Singapore: Effective Governance in Golf is the theme of next week’s webinar in the Asian Golf Industry Federation’s (AGIF) Sustainability Series.

Presented by club management guru Jerry Kilby, the webinar will be broadcast live next Thursday (November 26) at 4 pm Singapore time.

Kilby, one of the first club managers in Europe to achieve the CCM (Certified Club Manager) status, said: “Crucial to the efficient and proper management of all golf clubs is the process by which decisions are made. In both commercially-owned and member-owned golf facilities, it’s important that the business has a clear and transparent decision-making process, with those who make the decisions accountable to the stakeholders.  

“In this webinar, I will examine what is best practice in golf facility governance and offer some useful takeaways for club managers to put into practice at their clubs.” 

Eric Lynge, the AGIF’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “The importance of this topic cannot be over-stated. Understanding and applying good governance should be applicable to every club.

“We are fortunate to be able to call upon a man of the experience and calibre of Jerry to walk us through this subject.”

Kilby has held several senior roles in the golf industry, including Marketing Manager of the PGA of Great Britain & Ireland and Chief Executive Officer of the Club Managers Association of Europe (CMAE).

He has also served as General Manager at three golf clubs, two in the United Kingdom and one in Dubai, and been a presenter at conferences, workshops and seminars around the world.

The first batch of four webinars in the AGIF Sustainability Series in September featured presentations from Dr Larry Ross, Professor Emeritus, The Barnett School of Business & Free Enterprise, Florida Southern College; Dr Roch Gaussoin, PhD, Professor and Extension Co-ordinator, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Michael Braidwood, General Manager at Qatar’s Education City Golf Club; and Roger Goettsch, CGCS, Director of Golf Course Operations at California’s Coto de Caza Golf & Racquet Club.

They were followed in October by Jack Cheong, veteran Royal Selangor Golf Club Course Superintendent; Eric Rule, General Manager at Hazeltine National Golf Club; Thomas Nikolai, Senior Turfgrass Academic Specialist, Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State University and world renowned as the ‘Doctor of Green Speed’; and Fred Yelverton, a faculty member at North Carolina State University and a global authority on turfgrass science.

The webinar in the final week of October focused on Sentosa Golf Club’s journey to becoming the first golf club in the world to join the United Nations’ Sports for Climate Action initiative.

The discussion featured Andy Johnston, General Manager and Director of Agronomy at Sentosa Golf Club, Jonathan Smith, Executive Director, Golf Environment Organisation (GEO) Foundation, the international not-for-profit dedicated to helping advance sustainability in and through golf, and Antony Scanlon, Executive Director of the International Golf Federation (IGF), who’s responsible for the promotion of golf as an Olympic sport and the international development of golf.

Lynge said: “Targeted at both turf and club management professionals, our webinars feature respected speakers and presenters from around the world, all of whom are experts in their chosen fields.”

In addition to the exchange of information, education/association credits can be gained in Club Management Association of America (CMAA), Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA), PGA of America, PGA of Great Britain and Ireland, PGA of Japan and PGA of Australia. Attendance will be tracked and a certificate of attendance will be issued, pending attendance for a minimum of one hour on the webinar.

For further details and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Gwen Ng, the AGIF’s Event and Membership Manager, at gwen.ng@agif.asia  

AGIF Sustainability Webinar Series

November 26 (Thursday): 4 pm (Singapore time)
Topic: Effective Governance in Golf
Presenter: Jerry Kilby, CCM

Registration: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nBpLLW1jQR-U2hOVk_0UFQ