PGA Pro achieves Certified Club Manager status

Gavin Cook, the PGA Professional for Elie Sports Club in Fife, is the latest Club Industry Professional to achieve the Certified Club Manager (CCM) having recently passed the exam.

Gavin Cook, the PGA Professional for Elie Sports Club in Fife, is the latest Club Industry Professional to achieve the Certified Club Manager (CCM) having recently passed the exam.

Gavin who has been managing the club operations at Elie since 2014, joined CMAE’s education pathway in 2012 and, over the last three years, has attended four of our MDP (management development programme) courses plus the Club Managers Association of America (CMAA) World Conference in order to be eligible to sit the CCM exam.

Gavin Cook CCM

Gavin Cook CCM

Commenting on his success, Gavin said “I am delighted to have passed my CCM exam. The MDP pathway has given me so much over the last three years and this feels like a culmination and validation of everything I have done.

The exam itself was tough and it was a long day. Having failed the case study at my first sitting in March, knowing what to expect this time round was a huge advantage. Many thanks to Kevin Fish CCM and John Duncan CCM who helped me reflect and improve on my technique for writing the case study. I have no doubt this helped in no small way to passing this time round.

Many people probably don’t realise the work which has gone on behind the scenes to get to the point where Scotland is leading the way in Europe, delivering the full MDP education pathway. Credit should go to all the early trailblazing CMAE Europe and Scottish region committee members, Scottish Golf and Michael Braidwood CCM, for getting us to where we are now.

With the current popularity of MDP Parts One and Two, I have no doubt that there will soon be many more people eligible to sit the CCM exam. If you find yourself in that position, I would highly recommend filling in the forms and just going for it!”

Gavin now joins an elite band of 35 Club Industry professionals in Europe who have achieved CCM status.

CMAE’s Education Policy Board Chairman, James Burns CCM, commented “I am delighted for Gavin. He has put education at the forefront of his career path and to add CCM to his PGA qualifications is a great achievement. I am sure this will inspire many more from the PGA Professional sector to come to our MDP courses to further enhance their existing knowledge”

The CMAE has been in existence for more than 13 years, and is now successfully mirroring its American counterpart , CMAA, in the creation of an effective education pathway for club managers. In 2011 CMAE launched its MDP throughout Europe, encouraging club industry leaders to boost their education with the ten core competencies of the modern club manager. To date over 400 club managers have joined the MDP education pathway, which has been delivered through 36 different courses, spread over 6 European countries.