MGA Hosts Spring Ambassador Meeting

ELMSFORD, N.Y (March 25, 2024) -- The MGA held its annual spring Club Ambassador Program meeting on Saturday, March 23 at The Apawamis Club in Rye, N.Y., welcoming representatives from MGA member clubs to discuss timely topics and important issues facing clubs today.

Related: Ambassador Program Information | Photos

The Ambassador Program, formerly known as the Club Rep Program, launched in 1995 to not only help foster communication between the MGA and its member clubs, but to provide opportunities for member club personnel to connect and collaborate on issues and concerns. The program serves as a way for the MGA to ensure that each club can take full advantage of MGA services, programs, and resources, while also allowing clubs to make the MGA aware of what clubs are facing.

MGA Vice President Ned Zachar of GlenArbor welcomed attendees and shared some brief MGA updates before introducing Kerri Rawcliffe and Ronald DeSoiza of MGA partner and accounting and advisory firm PKF O'Connor Davies. Rawcliffe and DeSoiza shared best practices in a variety of areas, including ways to ensure that caddies are used as independent contractors. Ambassadors also had the chance to ask questions pertinent to their own clubs.

The final portion of the meeting was a collaborative session as Zachar went through topics submitted by Ambassadors during lunch. Each topic sparked converstaion between Ambassadors, as they shared problems or solutions from a variety of topics. Chris Barron of Club Benchmarking provided insight while speaking to several areas including capital projects and membership categories.

The Ambassador Meeting wrapped up a half day of programming at Apawamis, as the season's first Handicap and Rules Seminar of the season took place in the morning.