5 CMAE members were awarded recently with their Club Management Diplomas (CMDip) at a special presentation ceremony at the CMAE’s recent Annual General Meeting.
The successful recipients were Simon Baker, Iain Lancaster, Sharon Heeley, Andrew Hill and Michael Newland.
All five members were presented with their Club Management Diploma Certificates by CMAE President Marc Newey CCM at the AGM on the 8th October which took place at the Royal Air Force Club in London and followed a half-day education session during BMI International.
Other members from England who gained their Club Management Diplomas but were not able to attend the presentation were Steve Cockram, Fraser Liston, Alastair Higgs, Graham Collins, Andrew Johnson and Nick Sinclair.
All of the diploma recipients attended MDP Parts One and Two and attained their Diplomas by passing the end of programme exam, successfully fulfilling the requirements of an executive case study (that takes place during the week of MDP 2) and submitting and passing a work based assignment on a problem at their club that they resolved by applying the key learnings from the MDP curriculum.
In the 2015/16 term, 35 CMAE members have gained the Club Management Diploma bringing the number of CMDip holders up to 143.
The MDP pathway was originally developed by the Club Managers Association of America and thanks to their vision and insight has been shared with CMAE, who adapted the materials for the Golf, Sports and City Club Markets across Europe and the Middle East.
In 2016/17 CMAE will roll out another 12 MDP courses throughout the UK, Europe, and the Middle East.
How could these club management diplomas really help?
Some people believe that sufficient work experience can replace diplomas (e.g. MBA). Well, I am not that one who believes in this theory. Therefore, I am happy that there are more and more golf club managers are ready to develop their club management knowledge or simply brush up their existing ones.
- Who are these club managers or secretaries?
- On what criteria were they selected to become club managers?
- Do they have a relevant education (e.g. degree in business administration, finance, etc. – at least a B.A.)?
I am asking these nasty questions because this is a 2-week long program. So if you are an experienced golf club manager or even new in the position (with relevant degree!!), this will not help you to learn something in depth, only to brush up or correct existing knowledge.
Did you know that a degree-level education or professional qualification was not a prerequisite for a senior role and only 50% had either of these? Jerry Kilby, the former part-time CEO of CMAE told me “no such qualifications existed prior to the CMAE launching the European CCM (Certified Club Manager) programme in 2008.”
Therefore, I can strongly recommend to these people to continue their golf club management studies to become CMAE Certified Club Managers.
If somebody is coming to this program outside of the golf club industry, it would be ideal to select golfers who have got a degree in the above-mentioned studies.