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CEO's message |
A positive international incident
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Our industry changes rapidly, and we can expect positive change as a result of a fairly recent philosophical evolution regarding how GCSAA relates to golf course superintendents internationally and to superintendent associations worldwide. Whereas we have been a U.S.-based and focused organization that happened to have international members, we’re now a U.S.-based organization with an international Internet strategy.
The Internet is the primary force shaping the new international focus. The Web is a tremendously powerful delivery vehicle that renders distance and geography irrelevant, giving GCSAA an opportunity to bring valuable and dynamic content — education, information and services — to superintendents and greenkeepers worldwide.
GCSAA is fortunate to have among the world’s most comprehensive and in-depth information base on golf course management. We’re collecting this content, culled from GCSAA and other sources, and delivering it worldwide through the Internet.
GCSAA’s new International Superintendent membership is another primary driver in our strategy. We’ve given international superintendents an opportunity to join GCSAA at half price as long as they also are members of their home country’s association. But we’re not limiting our efforts to this endeavor.
Working with other superintendent and greenkeeper associations around the world, we’ve begun some major initiatives that were announced at January’s International Summit, held in conjunction with the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association conference in Harrogate, England.
One initiative is to create a document that speaks with an international voice to the requirements of the golf course maintenance profession. This document, called “Guidelines Supporting the Position of Golf Course Manager,” is an attempt to create a set of worldwide guidelines concerning the skills and abilities a golf course manager should bring to a facility.
Another document, this one on global environmental efforts, also is in the works. This paper will describe how the golf course superintendent or greenkeeper manages a golf course in compatibility with the environment. These tenets will be our collaborative attempt to state the environmental goals of the golf course management profession.
Yet another initiative is the newly launched Web site for the participating international organizations, which include GCSAA, most of the European associations and the Canadian and Australian superintendent groups, among others. This site is designed as a vehicle to help eliminate geographical communication barriers among the organizations.
Also announced last month is that the International Summit will be held every two years in conjunction with the GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show. We will host the 2006 event in New Orleans.
GCSAA is at the forefront of all these international efforts and is taking a leadership role in developing the documents and the Web site I mentioned, as well as maintaining a database of all the associations. We’re pleased to do this, not only because GCSAA is blessed with the most resources of any of our counterpart organizations, but also because we know that what advances the game of golf and the international golf course management profession also advances GCSAA and its members.
We don’t view these endeavors as a membership campaign, but rather as a collaborative effort to elevate the profession, support the good work of our allied associations worldwide and improve our International Superintendent membership category.
Our vision is to have a vibrant, ongoing network of international golf course management associations working together on tangible projects like the environment and the future of the profession for the benefit of superintendents worldwide.
Why change our international philosophy? The world is smaller today. The Internet has reduced our reliance on time and travel and has made reaching out internationally a logical strategy to pursue.
Through these efforts, we already have gained access to resources and information — particularly environmental information — that otherwise would not have been available to us. It’s not difficult to see that a tighter-knit international community can benefit all involved, including GCSAA and its individual members.
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