Students impress during MDP presentations in Bruges

April was a very hectic month for the current crop of students, Gavin McCabrey, Ben Davis, Giulia Ferroni and Will Murray who were all busy putting the finishing touches to their Main Design Project (MDP) ahead of presenting to David Williams and Christoph Staedler at the Annual Meeting in Bruges.

The MDP represents the culmination of 2 years' worth of learning and assignments undertaken under the watchful eye of an EIGCA mentor. The assessors praised the exceptionally high standard of work and the level of dedication that all the students have shown to reach such standards in such a short space of time. EIGCA members were also given the opportunity to view the students' work during the Annual Meeting and Conference with many commenting that the content and presentation standard of the drawings was to a level that they would only expect to see after many years of working in the design industry.

The Education Board is delighted to announce that following the submission and presentation of their MDPs, all the students have now successfully completed Part One of the VQGCD. The content is challenging and the level of commitment required by the students is significant but thanks are also due to all the other EIGCA members who have assisted the Education Board in the running of the course as without their support it simply would not be possible to run a successful programme.

This year the final presentation at the Annual Conference was made by the previous intake of students, (Neil White, Jakub Cervenka, David Minogue and Gareth Williams,) who had recently been on the, Toro sponsored, Student Tour to Sandwich, Kent to study the links courses at Princes G.C, Royal St George’s G.C and Royal Cinque Ports G.C. The students were asked to consider what commercial and physical changes these illustrious clubs were making to meet the needs of the modern golfer and also to consider what it is about this form of the game that continues to intrigue golfers. The students put forward a well-coordinated and thought-provoking presentation that demonstrated how these clubs have evolved in recent years to the extent that they are now working together to promote their golf courses and attract more people to the area.

At the AGM Alan Walker and Ken Moodie announced that they will be standing down from the Education Board and the President offered his sincere thanks to both for their tireless work in the running of the programme over many years. Having shadowed Alan and Ken over the past two years Niall Glen was nominated as the new Chair of the Education Committee and he will now lead the programme going forwards. The office has already received enquiries from some possible candidates who are interested in enrolling in future years and after a period of reflection this summer the intention is to follow up on these enquiries to establish whether it will be possible to commence a new course in 2019.

To find out more about a career in golf course architecture, see the Education Section of our website