Photo by Montana Pritchard
GCSAA is now accepting applications for its inaugural Melrose Equipment Management Experience, which supports the professional development needs of GCSAA-member golf course equipment managers through the opportunity to attend the Golf Industry Show.
As part of the program — which is administered through GCSAA’s philanthropic organization, the Environmental Institute for Golf — the selected equipment managers will be able to network with GCSAA leadership, industry leaders and peers at various roundtables, receptions and events at the 2020 Golf Industry Show in Orlando, Fla., and will have access to a variety of education sessions tailored to equipment managers.
The Melrose Equipment Management Experience was developed through a $1 million gift from the Kendrick B. Melrose Family Foundation to create the Melrose Equipment Management Endowment. The Melrose Equipment Management Experience is one of four focus areas of the endowment, along with equipment manager continuing education, a certificate program and growing EM membership in GCSAA.
“The Melrose Equipment Management Experience will give our equipment manager members an unprecedented opportunity to advance their knowledge base and industry connections,” says GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans. “Thank you to the Melrose Family Foundation for making a difference in the professional lives of so many GCSAA members.”
The Melrose Family Foundation also funds a similar program that brings superintendents to the Golf Industry Show, the Melrose Leadership Academy.
The Melrose Family Foundation is supported by Ken Melrose, former CEO and chairman of The Toro Co. Melrose retired as CEO in 2005 and from the chairman position in 2006. That same year, he formed Leading by Serving LLC, a company whose mission is to advance the principles of servant leadership in business organizations.
Applications for the 2020 Melrose Equipment Management Experience are due Sept. 15, 2019. The program is open to GCSAA Class EM members who have not attended the Golf Industry Show in the past two years. Those chosen for the 2020 class will receive full-pack Golf Industry Show registration, education sessions, airfare, hotel accommodations, $200 spending money, and financial support to complete GCSAA’s Equipment Management Certificate Program Level 1 and Level 2 exams.
Learn more about and apply for the Melrose Equipment Management Experience.