Summer Feat!

18 July 2015

The world of sport never fails to turn up surprises. We are being told that FoofGolf is the next biggest sport to hit the market place, with many golf courses changing some of their land into FootGolf courses. How ironic that the world’s number one golfer Rory McIlroy decides to play football a week before The Open and ends up with an ankle injury that ruled him out of defending his trophy. And then the England women’s football team enjoy their greatest ever day by beating Germany to win the World Cup bronze medal! The twists and turns of sport will never stop to amaze many of us. Hopefully the women’s football team will inspire more and more girls and ladies to take up the game – and participate in sport generally.

Membership Satisfaction survey: Having reported in last month’s article of the positive response we have received, I thought I would share some of the responses with you. A full summary of the survey will be included in future copies of the magazine.

The average length of service of a golf club manager in one club is 6 years 5 months
The average length of service for working in golf club management is 8 years 10 months
The average golf handicap of a golf club manager is 11.6
Only 6% of golf club managers do not play golf

Whilst these facts may not be totally startling, we believe it is important to understand the length of time a manager stays in position and, just as importantly, how that may change in the future.

National Golf Meeting: I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who took part in the National Golf Meeting at Beau Desert GC in June, as well as the club’s Committee and members who most graciously welcomed us to their course. As has been well documented, the GCMA’s Immediate Past Captain John Smith swept all before him winning both the Greenshield Memorial Trophy and the Founders Cup. His unbeatable two over par 74 was by far the best score of the day on a challenging but fair golf course.

Manager of the Year Competition: With the closing date now expired and approximately 150 entries received, we now start the task of reading through the entries for the three categories, Manager, Team and New Manager of the Year. Following Emma Clifford’s success in 2014, it will be interesting to see how today’s manager is facing up to the challenges of running a golf club in these testing times. In conjunction with our sponsors HowDidiDo and Fairstone Financials, we will endeavour to seek out the winners who will receive their awards at the GCMA Conference Dinner in November.

On Course Foundation – Fifth Anniversary: As many of you will know, the GCMA have worked quite closely with the On Course Foundation over the last two years. Not only do they help rehabilitate service personnel back into civilian life, they also assist them with playing golf and where possible finding them employment within our industr y. For their fifth anniversary I was invited to join them for a nine hole celebration event at the Royal Household GC within the grounds of Windsor Castle, for which I have to say I was extremely grateful. If you have yet to support the On Course Foundation and would like to know more, please have a look at their website www.oncoursefoundation.com.

By Bob Williams

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John Steele

John Steele is a former professional athlete, sports coach, Olympic Leader and is the Executive Director of Sport at Loughborough University. He has been Chief Executive across a range of sectors. Drawing on leadership experience of nine different Olympic and Paralympic Games (including the amazing events at the Rio Games), John reflects on the lessons from this unique period in British sport and relays his fascinating views on creating high performing teams.

Indeed, inspired from PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, by the most successful performance ever for Team GB, he has a whole host of new business and leadership insights into how this was brilliant performance was achieved and how it can translate back into your organisation.

John moved into the corporate world, before he enjoyed an outstanding career as a professional rugby player achieving international honours. After his playing career, he turned his hand to coaching and achieved the highest accolade for a British club coach by winning the European Cup with Northampton Saints. He then became Executive Director on the Saints Board during a period of unprecedented growth, and served on the England Rugby Board during the successful world cup campaign of 2003. It was no surprise that John’s talents were called upon to drive through a change and modernisation programme as CEO of the Rugby Football Union – a challenge that became controversial and ended in his departure from the post after only a year, but with his dignity and professional pride intact.

Headhunted by UK Sport, John took up post as CEO the day before London won the 2012 Olympic bid – and this promising start was sustained as he embarked on developing the UK’s high performance sport system, which he led for a six-year period of unprecedented success through the Beijing and London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Post-London 2012, with the Olympic legacy in place and an obligation to continue inspiring a generation, John took up his post as Group Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust. He has also succeeded Steve Cram as Chairman of the English Institute of Sport, an organisation described as ‘the team behind the team’, which delivers a range of performance impacting solutions to over 40 Olympic and Paralympic sports and some non-Olympic sports.

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Dr Jo Salter MBE

Dr Jo Salter MBE is famed for becoming the first female fast jet pilot, having flown the Panavia Tornado ground attack aircraft during her services in the Royal Air Force. Joining the RAF aged 18, Jo has since taken Air Cadets into the skies as part of Air Experience Flights, become the Director of Global Transformative Leadership for PWC, and most recently become a Global Advisory of GenAI for PwC.

Jo has piloted flights in the Air Cadets Air Experience Flights and inspired countless budding armed service members to pioneer a male-dominated sector, having been the leader of an all-male squadron. Since leaving the military behind, Jo has established a strong business career working in roles such as Head of Technical Services for NetConnect, European Operations Manager for Automated Power Exchange and Managing Director of Saltin Ltd.

Having developed first-class expertise in leadership, analytical thinking and performing under pressure, Jo is now a highly sought-after public speaker to share stories from her time in the skies.

Jo is a passionate Trustee of The Royal Air Force Club and an Ambassador of the Global Angels charity, an organisation that gives communities around the world access to clean water, education, healthcare and encourages female and youth empowerment. Jo has also authored two books, titled Energy: 52 Ways to Fire Up Your Life and Become an Energy Angel and Energize: Spring Clean Your Mind and Body to Get Your Bounce Back Today and Every Day.

In recognition of her achievements throughout her career, Jo has also been named as one of the 50 Most Inspiring Women in the World by Harpers & Queen. She is now working as the Director of Global Transformation Leadership at PWC, after working in other roles such as Director of Risk Technology Strategy, Director Chief of Staff to Head of Technology & Investments and the Director of People & Organisations.

In 2022, Jo was invited personally by Tom Cruise to attend the premiere of Top Gun: Maverick. Most recently, Jo received an honorary doctorate of Arts from Bournemouth University.