At the annual meeting in Madrid on March 31, 2011, CMAE members will confirm my role as their President for the next two years. To become CMAE’s fifth President and the first from outside the United Kingdom and Ireland feels great and I am extremely honoured. Taking over from John Hunt is very exciting, however not in any way easy.

CMAE celebrates its 10 year anniversary in 2011. The organization has quickly grown into one of the leaders in the golf and club industries. From a relatively anonymous existence in the first years, CMAE has, under the leadership of Jerry Kilby as our CEO, undergone a remarkable transformation. CMAE currently has 24 member countries and fills its role well as the collective body of club management and trade associations throughout Europe. The main tasks are to continually raise standards and promote professionalism in club management, which we live with every day.

CMAE was in its early days an organization which was Great Britain and Ireland, reflected in both Board and membership. Today the organization has become what it was created to be, representative of the club management profession with influences from all over Europe. The current Board is represented by nine different countries which is fantastic.

In the next two years, I see before me a number of great challenges, including to finally be able to deliver a structured education program for club managers and those seeking a career in our industry. The program will be based on CMAA’s “BMI system.” Many of the member countries have their own well-structured program which of course they should continue to develop. However, to achieve a common standard in Europe, coordination among the countries is a must, since the goal of increasing the number of CCMs in Europe is one of my major tasks during my tenure as President.

I also plan to further expand cooperation with other countries that already have adopted programs which lead to the CCM, such as Canada, South Africa and China. The opportunity for our CMAE club managers to learn from and share experiences will become more important in the future.

Another major goal is that Europe must come closer to creating its own “European Conference.” We are hoping our International Congress, now in its third year, will become our annual major European Conference, which we believe is a natural progression for our industry and I hope it becomes a reality before my time as President is over in 2013.

I look forward to meeting you all at future conferences and training sessions, which will give me the opportunity to exchange experiences with you.

Yours Sincerely,

Jörgen Kjellgren, Vice President, CMAE

Jörgen Kjellgren
Jörgen Kjellgren is Vice President of the Club Managers Association of Europe (CMAE) and General Manager of Rya Golf Club, Helsingborg, Sweden