Lodewijk Klootwijk, director of the EGCOA, said: “Education is an important part of our goal to professionalise the golf industry. The CMAE has an excellent educational program which is modelled on the Club Managers Association of America’s own well-established program. Our cooperation with CMAE offers EGCOA members the possibility to educate themselves.”

Jerry Kilby, the executive director of CMAE, was in Amsterdam to sign the agreement. He explained: “The CMAE is delighted to forge a close working relationship between the golf course owners and club managers throughout Europe – as by working together we can encourage the sharing of best practice across our industry.”

“We also wish to invite the EGCOA to participate in our new certification programme for club managers – Certified Club Manager (CCM) – which we are confident will become the benchmark for professional club management in the years to come.”

The CMAE is a non-profit association with members involved in the management of sports clubs, health and fitness clubs, leisure, city and dining clubs located throughout Europe. The CMAE is also the pan-European ‘umbrella’ organisation for a variety of national professional associations for club managers and secretaries.