Golf Management Institute of Canada Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Golf Management Institute of Canada Celebrates 10th Anniversary

OAKVILLE, ON (August 21, 2009) - The Golf Management Institute of Canada (GMIC) is marking a significant milestone in golf education around the world next month as it celebrates its 10th anniversary.

For a decade, the GMIC has provided convenient and flexible learning solutions for hundreds of adult learners and golf industry professionals through its highly touted on-line Graduate Studies Diploma in Golf Operations Management program.

"We currently have 200 active students from 20 countries around the world enrolled with the GMIC," says Institute President Grant Fraser. "When we launched the program in September 1999 there was a need for a novel approach to educate golf industry professionals without sending them back to the traditional classroom setting and that mission is still vital today."

Based at Glen Abbey Golf Club, the GMIC remains the only on-line program of its kind in the world. Fraser says the Institute has built a strong following within the golf industry because it allows people to upgrade their skills through selective on-line courses that cover a wide variety of topics. Those include: Business Law for Golf Managers, Marketing Management in Golf Operations, Food & Beverage Management, Golf Course Design & Construction, Retail Management in Golf Operations, Strategic Management in Golf Operations, Golf Club Governance and others.

"The GMIC program is an excellent program for anyone in the golf industry trying to take it to the next level. I enjoyed the fact that I could keep working and have a balanced schedule of two courses every two months," says Mike Simms, a CPGA Golf Professional working at Lyford Cay Club in the Bahamas. "The program also allowed me to complete my CPGA Class A requirements and most importantly obtain a post graduate diploma in golf management."

The GMIC also oversees in class training through its partnership with Niagara College by providing instructors for it Professional Golf Management Program. In 2004, it received the Canadian Society for Training and Development's E-Training Award for Canada in recognition of programme excellence. In 2006 and 2007, the GMIC made an international breakthrough teaching at Jiao Tong University's Institute of Golf Management in Shanghai, China.
"The GMIC is an opportunity for people within the golf industry to develop new skills, update their education and improve their qualification for upward mobility, while learning from leaders in our industry," Fraser says. The GMIC's on-line course partners include the Canadian Golf Industry Association, the Golf Association of Ontario, Global Golf Advisors and the John Dobson Foundation.

In an exciting new development the GMIC has signed a five-year training partnership with the Canadian PGA to offer its members further educational opportunities. The Institute will once again host its annual fundraiser for Student Scholarship Programs on October 1 at The Country Club in Woodbridge.

"I look back over the years and still find it hard to believe that we have been a leader in education for a decade now," Fraser adds. "I'm certainly excited about the future and the development of new initiatives that will further assist in the education of golf industry professionals."

For more information contact:

Ash Patel
Manager, Communications and Media Relations GMIC
905-844-7666
apatel@golf-management.org  
www.golf-management.org