As the newly elected President of the ICG, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our previous President, Jacques Intriere, for his years of dedicated service to the advancement of the ICG.  Under his direction, the ICG has grown to be a strong one-of-a-kind organization.  It is the only world wide organization promoting the craft of clubmaking and clubfitting as well as providing certification programs available to all its members.  Membership in an organization in which you can earn a certification goes a long way to gaining the public’s confidence and will impact on the growth of your business whether it is full time or part time. 

The Board of Directors (BoD) has been working on providing the certification exams in Mandarin.  This is a very substantial undertaking and we are getting closer to its completion.   Thanks to the hard work of Gerald Friz and Eric Ng.  The BoD feels the potential for growth of the ICG in the Asian market is tremendous and will continue to work diligently towards that goal.                                                                                  

I believe the backbone of the ICG is its membership and having members involved in forming and supporting local chapters is a great way to strengthen the organization.  I would strongly encourage our members to get involved in this endeavour, whether you start a chapter with two members or 20 members is not important. Getting started is the key. Growth will follow if we make the effort.

The European Chapter Meeting is being held this year in Ireland at the Castleknock Hotel and Golf Club on September 14-16.  Details are available on the ICG Website.  It is looking like it is going to be a fabulous meeting, with some great golf.  I would encourage all our members to take advantage of a trip to Ireland to attend this meeting.  The Spanish Chapter Meeting will take place in Madrid from July 7-8 and the Great Lakes chapter is planning a Fall event  Details will be posted on the ICG Website at a later date.

I would like to reinforce that the success of any organization lies in its members.  Without member support and feedback, growth of the ICG is much more difficult.  The BoD has developed a survey to help the Board determine what the members are thinking and how willing and available  the members are to get involved in various activities.  Please take a few moments and complete the survey so the Board can gain a clearer idea of what the direction the ICG should head and what resources we have.   We all have different strengths.  By bringing these strengths together we can become a better, stronger, more dynamic organization. We need you!

Don Irving 

President ICG