Compered by BBC Breakfast News & Football Focus presenter Dan Walker, the 7th annual 59club Service Excellence Awards Ceremony, regarded by many as the ‘Oscars of the Golf Industry’, takes place at The Belfry, February 27, 2017.
The awards ceremony is the culmination of a day of thought provoking training seminars which all golf clubs are invited and encouraged to attend. The theme will see an expert line-up of speakers consider ‘what golf can learn from other industries’.
As night falls, 59club will recognises ‘Sales & Service Excellence,’ and offer individuals, teams, management & venues the chance to be acclaimed for their performance during 2016 across all business elements – sales, service, operations, retail and management.
59club will also present their coveted ‘Gold, Silver & (new for 2016) Bronze Flag Awards’ on the night to golf resorts and private-member clubs which not only deliver great service, but also provide excellent facilities for golfers to enjoy
The Belfry, Emirates Golf Club, The Dukes St Andrews, and Monte Rei are just some of the big-name golf venues vying for accolades at the Service Excellence Awards Ceremony.
Up for seven awards, the team at Stoke Park lead the nominations, closely followed by Emirates Golf Club and two Marriott venues Worsley Park and Breadsall Priory who are all up for 6 awards.
Dubai Golf will be looking to retain the title of ‘Golf Group of the Year’, for the 3rd consecutive year and face competition from Arabella Golf, three-time winner Marriott and The Foxhills Collection.
The ‘leading individual golf sales performance’ award will be hotly-contested with 6 individuals named in the list of nominations, including two from Marriott venues: Emma Thompson (Worsley Park) and Pete Turner (Forest of Arden) who are also joined by Graham Auld (Macdonald’s Linden Hall), Chloe Picton (Stoke Park), Jack Bowen (The Belfry) and James Sibbles (The Grove), also in contention for this award.
To ensure venues of all sizes are recognised for their outstanding levels of achievement, 59club took the decision last year to introduce two categories for each of the four following awards: ‘golf retail manager of the year’, ‘food and beverage manager of the year’, ‘greenkeeper of the year’, and ‘golf manager of the year’. Clubs will again be segmented by their average green fee of either above or below £75 per person, to ensure that clubs of all sizes and budgets have the chance to win based on their market positioning.
Venues such as Breadsall Priory, Emirates Golf Club, Stoke Park, The Dukes St Andrews, Worsley Park, Yas Links, and newcomer Louth Golf Club all receive multiple nominations in these categories.
Not every venue will win a major award, but 59club will be recognising the efforts being made by all clubs by presenting the ‘striving for excellence’ award to every venue attending the ceremony.
Simon Wordsworth, chief executive at 59club and a Fellow of the PGA, explained: “The event offers a great opportunity for those within the industry to get together and recognise the best individuals and teams for their outstanding performance over the past 12 months.
The ceremony will once again illustrate how the 59club awards are like no other – recognising all venues, irrespective of size – for the level of service consistency they deliver to members and visitors. And it’s all judged objectively and quantifiably, as the results are based on real data collected by 59club’s team of golf mystery shoppers throughout 2016.
Other awards to be presented on the night include: ‘golf sales team of the year’ ‘membership sales team of the year’ and ‘golf operation team of the year’
The 59club awards’ evening – sponsored and partnered by England Golf, The PGA, Club Car, Toro, Golfbreaks.com, Tacit, golftell, Fluid Productions, Kennet Equipment Leasing, Colt Mackenzie McNair, CGI Insurance, Golf Retailing and 3D ifs – has always been labelled by those on the inside as a ‘must attend’ event, and its awards are all highly prized and this year is set to be the best yet!
59club have become the industry standard for measuring and comparing customer-service levels, analysing all key revenue streams for golf & leisure venues, and is committed to the on-going development of club managers and PGA professionals.
To book a place at the seminars, the awards’ evening, or both – taking place on Monday, February 27 – please contact naime@theaspirationgroup.com. Prices start at £75pp plus vat. For more information visit www.59club.com
Full list of award nominations:
Leading Individual Golf Sales Performance:
Chloe Picton (Stoke Park) Emma Thompson (Worsley Park) Graham Auld (Linden Hall), Jack Bowen (The Belfry), James Sibbles (The Grove) and Pete Turner (Forest of Arden)
Golf Sales Team of the Year:
Carden Park, Forest of Arden, Herons Reach, Linden Hall, Stoke Park and The Grove.
Golf Membership Sales Team of the Year:
Breadsall Priory, Carden Park, Forest of Arden, Herons Reach, Dubai Creek, Emirates Golf Club and Worsley Park..
Leading Individual Golf Membership Performance:
Debbie Hollis (Breadsall Priory), Gary Beves (Goodwood), Matt Mustow (Herons Reach), Rashid Hamood (Dubai Creek), Rhys James (Emirates Golf Club) and Steve Webster (Worsley Park)
Leisure Membership Sales Team of the Year:
Celtic Manor, Cranleigh, Stoke Park, Dubai Creek, Emirates Golf Club and The Vale.
Golf Operation Team of the Year – Under £75 green fee:
Breadsall Priory, Kingswood, Louth Golf Club, The Mere, Tudor Park and Worsley Park
Golf Operation Team of the Year – Over £75 green fee:
Dubai Creek, Emirates Golf Club, Monte Rei, Stoke Park, The Dukes – St Andrews and The Grove.
Golf Retail Manager of the Year – Over £75 green fee:
Ayden Roberts-Jones (The Dukes, St Andrews), Carmen Laguna (Son Muntaner) Darren Wood (Royal Automobile Club), Kristoff Both (Alcanada), Rob Sturgeon (The Addington) and Tim Harris (Stoke Park).
Golf Retail Manager of the Year – Under £75 green fee:
Joe Smith (Hollins Hall),Lauren Dickenson (Breadsall Priory), Mike Platt (Carden Park), Nick Taylor (Louth Golf Club), Paul Heaton (Herons Reach) and Steve Hindle (Worsley Park).
Food and Beverage Manager of the Year – Over £75 green fee:
Angelos Kyrousis (Gleneagles), David Abel (Roehampton Club), Grant Ross (The Dukes, St Andrews), Mohamed Hidhayath (Yas Links), Moses Solomon (Royal Automobile Club) and Tinicka Young (Forest of Arden)
Food and Beverage Manager of the Year – Under £75 green fee
Darren Mercer (Worsley Park), Graziano Sem (Castelconturbia), Mike Norton (Hill Valley), Paul O’Hara (Rockliffe Hall), Ryan Gill (Meon Valley) and Will Green (Ramside Hall)
Greenkeeper of the Year – Over £75 green fee:
Angus MacLeod (Belfry), Alex Millar (Stoke Park), Craig Haldane (Emirates Golf Club), Mike Clarke (Yas Links), Phillip Chiverton (The Grove), Scott Fenwick (Gleneagles) and Stewart Duff (Gullane Golf Club)
Greenkeeper of the Year – Under £75 green fee:
Barry Robinson (Portal), Dave Beardwood (Spey Valley), Davy Cuthbertson & Jon Wyer (Rockliffe Hall), Ian Brawn (Worsley Park), John Smith (Breadsall Priory), Richard Banning (Bolton Golf Club) and Simon Berry (Goodwood)
Golf Manager of the Year – Over £75 green fee:
Anna Darnell (The Grove), Ayden Roberts-Jones (The Dukes, St Andrews), Barney Coleman (Emirates Golf Club), David Shepherd (The Scandinavian), Howie Roberts (Yas Links), Stephen Hubner (Dubai Creek) and Stuart Collier (Stoke Park).
Golf Manager of the Year – Under £75 green fee:
Adam Moule (Royal Birkdale), Davy Cuthbertson (Rockliffe Hall), Henry Alliss (Old Thorns), Mark Stewart (Kingswood), Neal Grist (Meon Valley), Richard Bowman (Herons Reach) and Steve Turner (Breadsall Priory).
Golf Group of the Year:
Arabella Golf, Dubai Golf, The Foxhills Collection and Marriott Golf
59club www.59club.com