London, England: Experienced golf course architect Howard Swan has been unanimously re-elected as chairman of the Golf Consultants Association (GCA).
The senior consultant at the family owned Swan Golf Designs – a long-time member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation – Swan will lead the association for a further two years.
GCA chairman since 2013. Swan will be aided by an executive which continues to comprise business advisor John Ashworth, of John Ashworth Associates, Jon Barker of the Adderley Barker clubhouse design consultancy, Luis Desouza, founder and CEO of the NFS Technology Group, and marketer Andy Barwell, of golf marketing and PR specialist the Azalea Group.
The GCA has doubled in size during the last three years and, at the annual meeting, members were unanimously positive and optimistic for future progress.
A GCA spokesman said the revamped website, launched in April 2014, had proved very successful in making global golf business more aware of the breadth of the specialist services members can provide and in gaining many more enquiries for those services.
Swan said: “It has been a great privilege for me to chair the association for the last two years and I am delighted to have the chance to do so for another two. It is very pleasing to see that we have so many new members, specialising in so many different sectors of the international golf business. I can see us consolidating that position and expanding upon it during the next couple of years.
“I am very fortunate to have such an excellent team supporting my efforts, and we shall, collectively, be driving forward the association to reach, what I hope will be, an unrivalled position in the future.
“All of our new recruits give GCA consultants even greater chance of networking together in future projects. And that was the association’s raison d’être when it was first conceived.”
Established in 1999, the GCA has a successful record in providing assistance to the global golf community across a broad spectrum of services. It aims to assist golf course developers and those looking to build golf businesses by offering expert and impartial advice.
It is an umbrella organisation for a number of golf business experts, each of whom has a track record in delivering outstanding value for golf clients around the globe.
GCA members can offer specialist skills in any number of aspects of golf operations, including buying, selling and financing golf developments; golf marketing and media relations; designing and building golf courses and driving ranges; environmental golf development; golf market research; and much more.