Newsupdate – English

Dear Members, Associates and Graduates,

I would like to begin this latest Newsflash by wishing you all a very happy Christmas and a prosperous 2003.

1. Deauville Exhibition

The exhibition in Deauville was a resounding success and the presentations made by Robert Berthet, Jeremy Pern, Alain Prat, David Krause, Mark Adam and myself were extremely popular and well attended.

It was disappointing to note that the attendance by our members was minimal, especially our French members who could have made an effort. Please do not forget that we always need members to man the stand especially as Julia has to attend council meetings, organise and co-ordinate the Institute?s events etc. and it is a pity to leave the stand empty.

Our presence at these exhibitions is meant to promote your Institute so it would be very encouraging to have a little more support from yourselves.

Many visitors came to our stand and 231 yearbooks were distributed. The constant search for new sponsors continued during the exhibition and it looks as if we might have recruited a few more companies interested to support and promote our Institute.

2. The council used the Deauville event to meet again and discussed the following topics :

2.1 Finance

You will be pleased to note that our accounts are well balanced and we are on budget mainly thanks to Ken Moodie?s good forecasting and David Krause?s monitoring.

2.2 PR and Promotion

Our new website has been revamped and has since gone on line. A few corrections and alterations were requested by the council and Ross McMurray must be congratulated on the choice, supervision and monitoring of the company that was chosen to re-vamp our original site. The cost of the re-vamp is slightly over the original budget but the council feels that our website should be our principal promotion and information vehicle.

2.3 European Union Committee (recognition of our profession)

As stated previously this subject is rather complicated but we are definitely not abandoning our search for EU recognition. Steve Pope wrote an excellent report on the possibilities of the EIGCA lobbying the EU Institutions. Steve is experienced with the intricacies and procedures required to initiate such an operation as he started as a British Civil Servant for the EC Policy Unit and then moved to Brussels on secondment. He took over various positions for the UK authorities and at one time was an independent European Affairs Consultant. He then moved to Italy to work with the European Training Foundation. Steve will be asked to present a detailed study defining the requirements necessary to commence a procedure by determining the necessity of an EU audit which will provide a detailed analysis of how EU policies and proposals impact on the work of golf course architects in Europe. This will enable the EIGCA to identify its key priority areas of EU policy and its lobbying targets. The EIGCA definitely has something to say to the EU but we must also identify the right time and the right person/institution.

As this is an important issue and priority for the Institute, the council is considering appropriate remuneration for Steve seeing as his task will be considerable and time consuming.

2.4 Education

Graduates should not miss the opportunity to avail themselves of the assisted work placement scheme and the application process will remain open for some time to come.

The part time MSc is progressing well and Ken Moodie is in constant touch with Heriot Watt to see that they stick to the initial timetable.

We are pleased to announce that 10 of last year?s students passed the MSc.

2.5 CAD

A possible subject for a future workshop would be design on CAD. Quite a few members, students and graduates expressed previous interest in such a theme. Great progress has been made in recent years on CAD design which can also include virtual reality ?walk throughs?.

The possibilities of such a workshop at an international and central European technical college or Polytechnicum are being investigated.

2.6 Library

Please do not forget that our library is constantly being up-dated with new books. Simon Gidman was asked to arrange an inter-library lending scheme with Heriot Watt and possibly Elmwood College because it was felt that the library must be available to students seeing as they are the main users of any library. This situation will be investigated and a positive response should be forthcoming in the very near future.

2.7 Competition Policy and Selection of an Architect

The council is working on a competition policy and a document detailing the procedures for selecting an architect. Both these documents will be displayed on the Website as soon as they have been agreed and approved by the council.

2.8 R&A Committee

Simon Gidman has contacted the R&A Golf Course Committee to ensure our involvement with this newly-formed committee.

2.9 Vienna Office

Gerlinde Jahn, our secretary in Vienna will be at the ?Fairway? in Münich in order to say goodbye to everybody.

It was agreed that there would be a formal farewell at the EIGCA stand on the afternoon of the 27/02/2003 so I hope that many members will show up to say goodbye to Gerlinde (especially the continentals and ex-ESGA members). Gerlinde played a very important role in the history of the European golf course architects.

2.10 EIGCA Logos

It has been agreed that the EIGCA logo to be used on members’ plans should not exceed the size of the logo printed on our letterhead and in accordance with EIGCA policy.

2.11 AGM

The Articles of Association state that the meetings will be held alternatively in England and Continental Europe so the next AGM will be held in England. The exact date and location has not been established yet.

Members, students, associates and graduates will be notified in due course although it looks as if the meeting will be held at the beginning of April. We expect a high level of attendance so that you can help us help you. Your attendance definitely makes a difference as you cannot expect us to read your minds and the only way to make a difference is to attend and say what you think!

3. Conferences and Exhibition

Please do not forget the following events :

21 – 23 January 2003 : BTME, Harrogate

27 – 28 February 2003 : Fairway, Münich

Peter Harradine, EIGCA President