Update: The Road to CCM

November 22, 2022: Getting onto the plane a week ago from Sunday, I was very eager, confident, and optimistic about the opportunity to become a part of an elite group in my line of work. The Certified Club Manager Certification Week and Exam had finally arrived. I had passed up on taking the review course and the exam two years in a row due to a Covid year followed by a major renovation year at Wyndemere Country Club.

When I took on the role at Lexington, my General Manager encouraged me to go and take the CCM Exam, even with a hurricane aftermath, and even if it was the week before Thanksgiving in southwest Florida. I was very appreciative of that.

I just knew that I was ready for the week ahead. Have I ever been a good test taker? Well, no, not really. This was the CCM Exam though. This was like a Tiger Woods taking a test on golf or a Bill Gates taking a test on computer software. I expected a fun week ahead that I had prepared for my entire life! This certainly wasn't like the time I took my ACT's in High School and scored a 17 out of 36. Or like that second time I took my ACT's and got a 17 again. That was quite a dynamic.

I was a smart kid and I read a lot. I remember my two professor parents who both received their PhD's in Literacy from West Virginia taking me to a local learning lab in Nashville to see if I may have had a learning disability. ADHD was the diagnosis. My folks raised me old school and didn't believe in that. This meant that even though they didn't want me to take medication as a minor, it allowed me to get extended time on my exams at school and for tests like the ACT's.

Have I messed with an adderall script working in the Club Business over the years? You bet your ass I have, amongst other things. However, I didn't like who I became with that stuff and I cut it out of my life one day cold turkey. I was better for it.

Fast forward to January 2005....

After graduating high school, we had made a decision that I needed a couple more years to develop as a student before attending a four year University. I graduated with a two year Associate Degree from The Golf Academy of America in Orlando, Florida. If I was going to go on to a four year school, I needed to bring my ACT scores up from a 17 to a 23.

In August of 2005 I sat in a room at Florida Gulf Coast University with a proctor, a scantron page, and an ACT booklet. I was allowed double the amount of time for each section this go around. I remember the day exactly. It was August 5th and my dad and I took a trip down to southwest Florida for this test. It was my 21st birthday.

When the results came back I remember getting a phone call with very similar emotions and anxiety that I had this past Monday when I received an email from Sonya with the headline that read, "CCM Exam - Results." I remember answering the phone and hearing that this time around I received at 32 out of 36 on my ACT's. Dunk City was in my immediate future.

Here I have been for the past seventeen years, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree from Florida Gulf Coast University, and working my way up the leadership ladder with great opportunities that presented themselves one after another.

I love this club management business. I love the relationships and the people that I have met along the way. Well, most of them. I love the time that I have spent in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and also in Southwest Florida.

I have been a member of the CMAA since 2013. Becoming a CCM has been the number one focus ahead of titles, and ahead of any other professional goal. I will keep this short.

Monday, November 21st rolled around. Sonya's email came through. I didn't open it. I got a text from Kyle Beach, newly appointed CCM, a text from Justin Wright, newly appointed CCM, a text from Dennis Courtney, newly appointed CCM, and a LinkedIn message from my new pal in Dubai, Paul Booth, newly appointed CCM.

I opened the email. Now let me just back up a minute. The test itself was 400 questions. It took me six hours and fifty one minutes to complete this thing. Yes, I took a lunch break but I wasn't going to pass up on the one free meal provided by the CMAA organization for the entire week. It was a chicken pesto sandwich and it was pretty tasty all things considered.

Failing score of 60% out of 100. I answered 240 questions correct and needed 38 more correct answers to have a passing grade. My first immediate thought went to how people whom I don't particularly like finding out that I didn't pass the exam. These people we all have in our lives. You know the kind. The ones that find a great deal of temporary satisfaction from the demise of people who work harder than they do. Quickly, these thoughts passed.

Five minutes later I walked down the hallway to my GM's office with my laptop and results in hand. After hearing he scored almost a perfect score on the exam, I had to mutter out some type of language to try to convince him and myself that I am indeed not an idiot despite my low score. I then forgot about this very quickly as well.

Next, and probably the most important step, I printed the Certification Exam Registration Form and filled out the information to retake the exam on January 23rd, 2023 on my home turf at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Here is the moral of the story for all of you that are chasing down your dream to become a CCM. Don't give up and enjoy every part of the process whether you failed or succeeded. I made some new friends last week and I had an opportunity to see the test for the first time and know what to expect in January.

I will become a CCM. I will continue to control my own destiny, and I will continue to help those around me in the process. It very well may take me three more times to pass this test but one thing is for certain. I will pass this test and I will continue to enjoy the journey every step of the way until I do.

A BIG Congratulations to everyone who has a new acronym next to their name. Very proud of what you have accomplished!