 | |
| Established | 1933 |
|---|---|
| Type | Professional association |
| Headquarters | Bristol and Clifton Golf Club, Bristol, England |
Region served | United Kingdom |
| Services | Professional Development, Education |
Membership | 2,000 |
The Golf Club Managers' Association, or GCMA (formerly the Association of Golf Club Secretaries) is a UK professional association for secretaries, managers, or owners of golf courses. The organisation was headquartered in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, from 1999 until 2014, when it moved to Bristol and Clifton Golf Club. [1]
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a sovereign country located off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea separates Great Britain and Ireland. The United Kingdom's 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi) were home to an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017.
Weston-super-Mare, also known as just Weston is a seaside town in North Somerset, England, on the Bristol Channel 18 miles (29 km) south west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Oldmixon, West Wick and Worle. Its population at the 2011 census was 76,143. Since 1983, Weston has been twinned with Hildesheim, Germany.
Somerset is a county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the south-west. It is bounded to the north and west by the Severn Estuary and the Bristol Channel, its coastline facing southeastern Wales. Its traditional border with Gloucestershire is the River Avon. Somerset's county town is Taunton.
The association was formed in 1933. [1] Its core activities include networking and professional development. [2] The association participates in joint educational ventures with other organizations, including an online training course in association with Buckinghamshire New University [3] and a joint Safety Management System in association with the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association, or BIGGA. The Safety Management System is designed to standardize health and safety programmes throughout the member golf courses of both organizations. [4]
Buckinghamshire New University, styled Bucks New University, is a public university with campuses in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and Uxbridge, Middlesex. The Vice-Chancellor of the University is Professor Nick Braisby. The institution dates from 1891 when it was founded as the School of Science and Art, and has since that date been re-invented variously as the Wycombe Technical Institute, the High Wycombe College of Technology and Art, and the Buckinghamshire College of Higher Education. It was a university college from 1999 until 2007 when it announced that its application for university status had been accepted.
BIGGA, the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association was officially formed on January 1, 1987. The association represents the interests of greenkeepers and progresses and develops of the profession of greenkeeping.
The association produces a magazine and website published by Union Press for the benefit of its membership. Originally called Course and Club House, the magazine - after Golf Monthly and PGA Magazine, the world's third oldest golf magazine still in circulation - began quarterly publication in 1935. [1] The first issue contained an article by then-AGCS President Bernard Darwin, grandson of naturalist Charles Darwin. [5] In 1967, the magazine's name was changed to Golf Management, which later became Golf Club Management in 1975. The magazine moved from a quarterly format to the current monthly publication schedule in January 1988. Golf Club Management supplements coverage of the industry with regular articles from experts in the field.
Bernard Richard Meirion Darwin CBE JP a grandson of the British naturalist Charles Darwin, was a golf writer and high-standard amateur golfer. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Charles Robert Darwin, was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution. His proposition that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors is now widely accepted, and considered a foundational concept in science. In a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history, and he was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.
