BMI Course Builds Competency in Club Management Industry

Crisis management, club governance and financial benchmarking were among the topics covered during the latest course to be offered under the Business Management Institute (BMI) Asia Pacific education programme.

Staged at Sentosa Golf Club, the five-day event attracted more than a dozen high-powered executives from prominent clubs in China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The BMI III – GM/CEO Concept course was presented by the Asian Golf Industry Federation (AGIF) and the Club Managers Association of America (CMAA). As the official partner, the certification programme powered by CMAA was executed by the AGIF.

Eric Lynge, the AGIF’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Aimed at building competency in the club management industry, this was the first five-day module that we’ve rolled out with the CMAA this year.

“It’s another step on the pathway to the Certified Club Manager (CCM) degree, which is now the gold standard in club management certification globally.

“Our attendees were extremely fortunate to have such prominent presenters of the calibre of Jason Koenigsfeld and Kevin Fish and also a venue of the quality of Sentosa Golf Club.

“With the SMBC Singapore Open taking place over the same time period, it was a memorable week at Sentosa.”

Fish is a former United Kingdom Club Manager of the Year while Koenigsfeld is the CMAA’s Senior Vice President of Professional Development.

Fish, who sits on the CMAA Professional Development Committee responsible for overseeing the curriculum throughout the globe, was also a presenter at last year’s BMI Course in Kuala Lumpur along with Koenigsfeld, whose areas of expertise include strategic planning, personality assessments, team development, leadership, organisational change, management and delegation and career planning and development.

As well as presenting various case studies, Koenigsfeld and Fish joined attendees on a facility maintenance and club tour of Laguna National Golf & Country Club, a Golf Course Facility Member of the AGIF.

Other guest presenters during the week were Kirpal Singh (Kirpal & Associates) on Your Club and the Law, Golf Course Agronomy Consultant Chris Gray on Golf Maintenance and Jed Moore (Managing Director, Performance 54) on Member Participation Strategies.

In 2015, the CMAA appointed the AGIF to execute the BMI education programme for the Asia Pacific region in partnership with existing CMAA partners in China, Hong Kong, Macau and New Zealand.

Lynge said: “Such a link was long overdue and has been welcomed not only by established club managers around Asia but also those who harbour ambitions of carving themselves a career in club management.”

The BMI is a professional development programme developed and launched by the CMAA in the early 1980s. Noting managers at all phases of their careers need instruction, education or inspiration, the concept of the ‘lifetime professional development programme’ was born.

The vision was realised as a multi campus-based programme that provides tangible career benchmarks by which managers can track their progress and strive for various levels of competency, including a respected certification.

The curriculum is based on 10 competency areas covering every aspect of a club manager’s job.

In the CMAA 2015 Compensation and Benefits Report, it was reported that the head of club’s compensation with CCM designation was 31% higher than a head of club’s compensation without CCM designation.

The BMI programmes are completely endorsed and empowered by CMAA and is equivalent to what one can receive in the United States.

Further AGIF-organised BMI courses are being planned for later in the year.