The 2014 honorees through the prestigious awards co-sponsored by Club & Resort Business and the McMahon Group—Christine Pooler of Merion GC; Mark Bado of Kansas City CC, and Gerald Marvel of The Club at UK’s Spindletop Hall, along with “Rising Star Award” winner Nick Markel of The Country Club (Pepper Pike, Ohio)—were recognized at an Awards Dinner held at the San Antonio Country Club.
The 2014 recipients of the Excellence in Club Management (ECM) Awards, co-sponsored by Club & Resort Business and the McMahon Group, Inc., the St. Louis-based consulting firm, were honored at a gala Awards Dinner held at the San Antonio Country Club on Tuesday night, March 10, during the week that the Club Managers Association of America World Conference was being held in that city.
The Awards Dinner was sponsored by ClubCorp, Denehy Club Thinking Partners, Preferred Club, Toro and Yamaha Golf Car. It was hosted by the San Antonio Country Club staff led by General Manager Marvin Jones and featured a dinner prepared by the culinary staff led by Executive Chef Nelson Millan.
Excellence in Club Management Awards were presented to:
- Christine Pooler, CCM, General Manager, Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, Pa., recipient of The James H. Brewer Award for Country/Golf Clubs with 600 or More Full-Privilege Members
- Mark Bado, MCM, CCE, General Manager/COO, The Kansas City Country Club, Mission Hills, Kan., recipient of The Mead Grady Award for Country/Golf Clubs with Fewer than 600 Full-Privilege Members
- Gerald Marvel, CCM, COO/General Manager, The Club at UK’s Spindletop Hall, Lexington, Ky. recipient of The Mel Rex Award for City, Athletic or Specialty (Non-Golf) Clubs
- Nick Markel, CCM, Assistant General Manager, The Country Club, Pepper Pike, Ohio, recipient of the 2014 Rising Star Award
Each recipient was joined by family members, Board members and staff members from their clubs who shared in their honors.
In addition, special recognition was given at the dinner to Sue Wegrzyn, who has served on the Excellence in Club Management Awards Selection Committee and is retiring from her position as Chief Executive Officer of the National Club Association. Remarks honoring Wegrzyn were made by Kirk Reese, CCM, of the Los Angeles Country Club, Robert James, CCM, CCE of Westchester Country Club and Brian Kroh, CCM, of John’s Island Club.
Past winners of ECM Awards and all past and present members of the Awards Selection Committee were also recognized at the Awards Dinner.
The Excellence in Club Management Awards were established in 1997 by the McMahon Group and have been co-sponsored since 2005 by Club & Resort Business.
The annual awards are selected through nominations submitted on behalf of qualified candidates by other parties. Award recipients are selected solely on the basis of their achievements at the club they currently manage; “lifetime achievements” are not considered.
A Selection Committee comprised of a peer group of club managers conducts the judging for the ECM Awards; the McMahon Group and Club & Resort Business are not involved in the selection of the winners.
The Selection Committee for the 2014 Awards was chaired by Kevin Vitale, CCM, General Manager/COO of Baltusrol Golf Club, Springfield, N.J. A full listing of judges, in addition to information on past winners and on how to nominate candidates for future years’ awards, can be found at the special website for the ECM Awards, www.clubmanageraward.com.
In addition to the Awards Dinner, presentations will also be held at each winner’s club throughout 2015.
Details on the 2014 award winners’ backgrounds and achievements were included in the February 2015 issue of Club & Resort Business, and in-depth articles detailing the achievements that led to the selection of each of the 2014 winners will appear in issues of Club & Resort Business throughout 2015.
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