, to maintain a higher level of GCMA membership, the individual has to attend workshops and seminars means that he or she is more likely to be demonstrating best practice management competencies.”