“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”
It’s a phrase we all know, and in the golf industry, it rings especially true.

At 59club, we regularly hear clubs talking about the importance of the on-course experience, the clubhouse atmosphere, and the quality of hospitality. But what about the moment a visitor, or a potential member for that matter, first interacts with your team, often long before they’ve even set foot on-site?

For many, that first point of contact is the tee time reservation call. While the main goal of that call might be to secure a booking, the opportunity it presents is far greater. It’s your chance to set expectations, build rapport, and create excitement about the visit ahead. It’s the first layer of your customer experience. Too often however, it’s underutilised and sometimes underwhelming.

Before we dive into the data, it’s important to consider one initial question: Is your call routing system set up with the end user in mind? Press 1 for the office, press 2 for reception and press 3 for the golf shop … but how do I book a tee time? Each and every club, is different and unique – we need to make things as easy as possible for our customers.

What the data tells us

Don’t just take our word for it, the data speaks for itself:

✅ Only 55%** of 59club venues ask whether the caller has visited or played the course before. Non 59club affiliated venues only ask this question 19% of the time.

🍽 Only 25%** of 59club venues communicate kitchen opening/closing times during the call. Non 59club affiliated venues only provide this information 5% of the time.

👕 Only 15%** of 59club venues mention dress code expectations. Non 59club affiliated venues only provide this information 5% of the time.

These may seem like small details, but they can significantly impact how a guest perceives your venue and the overall enjoyment of their visit.

Why is this important?

Let’s look at a real-world scenario:

A group of golfers call to book a game for the weekend. They arrive, enjoy the course, and after 18 holes, they’re ready to finish their day with a nice cold drink and something to eat… but the kitchen closed 10 minutes prior. No one told them. No additional plans are in place at the club. Sound familiar? The disappointment is immediate. Furthermore, the staff then have to manage that disappointment.

Or imagine a guest being pulled aside on arrival by a member or member of staff for wearing the wrong socks…because they weren’t made aware of your dress code policy.

These are avoidable moments that cause frustration, all stemming from a simple lack of communication, often at the first point of contact. This is not about changing hours of operation or about throwing away years of history and tradition. This is all about managing expectations and being pro-active in our approach.

If we don’t ask whether someone’s been before, how do we know what information we need to provide or what they already know about the club? Are they aware of what practice facilities we have on site (especially if we have just invested significantly in this area), or how early they should arrive? If we don’t know, we can’t guide them. Consequently, if we don’t guide them, we increase the risk of a poor experience irrespective of how good your course may be. The potential negative impact on revenue, both on the day and across future visits, is also very real here!

Make the most of the moment

Here’s how to turn your tee time reservation calls from transactional to transformational:

1. Ask the right questions
   Always ask: “Have you played the course before?” This one simple question unlocks the door to personalised service and tailored information. Asking this question alone however, is simply not enough. Just because someone has visited before, doesn’t mean it was recent or that they used all of the facilities that you have on site, which may have changed, either slightly or significantly over time.
2. Be proactive
   Make it standard practice to mention kitchen opening hours, buggy availability, course restrictions, or any ongoing work. Things that could lead to disappointment if discovered too late. These factors will inevitably bring into question whether the guests are likely to return.
3. Be proud of your standards
   Sharing your dress code should not be perceived as a negative…it’s about helping guests feel confident and prepared. Position it positively: “Just so you’re aware, if you are looking to wear shorts on the day, our policy is white socks only.”
4. Train for consistency
   Your team is only as good as your weakest member of staff. Members and guests deserve and expect consistency. Membership fees and or green fees aren’t pegged to the level of service on offer, nor should they be dependent on the staff member that serves us. Give your teams the tools and resources that they need to succeed.

Final thoughts

When someone picks up the phone to book a tee time, they’re already interested. But what you say in those 2–3 minutes can make the difference between a one-time visitor and a loyal, returning guest. The cost of playing golf, being a member of a club has risen significantly over the past several years. With that, our customers, have heightened expectations. This begs the question now whether being good is good enough? Focus on the complete customer journey and make service your differentiating factor.

Customer experience isn’t a moment, it’s a journey. And it starts long before the first tee.

**59club industry average statistics – year to date 2025

1^st August 2025 – UK

Specialist customer service, benchmarking and training provider, 59club UK is proud to announce a new strategic partnership with the UK Golf Federation (UKGF), an organisation representing and supporting golf course owners, operators and participants in the UK. This collaboration aims to enhance service delivery, operational standards and the overall experience for employees, members and guests across the UKGF’s network of over 1000 member facilities. The collaboration aims to better equip golf facilities with the insights and support needed to deliver exceptional customer experiences, drive revenue growth, and build long-term business sustainability.

Will Hewitt, General Manager of 59club UK, commented:

“This is more than a partnership; it’s a shared commitment to improving the way golf businesses engage with their customers. By aligning with the UK Golf Federation, we’re excited to extend our support to a broader network of Resorts, Golf Clubs, Driving Ranges and nontraditional facilities, helping to drive excellence from the ground up.”

Doug Poole, CEO of the UK Golf Federation added:

“We are delighted to welcome 59club as a strategic partner. Their expertise and resources will be a game-changer for many of our members looking to elevate service levels and overall customer experience. This aligns perfectly with our mission to support and grow the business of golf in the UK.”

As part of the agreement, UKGF members will benefit from a range of 59club services, including educational events, workshops, operating and financial insights and benchmarking reports tailored specifically to the needs of the commercial golf sector.

This strategic partnership reinforces both organisations’ commitment to driving innovation, fostering excellence, and promoting the growth of golf as an accessible, customer-focused leisure activity.

For media enquiries, please contact:

59club UK

Will Hewitt – General Manager UK & Ireland

will@59club.com

www.59club.com

UK Golf Federation

Doug Poole – CEO UK Golf Federation

Tel: 44 (0) 7398 927647

doug.pooleukgf@gmail.com

59club, the global leader in customer service benchmarking and training for the golf and leisure industry, is proud to announce a strategic partnership with Power Tee®, the premier automated teeing system trusted by golf facilities around the world.

This collaboration brings together 59club’s industry-leading performance analytics and training expertise with Power Tee’s cutting-edge technology to elevate the modern practice experience. The partnership will provide golf venues with a powerful, integrated solution designed to enhance customer satisfaction, increase operational efficiency, and drive revenue growth.

Power Tee’s automated systems are celebrated for delivering consistent, seamless practice sessions, allowing golfers to focus on improving their game without distraction. Now, with 59club’s data-driven insight and training tools layered into the experience, facilities can raise the bar on both service delivery and customer engagement.

Simon Wordsworth, CEO of 59club, commented:
“We are thrilled to partner with Power Tee. Their commitment to innovation aligns perfectly with our mission to drive excellence in customer service. 59club is all about touch points — whether it’s staff interaction or technology. We aim to work with suppliers who enhance the overall experience, and Power Tee certainly delivers on that. We’re excited to work together to educate and support the industry.”

Matt Foley, Managing Director at Power Tee®, added:
“Over the past 29 years Power Tee® has thrived in exceeding expectations for range users and range owners alike. Power Tee® has grown engagement and grown revenues in all 21 countries it has been installed in (to date). Working with 59club is a natural fit for both companies as we have been intertwined throughout both of our solo journeys. Simon featured in one of our first videos at The Belfry, Matt Roberts and Will Hewitt have both worked with us on the ground, so it is a wonderful opportunity to work with them all again. Our technology is designed to elevate the practice experience for golfers of all abilities. Partnering with 59club allows us to go beyond the physical product — helping venues create a full-circle service experience that meets the high expectations of today’s golfers.”

This strategic alliance underscores both companies’ shared dedication to advancing the golf industry through innovation, insight, and service excellence. Facilities that embrace this integrated approach can expect improvements in guest satisfaction, increased usage of practice areas, and stronger team performance.

About 59club
59club is a leading provider of performance measurement and management solutions for the golf, leisure, and hospitality industries. Through mystery shopping, customer surveys, and training programs, 59club helps venues enhance service quality, staff engagement, and profitability.

About Power Tee®
Power Tee ® is the world’s #1 automated teeing system, installed at over 400 golf facilities in 21 countries. Notably working with industry leaders such as The Home of Golf, St. Andrews Academy for 21 years, The Belfry, Celtic Manor and many more worldwide. Power Tee®  has been engineered to improve the practice experience, Power Tee® allows golfers to maintain rhythm and focus, offering a superior training environment for players of all levels. The real kicker for golf club owners is the increase in perception of value, the added value of having a range concierge in place for their members and guests. For Range owners the fact that 60 golf balls are hit 42% quicker than a generic mat helps with work flow and customer experience. As bending over to change a tee peg in a generic mat is 29 years out of date, surely your customers deserve better.

Premium high-tech golf apparel brand Galvin Green has announced a new partnership with 59club UK, a leading specialist in customer service and performance management, becoming its Official Outerwear Supplier.

As part of the agreement, 59club UK staff will exclusively wear Galvin Green’s advanced DRYVR™ waterproofs and INTERFACE-1™ windproof garments during club visits and training sessions, ensuring they benefit from industry-leading performance and protection in all conditions.

Additionally, Galvin Green will sponsor a prestigious category at the 59club UK Annual Service Excellence Awards Ceremony and will participate in retail-focused educational events throughout the year.

Commenting on the new partnership, Will Hewitt, General Manager of 59club UK, said: “We highly value collaborations with brands that align with our commitment to exceptional service standards. From our very first discussions, it was evident that Galvin Green shares our ethos. The brand is renowned for its market-leading outerwear and strong sustainability credentials, and we are excited to see our team wearing the latest high-performance garments.”

Stewart Clare, Sales Director of Galvin Green UK & Ireland, added: “We are thrilled to partner with 59club UK and look forward to working together on a range of initiatives. Both organisations are committed to delivering excellent customer service, and this collaboration presents a fantastic opportunity to engage with Europe’s largest market in a meaningful way.”

59club UK currently works with 270 venues across the UK & Ireland, including Ballybunion, Conwy, Celtic Manor, Foxhills, Gleneagles, Gullane, JCB Golf & Country Club, Mount Juliet Estate, Royal Cinque Ports, Royal Dornoch, The Belfry, The Grove and The K Club.

Galvin Green’s multi-material DRYVR™ rainwear line-up delivers 100% waterproof and windproof protection and is spearheaded by the AMES jacket in Pertex® Shield Stretch fabric to deliver total unrestricted freedom of movement during the golf swing. The ultra-lightweight LARRY jacket (113g), which was launched to great acclaim earlier this year, headlines the versatile INTERFACE-1™ range of windproof and water-resistant garments.

For more information about Galvin Green and its high-tech golf apparel collections for men, womenand junior golfers, visit www.galvingreen.com. Further details on 59club UK and its industry leading services can be found at www. www.59club.com.

59club Uk and Ireland are delighted to announce an exciting new partnership with CHOPS Hospitality, uniting two organisations that share a deep commitment to service excellence.

CHOPS Hospitality’s expertise, both Front of House and Back of House, in premium dining, service training and hospitality operations aligns seamlessly with 59club’s performance management and benchmarking solutions.

“We know from experience the challenges which exist in delivering outstanding experiences within Food and Beverage. Creating the right environment, employing, training and retaining high quality employees, having the vision to create interesting events and promotions and doing it all in a way which delivers financial goals can be incredibly difficult. I know that Lauren and Julian at CHOPS can add significant value to 59club venues and look forward to working together in the creation of thought-provoking educational content and the provision of additional support opportunities for our partner venues”. Will Hewitt – GM 59club UK

“We are proud to partner with 59club, an organisation that, like us, strives to set the gold standard in hospitality. Together, we are committed to raising the bar and ensuring that 59club’s network of partner venues receive nothing short of the best in service and operational excellence”Lauren Bennett and Julian Prosser – CHOPS Hospitality

This partnership represents a dynamic step forward for both companies, reinforcing a mutual dedication to innovation, quality and guest satisfaction. We look forward to working together to drive success, elevate experiences and set new industry benchmarks.

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Click here to view more images from the 59club UK & Ireland Service Excellence Awards 2025

Resorts and Clubs from across the UK & Ireland came together at The Double Tree by Hilton at Stadium MK on the 13^th  of March 2025, as 59club UK and Ireland recognised the outstanding Venues, Teams and Individuals in the Golf, Leisure and Spa industry.

59club’s prestigious accolades are awarded based on scores from their impartial mystery shopping audits, evaluating the guest, club member, and prospective member experience according to 59club’s objective benchmarking criteria.

With awards spanning 13 categories recognising service excellence – in management, sales, service, operations, retail, spa, golf course management, and food & beverage – 59club continues to honour the best performances across venue of all sizes and profiles, segmenting their main individual award titles into three tiers based on a properties average green fee rate.

Will Hewitt, General Manager of 59club UK, commented:

“It is essential to celebrate those who go above and beyond to provide outstanding experiences for their members and guests. With over 250 venues now working with 59club in this region, those nominated for an award really are some of the very best in our business and we are delighted to recognise their performance on this special night.”

The evening honoured some incredible achievements with Ballybunion retaining their title of Ultimate Members Club for the second consecutive year.

The Grove claimed Ultimate Resort, and also saw Joel Westwell named Golf Manager of the year, alongside his team who collected Golf Operations Team of the year.

A number of Irish venues were honoured with Eddie Devane and Martin Lehane from Mount Juliet winning F&B Manager of the Year and Greenkeeper of the year in their respective categories, together with John Dwyer of Royal Dublin who was named Retail Manager of the Year.

Wales and the South West were also well represented with Paul Thomas from Newport GC and Giuseppe Licata from Filton GC claiming retail awards and Mike Bush from St Mellion celebrating retaining the greenkeeping team of the year award for the resort.

The two outstanding individual performers which nobody seems able to surpass remain Glen McNaughton from Long Ashton GC, who retained the title of Food and Beverage Manager of the Year for a sixth consecutive year and Matt Aplin from Goring and Streatley GC who was named Greenkeeper of the Year for a seventh consecutive year, both quite remarkable.

The celebrations concluded with the prestigious 59club Flag Designations, recognising clubs and resorts that strive for excellence, in both customer experience and the facilities they afford their members and guests.

Beyond the UK & Ireland, 59club has already celebrated service excellence in the USA, Canada & the Middle East & Africa, with Europe, Asia and Australia set to crown their award winners in the coming months, further reinforcing 59club’s global commitment to elevating customer service standards across the golf, leisure & hospitality industry.

The pinnacle of these awards will see a number of regional winners invited to represent their club and Country at 59club’s first ever Global Awards, taking place later this summer at World renowned The Belfry Hotel & Resort, in the UK.

With another successful year in the books, the 59club UK and Ireland Service Excellence Awards once again showcased the very best in the industry, setting a high standard for the future.

A full list of award winners from the 2025 Service Excellence Awards are featured below:

Leading Spa Experience: Eden Hall 

Leading Individual Corporate Golf Day Sales Performance: Luke Speed (The Belfry Resort) 

Leading Individual Golf Membership Sales Performance: Helen Roseberry (Ramside Hall) 

Golf Membership Sales Team of the Year: Forest of Arden

Leading Individual Golf Sales Performance: Gareth Evans (Macdonald Hotels) 

Leading Individual Leisure Membership Sales Performance: Connah Beesla-McGarry (Branston G&CC) 

Leisure Membership Sales Team of the Year: The Belfry Resort

Food & Beverage Manager of the Year:   

Green Fee Over £160: Eddie Devane (Mount Juliet) 

Green Fee £159 – £75: Glenn McNaughton (Long Ashton GC) 

Green Fee £74 & Under: F&B Team (Knebworth GC)

Golf Retail Manager of the Year:  

Green Fee Over £160: John Dwyer (Royal Dublin GC) 

Green Fee £159 – £75: Paul Thomas (Newport GC) 

 Green Fee £74 & Under: Giuseppe Licata (Filton GC) 

Greenkeeper of the Year:  

Green Fee Over £160: Martin Lehane (Mount Juliet) 

Green Fee £159 – £75: Mike Bush (St Mellion Estate) 

Green Fee £74 & Under: Matt Aplin (Goring & Streatley GC) 

Golf Operations Team of the Year:   

Green Fee Over £160: The Grove

Green Fee £159 – £75: Rockliffe Hall

Green Fee £74 & Under: The Heron CC

Golf Manager of the Year:   

Green Fee Over £160: Joel Westwell (The Grove) 

Green Fee £159 – £75: Tom West (Rockliffe Hall) 

Green Fee £74 & Under: Sean O’Regan (The Heron CC) 

My59 Service Excellence Award

Clandon Regis Golf Club, Farleigh Golf Club, Long Ashton Golf Club, Prestbury Golf Club, The Belfry Resort

Ultimate Resort 2025

The Grove

Ultimate Members Club 2025

Ballybunion Golf Club

Gold Flag Resort 2025

Carton House, Fairmont St Andrews, Forest of Arden, Foxhills Club & Resort, Gleneagles, Mount Juliet Estate, Rockliffe Hall, The Belfry Hotel & Resort, The Grove, The K Club, The Mere Resort

Gold Flag Members Club 2025 

Ballybunion Golf Club, Brocket Hall, Conwy Golf Club, Crail Golfing Society, Dunbar Golf Club, Edgbaston Golf Club, Frilford Heath Golf Club, Gailes Links, Golf at Goodwood, Gullane Golf Club, Hanbury Manor, Marriott Hotel & Country Club, Harpenden Golf Club, Hickleton Golf Club, Hollinwell Golf Club, JCB Golf & Country Club, Knebworth Golf Club, Ladybank Golf Club, Long Ashton Golf Club, Moor Park Golf Club, Newport Golf Club, Panmure Golf Club, Portstewart Golf Club, Redditch Golf Club, Richmond Golf Club, Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club, Royal Dornoch Golf Club; Royal Dublin Golf Club, The London Golf Club, The Royal Automobile Club

Silver Flag Resort 2025 

Barnham Broom, Belton Woods Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, Bowood Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort; Cameron House, Dunston Hall Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, Slaley Hall Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, St Mellion Estate, Wychwood Park

Silver Flag Members Club 2025

Branston Golf & Country Club, Castle Royle, China Fleet Country Club, Clevedon Golf Club, Copt Heath Golf Club, East Herts Golf Club, Enville Golf Club, Essendon Country Club, Filton Golf Club, Goring & Streatley Golf Club, Goswick Golf Club, Hesketh Golf Club, Heswall Golf Club, Hindhead Golf Club, La Moye Golf Club, Rotherham Golf Club, Royal Ascot Golf Club, Seapoint Golf Links, Stanton on the Wolds Golf Club, Stirling Golf Club, Stoneham Golf Club, Sundridge Park Golf Club, Teignmouth Golf Club, The Astbury Golf Lodge Lodge and Resort, The Nottinghamshire Golf  Country Club, The Warwickshire, Woodsome Hall Golf Club

Bronze Flag Resort 2025 

Forest Pines Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort; Macdonald Portal Hotel, Golf & Spa, Oulton Hall Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, The Telford Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, The Vale Resort 

Bronze Flag Members Club 2025

Benton Hall Golf & Country Club, Bulbury Woods Golf Club, Castleknock Golf Club, Clandon Regis Golf Club, Coventry Golf Club, Crane Valley Golf Club, Essendon Golf Club, Farleigh Golf Club, Hurtmore Golf Club, Lichfield Golf & Country Club, Nizels Golf & Country Club, North Foreland Golf Club; Redditch Golf Club, Stockport Golf Club, Teignmouth Golf Club, The Club at Cams Hall, The Essex Golf & Country Club, The Heron Country Club, Vale Royal Abbey, Windlesham Golf Club, Witney Lakes Resort

59club will bring together their network of partner venues from across the UK and Ireland as their 15^th Annual Service Excellence Awards Ceremony comes to Double Tree by Hilton, Milton Keynes on the 13th March 2025.  

The nominees for the prestigious accolades, which recognise those outstanding Venues, Teams and Individuals within the industry who consistently deliver outstanding experiences to their members and guests are determined by scores achieved through a detailed and objective mystery shopping programme, measuring the experience afforded to Members, Visitors and Prospective Members across Golf, Leisure and Spa. 

With a diverse range of Operators, which now expands beyond 250 venues across the UK and Ireland, 59club continue to reflect the very best performances regardless of a venue’s size, scale or profile, with five of the main titles further segmented into three categories based on the average guest fee charged. 

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Looking ahead to the Awards, Will Hewitt, General Manager, 59club UK said: 

“The 59club UK & Ireland Service Excellence Awards continue to set the Gold standard for customer service & operational excellence. Each nominee has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to enhancing guest experiences, and we look forward to celebrating their achievements”

The glittering award ceremony, which is supported by 59club’s Global Partner – Turtleson, and 59club UK’s Industry Partners – Albatross, Asbri Golf, Clubcar, Gaunt Golf Design, Golfbreaks.com, Golf Genius, Golf HR, HIO Golf, How Many Strokes, Isaacs Wealth & Benefits, Reesink Turfcare, Tagmarshal, and Tee Screen will conclude with the presentation of the 59club Bronze, Silver and Gold Flag awards to the Resorts and Members’ Clubs which have demonstrated distinction against criteria for both customer service delivery and the quality of their facilities. 

In addition to 59club’s UK Awards Event, the global Customer Service Management Specialists, will host six additional ceremonies during 2025 – starting in USA before heading off the MEA, Canada, Europe, Asia and finally finishing in Australia – as 59club continue uniting the world of golf & hospitality around their commitment to deliver customer service excellence.  

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*Full list of nominations below: 

Award for Service Excellence

Leading Spa Experience:

Eden Hall, Hanbury Manor, Hoarcross Hall, Rockliffe Hall, Stanley House, The Vale Resort

Leading Individual Golf Membership Sales Performance:

Cameron Dhir (The Astbury), Helen Roseberry (Ramside Hall), Lee Roberts (Branston G&CC), Pamela Neeson (Cameron House), Philomena Wilkinson (Forest of Arden)

Golf Membership Sales Team of the Year:

Branston G&CC, Forest of Arden, Ramside Hall, The Astbury, Windlesham GC, Wyke Green GC

Leading Individual Golf Sales Call Performance:

Brad Cannings (Macdonald Hotels), David Moon (St Mellion), Jeff Mills (Macdonald Hotels), Gareth Evans (Macdonald Hotels), Mark Sealey (Bowood), Wilf Goward (Hurtmore)

Leading Individual Golf Sales Appointment:

Alice Kozlowski (The Grove), Chris Rippon (The Belfry), Filip Hajdamach & Diane Riquel (K Club), Luke Speed (The Belfry), Tom Gregory & Sam Millar (The Grove)

Leading Individual Leisure Membership Sales Performance:

Adam Tyas (St Mellion), Connah Beesla-McGarry (Branston G&CC), George Wainwright (Branston G&CC), Matthew Rose (The Vale Resort), Rebecca Chard (The Vale Resort)

Leisure Membership Sales Team of the Year:

Branston G&CC, Instinct Gym & Wellbeing, Rockliffe Hall, The Belfry, The Vale Resort

Food & Beverage Manager of the Year:  

Green Fee Over £160: Eddie Devane (Mount Juliet), F&B Team (Royal Dornoch GC), F&B Team (K Club), Kevin Canavan (Royal Dublin GC), Navin Sookun (County Lough GC)

Green Fee £159 – £75: Chris Lee (East Herts GC), Craig McKinlay (Panmure GC), Danielle Jones (Newport GC), Glenn McNaughton (Long Ashton GC), Gyzelle Headington (Essendon GC)

Green Fee £74 & Under: Emma Frow (Lichfield G&GC), F&B Team (Bulbury Woods GC), F&B Team (Crane Valley GC), F&B Team (Knebworth GC), Sue Elliott (Filton GC)

Golf Retail Manager of the Year: 

Green Fee Over £160: Andrew Dyce (Fairmont St Andrews), Elliott Laville (Foxhills Club & Resort), John Dwyer (Royal Dublin GC), Neil Graham (Portstewart GC), Tom Minshull (The Grove)

Green Fee £159 – £75: Andrew Crerar (Panmure GC), Darren Parris (North Foreland GC), Jack Heginbotham (Long Ashton GC), Paul Thomas (Newport GC), Ryan Crowley (Clevedon GC), Tom Atkinson (Heswall GC)

Green Fee £74 & Under: Andy Jones (Redditch GC), Giuseppe Licata (Filton GC), James Flesher (Dunston Hall), Luke Allen (Hickleton GC), Ian Parker (Knebworth GC)

Greenkeeper of the Year: 

Green Fee Over £160: Angus Macleod (Belfry – Brabazon course), Craig Bayne (Fairmont St Andrews), David Feeney (Portstewart GC), Eoin Riddell (Royal Dornoch GC), Martin Lehane (Mount Juliet Estate), Scott Fenwick (Gleneagles)

Green Fee £159 – £75: Gary Nicoll (Panmure GC), James Braithewaite (Long Ashton GC), John Plummer (Carton House), Mike Bush (St Mellion Estate), Niall Sandie (Dunbar GC)

Green Fee £74 & Under: Iain Ritchie (Seapoint Golf Links), Matt Aplin (Goring & Streatley GC), Neil Robson (Harpenden GC), Rob Patten (Dunstable Downs GC), Steve Pickering (Hickleton GC)

Golf Operations Team of the Year:  

Green Fee Over £160: Ballybunion GC, JCB G&CC, Fairmont St Andrews, Mount Juliet Estate, The Grove

Green Fee £159 – £75: Forest of Arden, Golf at Goodwood, Hanbury Manor, Panmure GC, Rockliffe Hall

Green Fee £74 & Under: Dunston Hall, Hurtmore GC, Knebworth GC, Portal, The Heron CC

Golf Manager of the Year:  

Green Fee Over £160: Joel Westwell (The Grove), John Eggleston (Ballybunion GC), Mark Addison (JCB G&CC), Matt Sandercock (Mount Juliet), Sean Graham (Foxhills Club & Resort)

Green Fee £159 – £75: Chris Reeve (The Belfry Resort – PGA National), David Brodie (Panmure GC), Fraser Liston (Forest of Arden), Gary Beves (Golf at Goodwood), Tom West (Rockliffe Hall)

Green Fee £74 & Under: Ian Orrell (Wychwood Park), Mark Bierton (Knebworth GC), Matt Bradley (Belton Woods), Peter Briggs (Dunston Hall), Sean O’Regan (The Heron CC)

Event Partners

Chris Eigelaar is Resort Director at The Belfry Hotel & Resort. He has been in the role since 2020, having previously been General Manager. Home of the world famous Brabazon course, the Warwickshire property is going through a significant upgrade.

What is happening at The Belfry?

The leisure club has just over 3,000 members. There are extensive events and conference facilities and three amazing golf courses, one being the iconic Brabazon. We employ about 800 people. Part of my overall responsibility is overseeing the current development. We’re investing £80 million into building an additional 149 bedrooms, 600-seater conference space and, on a separate site, a leisure club.

It’s about managing the projects plus ensuring the business keeps ticking over and we continue to hit our targets from a guest satisfaction, revenue and, ultimately, client perspective.

What are the challenges of running a largescale business with such work going on?

We started our bedroom refurbishment programme in October last year. We refurbed our main hotel, the bedrooms, our Brabazon Bar corridors in the resort and that was fairly challenging because it was affecting our main hub.

It was all about communication – understanding guest flow and really managing the volume of guests coming in. The project ran from October until March and we’ve got the larger scale project happening – the £80 million investment.

It’s managed by two different contractors, both accessing the resort from two different areas. There is no movement and no crossover in the resort. One thing we said from Day Dot was we want no high-vis jackets walking around the car park for our guests to see. It’s fine if they see on arrival, or departure, but as soon as you’re in the main resort you don’t want to see any high-vis jackets. We’ve been very fortunate that, to date, we’ve had minimal impact from a normal delivery perspective. But it’s entirely up to my management team, and the great communication we have with our clients and with our internal team, to ensure we mitigate as much disruption as we possibly can. It’s not easy. It takes a lot of time and effort, but the real challenge is you need to be consistent in your expectations.

There was that first month of myself, my team, walking around ensuring the contractors understand what we expect and making sure we lay that down as quickly as possible and be consistent in asking the same questions and ensuring they deliver.

How do you embrace the change?

We were very focused on the innovation piece. We were very open to people offering change and accepting change and that’s the journey we took our team on three to six months before this development happened. Throughout, we’ve kept all 800 staff members involved in what is happening, what is coming, having town hall, having briefings, to ensure it’s not just what we do as a leadership group.

It affects everybody in the business and it’s ensuring we listen to them if there are any challenges. You’ll be 30% bigger with the development.

Will that change your position in the market?

Our number one priority is retaining our current clients. We retain 70 per cent of our conference and event business. Before we start understanding our new customer base, it’s about retaining the current and taking them on a journey with us.

We will be able to host larger events – our current large capacity is 280 – so we will be fishing in a different pond because of size and scale. Some of our current corporate partners who have outgrown us, and potentially utilise bigger event spaces, we need to have conversations with them to say, ‘come back to The Belfry’. We are building this for you because you said, ‘we need something bigger’.

The crucial thing for us, from a location perspective, is we know there are opportunities to attract key events in London or Manchester.

It’s not about taking anything away from current venues in the Birmingham and the Midlands area – we are very keen to go and find new business and new events that are not currently visiting the Midlands.

What lessons can you share from the planning process?

We know there are going to be some curveballs, and nothing will go entirely smoothly. It’s an 18-month development programme, which includes six months of refurb as well. It’s two years of a lot of changes happening around the resort. It was all about myself, my management team, being agile and adapting as quickly as we can to any challenges given to us or set by construction or third parties and facing it head on. And then it’s talking about it, sharing frustrations, sharing any challenges with one another, coming together and ensuring we deliver it and improve as a team.

More than two hundred of the finest Venues, Teams and Individuals from many of the leading Resorts and Clubs across the UK and Ireland came together, as 59club UK recognised their very best customer service providers of 2023. As the 14th annual celebration of service excellence, descended on the iconic Titanic Hotel in Liverpool on February 29th, 2024.

59club’s prestigious accolades are determined by scores collected from their impartial mystery shopping audits, which evaluates the experience afforded to Guests, Club Members and Prospective Members all in accordance with 59club’s objective benchmarking criteria.

With awards spanning 18 categories, that recognise service excellence across all areas of the hospitality business – including management, sales, service, operations, retail, spa, golf course, plus food and beverage – 59club continue to honour the very best performances regardless of venue size, scale and profile, by segmenting the main individual accolades into 3 categories based on a venues average green fee rate.

Will Hewitt, General Manager of 59club UK, commented; “There are many factors which impact the ability to deliver great service consistently, and it is therefore essential that we celebrate those who go above and beyond to look after their Members and Guests. It is hugely satisfying to see a number of first-time award winners and nominees, but I also have deep admiration for the venues and individuals whose names are up in lights year after year, clearly illustrating their passion and commitment for what they do.”

The flag was flying high for Ireland after both Ballybunion and Mount Juliet collected the coveted and highest prized title of the evening; namely the “Ultimate Member Club” and “Ultimate Resort” of the year respectively, with Eddie Devane adding to Mount Juliet’s success after being named one of the Food and Beverage Managers of the Year.

Multiple winner: The Belfry, saw Chris Reeve named Golf Manager of the Year, Angus Macleod, Greenkeeper of the Year, and Chris Rippon made it a hattrick for the resort when he collected the Leading Golf Sales Experience award.

Branston Golf and Country Club enjoyed a double-dose of celebrations after both their Leisure Membership Team & Golf Membership of the Year claimed the Team of the year crystalware.

Jack Heginbotham and Glenn McNaughton both of Long Ashton Golf Club claimed the Golf Retail Manager and Food and Beverage Manager of the Year award respectively – Glenn retaining his crown for an incredible 5th consecutive year.

Meanwhile, Ian Orrell and his team at Wychwood Park were also celebrating after winning Golf Manager and Golf Operations Team of the Year.

Special mention must be reserved for Matt Aplin, Golf Course Manager at Goring and Streatley, who fought off incredibly fierce competition to be named a Greenkeeper of the year for an astounding 6th consecutive year.

The ceremony culminated with the presentation of 59club’s Gold, Silver & Bronze Flag Designations – The ultimate recognition for clubs & resorts who strive to deliver the best facilities and service offering to their Members and Guests.

In addition to 59club’s UK & IRE Awards Event, the global Customer Service Management Specialists, will host six additional ceremonies during 2024 – which started in the UK, before heading off to Europe, MEA, Asia, USA and Canada, before finally finishing their annual celebrations in Australia – as 59club continue uniting the world of golf & hospitality around their commitment to deliver customer service excellence.

A full list of award winners from the 2024 Service Excellence Awards are featured below:

Leading Spa Experience: Eden Hall

59club will bring together their network of partner venues from across the UK and Ireland as their 14^th Annual Service Excellence Awards Ceremony comes to Titanic Hotel Liverpool on the 29^th February 2024.  

The nominees for the prestigious accolades, which recognise those outstanding Venues, Teams and Individuals within the industry who consistently deliver outstanding experiences to their members and guests are determined by scores achieved through a detailed and objective mystery shopping programme, measuring the experience afforded to Members, Visitors and Prospective Members across Golf, Leisure and Spa. 

With a diverse range of Operators, which now expands beyond 220 venues across the UK and Ireland, 59club continue to reflect the very best performances regardless of a venue’s size, scale or profile, with five of the main titles further segmented into three categories based on the average guest fee charged. 

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A number of the UK’s finest Golf Resorts receive multiple nominations this year with Foxhills Club and Resort, Mount Juliet, Rockliffe Hall, The Belfry and The Grove having teams and individuals competing for honours.

Member orientated clubs are also well represented with Ballybunion, Clevedon, East Herts, Filton, Hollinwell, Long Ashton, Newport, Panmure, The Leicestershire, The London Club and Woodsome Hall receiving nominations across a number of categories. 

The 2024 nominations contain a number of individuals and venues who are relatively new to 59club and achieve recognition for the first time such as John Eggleston, General Manager at Ballybunion, Jade Cotton & Jemma Brown at Stanton on the Wolds who feature in the F&B category and Giuseppe Lacata from Filton who is nominated as Retail Manager of the Year. However, kudos must be given to the likes of Glenn McNaughton of Long Ashton, who is looking to be named F&B Manager of the Year for the fifth consecutive year and Matt Aplin from Goring and Streatley who is hoping to retain his crown as Greenkeeper of the Year for an incredible sixth year in a row.

Looking ahead to the Awards, Will Hewitt, General Manager, 59club UK said: 

“We are delighted to announce the Venues, Teams and Individuals who have demonstrated an ability to deliver consistently outstanding experiences to their Members and Guests over the past 12 months. Regardless of the amount being charged for the experience, there are numerous examples of people going above and beyond to deliver service excellence and it is right that this should be recognised and celebrated.   

It is encouraging that the objective measurement through our comprehensive mystery shopping programme has highlighted a 4% year on year improvement, and this together with an increased number of venues being measured makes a Nomination very well deserved.

Having the opportunity to have so many high performers in one room, catching up with friends, sharing ideas and celebrating achievement always makes for a great event.”

The glittering award ceremony, which is supported by 59club’s Industry Partners – Albatross, Asbri Golf, Clubcar, Eagle / Tacit, Gaunt Golf Design,Golfbreaks.com, Golf Genius, Golf HR, J Lindeberg, Neutral Carbon Zone, Reesink Turfcare and 3d ifs will conclude with the presentation of the 59club Bronze, Silver and Gold Flag awards to the Resorts and Members’ Clubs which have demonstrated distinction against criteria for both customer service delivery and the quality of their facilities. 

In addition to 59club’s UK Awards Event, the global Customer Service Management Specialists, will host six additional ceremonies during 2024 – starting in Europe before heading off the MEA, Asia, USA, Canada and finally finishing in Australia – as 59club continue uniting the world of golf & hospitality around their commitment to deliver customer service excellence.  

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*Full list of nominations below: 

Award for Service Excellence

Leading Spa Experience:

Eden Hall, Hanbury Manor, Hoarcross Hall, Rockliffe Hall, The Vale Resort

Leading Individual Corporate Golf Day Sales Performance:

Alice Kozlowski (The Grove), Chris Rippon (The Belfry Resort), Fraser Hurndall (Fairmont St Andrews), Jonny Sharp (Cameron House), Nicola Taylor and Ben Tomlinson (The Belfry Resort)

Leading Individual Golf Membership Sales Performance:

George Reid (Wyke Green GC), Lee Roberts (Branston G&CC), Pamela O’Keeffe (Mount Juliet), Pamela Neeson & Hamish Mills (Cameron House), Sophie Lee (The Mere Resort & Spa)

Golf Membership Sales Team of the Year:

Branston G&CC, Hanbury Manor, Rockliffe Hall, The Mere Resort & Spa, Wyke Green GC

Leading Individual Golf Sales Performance:

Ben Stockman (The Grove), Brad Cannings (Macdonald Hotels), Gareth Evans (Macdonald Hotels), Katie Atkinson (Rockliffe Hall), Tom Gregory (The Grove)

Leading Individual Leisure Membership Sales Performance:

Abigail Johns (The Vale Resort), Becky Chard (The Vale Resort), Connah Beesla-McGarry (Branston G&CC), Lauren Bentley (Rockliffe Hall), Marcus Weatherburn (Foxhills Club & Resort)

Leisure Membership Sales Team of the Year:

Branston G&CC, Hanbury Manor, Instinct Gym & Wellbeing, Rockliffe Hall, The Vale Resort

Food & Beverage Manager of the Year:  

Green Fee Over £131: Eddie Devane (Mount Juliet), F&B Team (Royal Dornoch GC), Houssem Belabed (Gleneagles), Olivia Downey (JCB Golf & Country Club), Tracey Henderson (Hollinwell GC)

Green Fee £130 – £61: Caroline Taylor (Pennard GC), Craig McKinlay (Panmure GC), Danielle Jones (Newport GC), Jade Cotton & Jemma Brown (Stanton on the Wolds GC), Lewis Norman (Rockliffe Hall)

Green Fee £60 & Under: Chris Lee (East Herts GC), F&B Team (Bulbury Woods GC), F&B Team (Teignmouth GC), Glenn McNaughton (Long Ashton GC), Sarah Arnel (Clevedon GC)

Golf Retail Manager of the Year: 

Green Fee Over £131: Elliott Laville (Foxhills Club & Resort), Mike Bradley (Hollinwell GC), Russell McIntyre (Gullane GC), Simon Hilliard (The London Club), Tom Hughes (The Belfry Resort)

Green Fee £130 – £61: Andrew Crerar (Panmure GC), Paul Thomas (Newport GC), Sandy Smith (Ladybank GC), Sean Pearson (Pennard GC), Tim Martin (Golf at Goodwood),

Green Fee £60 & Under: Giuseppe Licata (Filton GC), Ian Orrell (Wychwood Park), Jack Heginbotham (Long Ashton GC), John Eyre (Woodsome Hall GC), Pete Livie (The Leicestershire GC)

Greenkeeper of the Year: 

Green Fee Over £131: Angus Macleod (Belfry – Brabazon course), Eoin Riddell (Royal Dornoch GC), Lee Sayers (The London Club), Martin Lehane (Mount Juliet), Will Evans (The Grove)

Green Fee £130 – £61: Gary Nicoll (Panmure GC), Jamie Wade (Belfry – PGA National course), Jon Wyer (Rockliffe Hall), Mike Bush (St Mellion Estate), Neil Robson (Harpenden GC)

Green Fee £60 & Under: James Braithwaite (Long Ashton GC), Matt Aplin (Goring & Streatley GC), Richard Ponsford (Clevedon GC), Steven Pickering (Hickleton GC), Wayne Bown (The Leicestershire GC)

Golf Operations Team of the Year:  

Green Fee Over £131: Ballybunion GC, Foxhills Club & Resort, JCB G&CC, The Belfry Resort (Brabazon), The Grove,

Green Fee £130 – £61: Golf at Goodwood, Hanbury Manor, Panmure GC, Rockliffe Hall, The Belfry Resort (PGA National),

Green Fee £60 & Under: Clevedon GC, Filton GC, Long Ashton GC, Woodsome Hall GC, Wychwood Park

Golf Manager of the Year:  

Green Fee Over £131: Brad Gould (The Grove), Chris Reeve (The Belfry Resort – Brabazon), John Eggleston (Ballybunion GC), Matt Sandercock (Mount Juliet), Sean Graham (Foxhills Club & Resort),

Green Fee £130 – £61: Chris Reeve (The Belfry Resort – PGA National), Dan Blesovsky (Frilford Heath GC), Matt Parsley (Conwy GC), Stan Power (Hanbury Manor), Tom West (Rockliffe Hall)

Green Fee £60 & Under: Ian Orrell (Wychwood Park), Karen Drake (Clevedon GC), Pat Murphy (The Kendleshire), Reece Miller (Long Ashton GC), Tim Hudson (East Herts GC),

Event Partners

59club’s 14^th Annual Service Excellence Awards Event comes to Titanic Hotel in Liverpool on 29/02/24.

Widely regarded as the industry ‘Oscars’ amongst the golf & hospitality community, the 59club UK Service Excellence Awards will see business leaders and their teams come together from across England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales.  

The event, now into its fourteenth year, begins with a networking lunch and a series of inspirational education seminars, and as night falls, the prestigious awards ceremony recognises the leading individuals, teams, and properties within 59club UK’s network for their outstanding achievements across 2023.  

59club’s renowned industry benchmark – the bronze, silver and gold flag designations – will also be presented on the night to venues that not only achieve the required standard of service as part of 59club’s mystery shopping program, but also provide excellent facilities for customers to enjoy.

Tickets

To secure your tickets & discuss preferential accommodation rates, please contact naime@theaspirationgroup.com  

• Networking Lunch & Education Seminar – £75
• Awards Dinner – £120

Event Partners

The UK’s largest golf & country club operator, The Club Company, has enlisted the services of leading customer service analyst and training provider, 59club UK, as they endeavour to further enhance the member and guest experience across their portfolio of 15 clubs. In addition to significant financial investment to both the on and off course facilities, The Club Company is keen to ensure that service levels are elevated to match.

The Club Company will benefit from 59club’s industry leading benchmarking and insights, allowing them to identify the strengths and opportunities across their operation. These insights will then be used to deliver a bespoke programme of training and support within each club encompassing Golf Operations; Food & Beverage; Hotel and Membership sales & retention.

Matt Rollinson, Regional Operations Director highlighted his reasons for engaging with 59club; “Product, Sales, Service and Retention are all pillars of our overall group strategy and are areas that our newest partnership with 59club will support us with as we continue to improve and develop.

“A programme of detailed mystery shopping across all clubs will provide invaluable data to help us better understand the experience we offer, but more importantly the subsequent follow up training will empower us to make meaningful changes to improve the service offered to members and guests”.

Will Hewitt, 59club UK General Manager commented; “We are delighted to be starting this journey with The Club Company and look forward to supporting the teams in aligning their customer service experience with some of the very best venues in the industry. The Account Management team at 59club UK are all excited to build relationships with the General Managers and Operational Teams within this fantastic group of clubs”.

Many of the UK and Europe’s leading Venues, Teams and Individuals were in attendance as 59club recognised those who delivered the very best service to their Members and Guests during 2022 at their Annual celebration of Service Excellence, which this year took place at The Hilton, St George’s Park on Thursday 2^nd of March.

Delegates enjoyed educational seminars during the day, which included Olympic Gold Medal winner and now Head of Performance for the League Managers Association, Tim Foster MBE; Bestselling author of “The Habit Mechanic” and founder of Tougher Minds Consultancy, Dr Jon Finn; and former Manchester United Captain and Premier League winner, Steve Bruce.

As day moved to evening; host for the evening, seasoned presenter, Vernon Kay opened the glittering awards ceremony that has long been regarded as the ‘Oscars’ of the golf & hospitality industry, since 59club’s honours list began some 13 years ago.

The event recognises the finest customer service providers for having achieved the highest standards of excellence across 2022. 59club’s accolades are determined by scores collected from their impartial mystery shopping audits, which evaluate the experience afforded to guests, club members and prospective members, in accordance with 59club’s objective benchmarking criteria.

On the night, 59club saw their UK & Southern European teams present 38 individual & team awards spanning 18 categories, recognising ‘service excellence’ across all areas of the businesses; sales, service, operations, retail, spa, golf course, food & beverage and management. With 59club continuing to reflect the very best performances, regardless of a venue’s size, scale or profile, by segmenting several individual accolades into 3 categories, based on a venue’s average green fee rate.

Of this year’s awards, Will Hewitt, General Manager of 59club UK, commented; “With a growth of over 20% in the number of venues taking our services, an award nomination this year represented an outstanding achievement across a number of hugely competitive categories.

59club awards are based on an objective analysis of the service provided at a venue, therefore recognising the venues, teams and individuals who truly do deliver world class service on a consistent basis”.

The Grove and Belvoir Park Golf Club collected the highest prized awards of the evening – Ultimate Golf Resort and Ultimate Members’ Club respectively. Both venues also achieved multiple individual and team successes; with Brad Gould and his team at The Grove collecting the enviable Golf Manager and Golf Operations Team of the Year titles (>£130 green fee category); with Alice Kozlowski adding the Leading Individual Golf Sales Performance award to The Grove’s trophy cabinet.

Belvoir Park’s celebrations continued long into the night with both Aaron Small and Stuart McDonald having been crowned Greenkeeper and F&B Manager of the Year, before rounding off the evening with the forementioned Ultimate Members’ Club Designation.

Another club seeing multiple successes was Long Ashton, who scooped Golf Manager of the Year for departing GM, Gareth Morgan; F&B Manager of the Year for a 4^th consecutive year for Glenn McNaughton; Golf Operations Team of the Year; and also a coveted Gold Flag Designation. In addition to this they also claimed the Ultimate Service Excellence Award for their fantastic efforts in utilising survey data to enhance their service offering.

Both Finca Cortesin and Branston Golf Club received a double dose of crystalware after Rocio Sanchez was crowned 59club Europe South’s Golf Manager of the year; and their Golf Operations Department claimed the Team of the Year accolade. Meanwhile Branston celebrated with a my59 Service Excellence Award; and a second victory after claiming Leisure Membership Sales Team of the year. 

The Awards became a landmark moment for Matt Aplin, Golf Course Manager at Goring and Streatley, who has now retained the title of Greenkeeper of the Year for an incredible 5^th consecutive year – an outstanding achievement given the quality of those competing in this category.

Alcanada, Camiral Golf & Wellness and Golf Son Muntaner were flying the flag for Spain, having each secured Gold Flag Designations. Marta Castells (Camiral) claimed victory in the Food & Beverage Category, while Paco Gavira (Son Muntaner) was crowned the regions Greenkeeper of the Year.

In Portugal, Quinta do Lago continue to lead the way by also securing a coveted Gold Flag, and in Italy, Royal Park I Roveri celebrated with a Silver Flag, and again as Fabio Vido claimed Retail Manager of the Year.

Lee Mathew Waggott, General Manager59club Europe South said; “Celebrating success is a key pillar of what we believe in and promote within 59club. Our venues across Europe South not only continue to deliver memorable experiences but are always striving to continue to develop their journeys by searching for those extra 1%’s day in and day out.

“In an extremely competitive landscape to receive a nomination and claim an award is a wonderful achievement, and the ability to share this recognition with individuals and teams across the property is incredibly important. We are extremely excited about the season ahead and welcoming even more forward-thinking & progressive properties into our Awards next year.”

Celebrations continued into the night, as 59club’s Industry Benchmark of excellence, it’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Flag Designations, were announced. These highly prized accolades recognise member clubs’ and resorts that provide excellent facilities for golfers to enjoy, as well as having achieved the required standard of customer service throughout 2022.  

This year, 59club presented 28 ‘Gold Flags’. The deserving winners were: Belvoir Park Golf Club; Camiral Golf & Wellness; Celtic Manor Resort; Club de Golf Alcanada; Delta Hotels by Marriott, Forest of Arden Country Club; Dunbar Golf Club; Edgbaston Golf Club; Finca Cortesin; Foxhills Club & Resort; Frilford Heath Golf Club; Gleneagles; Golf at Goodwood; Golf Son Muntaner; Gullane Golf Club; Hanbury Manor, Marriott Hotel & Country Club; Harpenden Golf Club; JCB Golf & Country Club; Long Ashton Golf Club; Mount Juliet Estate; Panmure Golf Club; Quinta do Lago; Rockliffe Hall; Royal Dublin Golf Club; Royal Dornoch Golf Club; The Belfry Hotel & Resort; The Grove; The London Club and The Mere Golf Resort & Spa.

17 ‘Silver Flags’ went to; Barnham Broom; Bowood Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort; Branston Golf & Country Club; Carton House; Cameron House; Clevedon Golf Club; Infinitum; Ladybank Golf Club; La Moye Golf Club; North Foreland Golf Club; QHotels Collection, Slaley Hall Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort; QHotels Collection, Belton Woods Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort; Royal Park I Roveri; Slieve Russell; St Mellion; The Kendleshire and West Herts Golf Club.

And a further 15 “Bronze Flag” Awards were presented to; Conwy Golf Club; Delta Hotels by Marriott, Worsley Park Country Club; Golf Son Quint; Golf Son Vida; Goring & Streatley Golf Club; Hickleton Golf Club; Newport Golf Club; Pula Golf Resort; Teignmouth Golf Club; The Astbury; The Bristol Golf Club; The Vale Resort; Vale Royal Abbey Golf Club; Woodsome Hall Golf Club and Wychwood Park.

For more information about 59club, visit www.59club.com

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Full list of award winners can be seen in the table below.  

59club UK & Europe South ‘Service Excellence’ Award Winners 2022/23:

Ultimate Golf Resort: The Grove

Ultimate Members’ Club: Belvoir Park Golf Club

Gold Flag Designations 2023: Belvoir Park Golf Club; Camiral Golf & Wellness; Celtic Manor Resort; Club de Golf Alcanada; Delta Hotels by Marriott, Forest of Arden Country Club; Dunbar Golf Club; Edgbaston Golf Club; Finca Cortesin; Foxhills Club & Resort; Frilford Heath Golf Club; Gleneagles; Golf at Goodwood; Golf Son Muntaner; Gullane Golf Club; Hanbury Manor, Marriott Hotel & Country Club; Harpenden Golf Club; JCB Golf & Country Club; Long Ashton Golf Club; Mount Juliet Estate; Panmure Golf Club; Quinta do Lago; Rockliffe Hall; Royal Dublin Golf Club; Royal Dornoch Golf Club; The Belfry Hotel & Resort; The Grove; The London Club and The Mere Golf Resort & Spa.

Silver Flag Designations 2023: Barnham Broom; Bowood Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort; Branston Golf & Country Club; Carton House; Cameron House; Clevedon Golf Club; Infinitum; Ladybank Golf Club; La Moye Golf Club; North Foreland Golf Club; QHotels Collection, Slaley Hall Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort; QHotels Collection, Belton Woods Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort; Royal Park I Roveri; Slieve Russell; St Mellion; The Kendleshire and West Herts Golf Club.

Bronze Flag Designations 2023: Conwy Golf Club; Delta Hotels by Marriott, Worsley Park Country Club; Golf Son Quint; Golf Son Vida; Goring & Streatley Golf Club; Hickleton Golf Club; Newport Golf Club; Pula Golf Resort; Teignmouth Golf Club; The Astbury; The Bristol Golf Club; The Vale Resort; Vale Royal Abbey Golf Club; Woodsome Hall Golf Club and Wychwood Park.

Golf Manager of the Year (59club UK)

Brad Gould (The Grove) Over £131 Green-Fee

Sean Graham (Foxhills Club & Resort) £61-£130 Green-Fee

Gareth Morgan (Long Ashton GC) Under £61 Green-Fee

Golf Manager of the Year (59club Europe South)

Rocio Sanchez (Finca Cortesin)

Food & Beverage Manager of the Year (59club UK)

Jacques Hobson (The Belfry Hotel & Resort) Over £131 Green-Fee

Stuart McDonald (Belvoir Park GC) £61-£130 Green-Fee

Glenn McNaughton (Long Ashton GC) Under £61 Green-Fee

Food & Beverage Manager of the Year (59club Europe South)

Marta Castells (Camiral Golf & Wellness)

Golf Retail Manager of the Year (59club UK)

Russell McIntyre (Gullane GC) Over £131 Green-Fee

Andrew Crerar (Panmure GC) £61-£130 Green-Fee

Ryan Crowley (Clevedon GC) Under £61 Green-Fee

Golf Retail Manager of the Year (59club Europe South)

Fabio Vido (Royal Park Roveri)

Greenkeeper of the Year (59club UK)

Scott Fenwick (Gleneagles) Over £131 Green-Fee

Aaron Small (Belvoir Park GC) £61-£130 Green-Fee

Matt Aplin (Goring & Streatley GC) Under £61 Green-Fee

Greenkeeper of the Year (59club Europe South)

Paco Gavira (Son Muntaner)

Golf Operations Team of the Year (59club UK)

The Grove (Over £131 Green-Fee)

Delta Hotels Forest of Arden Country Club (Arden Course) (£61-£130 Green-Fee)

Long Ashton GC (Under £61 Green-Fee)

Golf Operations Team of the Year (59club Europe South)

Finca Cortesin

my59 Service Excellence: Stoke by Nayland; Celtic Manor Resort; Branston Golf & Country Club; Edgbaston Golf Club; Radyr Golf Club; Farleigh Golf Club; The Vale Resort; Rockliffe Hall

my59 Ultimate Service Excellence

Long Ashton GC

Leading Individual Golf Sales Performance

Alice Kozlowski (The Grove)

Leading Individual Golf Membership Sales Performance

Philomena Wilkinson (Delta Hotels Forest of Arden Country Club)

Golf Membership Sales Team of the Year

The Mere Golf Resort & Spa

Leading Individual Leisure Membership Sales Performance

James Flesher (Dunston Hall – Q Hotels Collection)

Leisure Membership Sales Team of the Year

Branston Golf & Country Club

Leading Spa Experience Performance

Rockliffe Hall

Leading Individual Corporate Golf Day Sales Performance                                     

Cameron Dhir (The Astbury)

59club will bring together their network of partner venues from across the UK, Ireland and Southern Europe as their 13^th Annual Service Excellence Awards Ceremony comes to Hilton St. Georges Park on the 2nd of March 2023.

The nominees for the prestigious accolades, which recognise those outstanding Venues, Teams and Individuals within the industry who consistently deliver outstanding experiences to their members and guests are determined by scores achieved through a detailed and objective mystery shopping programme, measuring the experience afforded to Members, Visitors and Prospective Members across Golf, Leisure and Spa. 

With an ever expanding and diverse range of partner venues, 59club continue to reflect the very best performances regardless of a venue’s size, scale or profile, with five of the main titles further segmented into three categories based on the average guest fee charged.

A number of the UK’s finest Golf Resorts receive multiple nominations this year, with 59club’s 2022 “Ultimate Resort” Gleneagles joined by The Grove, The Belfry, Celtic Manor Resort, Delta Hotels – Forest of Arden and the Vale Resort.

Member orientated clubs are also well represented with JCB, Panmure, Long Ashton, Gullane, Harpenden, Belvoir Park, Clevedon, Branston Golf and Country Club and The Bristol Golf Club receiving nominations across various categories.

The West of England features particularly strongly this year with Long Ashton Golf Club achieving four nominations, including Glenn McNaughton defending his crown of F&B manager of the year for the fourth consecutive year.  Elsewhere, both Ryan Crowley (Golf Retail) and Sarah Arnel (F&B) of Clevedon Golf Club appear in the nominations listing, with further contenders for the F&B Manager coming from The Bristol Golf Club and The Kendleshire. St Mellion, in their first year of working with 59club receive a nomination for Golf Course Manager Mike Bush in the highly contested Greenkeeper of the Year category. 

Staying with Greenkeeping, all eyes will be on serial winner, Matt Aplin of Goring and Streatley, who is looking to retain his Greenkeeper of the Year title, defending an incredible winning streak now into its 5^th consecutive year.  

As the 59club network continues to expand globally, the UK will once again look forward to welcoming many of Europe’s leading venues to the Annual Service Excellence Awards, with Finca Cortesin, Camiral Golf and Wellness, Quinta do Lago, Golf Son Muntaner, Club de Golf Alcanada and Royal Park I Roveri all hoping to take home awards. 

Looking ahead to the Awards, Will Hewitt, General Manager, 59club UK said: 

“The 59club awards is always a fantastic opportunity to get together and celebrate some incredible achievements and recognise the significant effort which goes into delivering exceptional member and guest experiences each and every day. The list of nominations is a true testament to the talented teams and individuals within our partner venues. With a growth during 2022 of over 20% in the number of venues being measured, being nominated and winning awards this year is truly something to be proud of”. 

59CLUB UK ‘SERVICE EXCELLENCE’ AWARD NOMINATIONS (in alphabetical order):

Leading Individual Golf Sales Performance
Alice Kozlowski (The Grove); Chloe Stewart (The Bristol GC); Leighton Williams (Formby Hall)
Leading Individual Golf Membership Sales Performance
Michell Birchall (Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel & Country Club); Philomena Wilkinson (Delta Hotels Forest of Arden Country Club); Simon Joyce (Branston Golf & Country Club)
Golf Membership Sales Team of the Year
Branston Golf & Country Club; Delta Hotels Forest of Arden Country Club; The Mere Golf Resort & Spa
Leading Individual Leisure Membership Sales Performance
James Flesher (Dunston Hall – Q Hotels Collection); Neil Rees (Celtic Manor Resort); Rebecca Chard (The Vale Resort)
Leisure Membership Sales Team of the Year
Branston Golf & Country Club; Celtic Manor Resort; The Vale Resort
Leading Spa Experience Performance
Eden Hall; Hoar Cross Hall; Rockliffe Hall
Leading Individual Corporate Golf Day Sales Performance
Ben Tomlinson (The Belfry Hotel & Resort); Cameron Dhir (The Astbury); Max Cornes (The Mere Golf Resort & Spa)
Food & Beverage Manager of the Year
F&B Team (Bristol GC); F&B Team (Harpenden GC); Glenn McNaughton (Long Ashton GC); Houssem Belabed (Gleneagles); Jacques Hobson (The Belfry Hotel & Resort); Phil Bragg (The Kendleshire); Sarah Arnel (Clevedon GC); Steven Marshall (Gullane GC); Stuart McDonald (Belvoir Park GC)
Golf Retail Manager of the Year
Andrew Crerar (Panmure GC); Anthony Moore (Oulton Hall – Q Hotels Collection); John Howells (JCB Golf & Country Club); Retail Team (Barnham Broom); Retail Team (Harpenden GC); Russell McIntyre (Gullane GC); Ryan Crowley (Clevedon GC); Simon Howell (Delta Hotels Forest of Arden Country Club); Tom Hughes (The Belfry Hotel & Resort)
Greenkeeper of the Year
Aaron Small (Belvoir Park GC); Andrew Smith (West Herts GC); Angus MacLeod (The Belfry Hotel & Resort – Brabazon Course); Brendan Hegarty (Slieve Russell); Callum Wark (JCB Golf & Country Club); Chris Dyson (Woodsome Hall GC); Gary Nicoll (Panmure GC); Ian Brawn (Delta Hotels Worsley Park Country Club); James Braithwaite (Long Ashton GC); Jim McKenzie (Celtic Manor Resort – 2010 Course); John Plummer (Carton House); Matt Aplin (Goring & Streatley GC); Mike Bush (St Mellion); Phil Chiverton (The Grove); Scott Fenwick (Gleneagles)
Golf Operations Team of the Year
Celtic Manor Resort (2010 Course); Delta Hotels Forest of Arden Country Club (Arden Course); Foxhills Club & Resort; Long Ashton GC; North Foreland GC; The Belfry Hotel & Resort (Brabazon Course); The Belfry Hotel & Resort (PGA National Course); The Grove; The Vale Resort
Golf Manager of the Year
Brad Gould (The Grove); Brian Duncan (Celtic Manor Resort); Chris Reeve (The Belfry Hotel & Resort); Fraser Liston (Delta Hotels Forest of Arden Country Club); Gareth Morgan (Long Ashton GC); Ian Orrell (Wychwood Park); Matt Sandercock (Mount Juliet Estate); Noel Werner (The Vale Resort); Sean Graham (Foxhills Club & Resort)

On behalf of our Host Venue, Sponsors & Industry Partners, we look forward to welcoming you to our 2023 ‘Service Excellence Awards.’

59club’s 14^th Annual Service Excellence Awards Event comes to Titanic Hotel in Liverpool on 29/02/24.

Widely regarded as the industry ‘Oscars’ amongst the golf & hospitality community, the 59club UK Service Excellence Awards will see business leaders and their teams come together from across England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales.  

The event, now into its fourteenth year, begins with a networking lunch and a series of inspirational education seminars, and as night falls, the prestigious awards ceremony recognises the leading individuals, teams, and properties within 59club UK’s network for their outstanding achievements across 2023.  

59club’s renowned industry benchmark – the bronze, silver and gold flag designations – will also be presented on the night to venues that not only achieve the required standard of service as part of 59club’s mystery shopping program, but also provide excellent facilities for customers to enjoy.

Tickets

To secure your tickets & discuss preferential accommodation rates, please contact naime@theaspirationgroup.com  

• Networking Lunch & Education Seminar – £75
• Awards Dinner – £120

Event Partners

Stoke by Nayland is one of the busiest 36-hole venues in the UK with a significant membership who like to play a lot of golf.

Managing the differing needs of members, hotel residents and pay-and-play golfers represents a challenge, but also being just one moving part in a significant resort business means I have to coordinate the activities of the various elements of my own department – booking, retail, starters and marshals, greenkeeping and academy – as well as managing a relationship with key partners such as membership committees and other hotel departments, such as rooms and F&B.

I’ve worked with 59club for around 11 years – the last three here at Stoke by Nayland. Of all the many benefits we’ve enjoyed from working with 59club, I would say the most significant – and something that helps us grow as a golf club – is the ability to benchmark against other venues.

For example, how do you know that what you’re doing is any good, in comparison to other properties? The beauty of 59club is that it gives us the ability to choose a cluster of venues that are very similar to us and our operation and to see how they perform as a collective; and with that peripheral view ultimately, we’re able to benchmark ourselves in terms of where we lie in the market.

And that mystery shopper intel isn’t limited to those competitor properties either; we also benefit from insight into 59club’s industry benchmark defined by the 3 best performing venues, which is always slightly higher than the actual industry average data. So, we’re comparing ourselves constantly not only to our immediate competition but also with a range of properties, which really helps us.

I have an excellent relationship with 59club and we speak regularly, whether it is to discuss ideas related to the club, or to discuss challenges. We also use the data we receive as part of our internal induction process and ongoing staff training. We have monthly team debriefs where we use that data as the key training issue or the tool to highlight the training need.

If, let’s say, our mystery audit comes back and it appears that a retail member of staff wasn’t particularly clued up on an item of clothing they were trying to sell, that indicates, clearly, a requirement for further training for the team. Pretty much every month we’ll highlight the big downfall, for want of a better word, within any audit and we focus our training on that area over the next few weeks.

Again, the ability to benchmark our member and guest survey data against similar facilities, is absolutely vital for us. An example is where I ask the members to survey the bunkers – and we score six out of 10. To the untrained eye that score may look pretty poor, but what 59club can do for us, in terms of the survey platform, is telling us the average score that club members across the industry have rated their bunkers, and a lot of the time that industry data is not as high as you’d imagine.

In a perfect world you’re aiming for a 10 out of 10 but the ability to know that some of the better courses may only be scoring 8.8, for example, is a good tool for us to be able to manage what we’re trying to achieve. Six no longer looks as low as it might have done previously.

The benefits to staff training and planning are also manifold. It could be somebody in the halfway hut, who hasn’t greeted a guest in a particularly great manner, or the example of the retail staff. We go through a series of meet and greets and building relationships with people.

We sit down at the start of the year and one of the big things we do is we review the mission statement we have with the golf club. The mission statement doesn’t necessarily change much, year to year, but some of the measurements we use to ensure we’re on track do change.

In the last couple of years, we’ve set benchmarks in terms of the member satisfaction scores generated from our 59club surveys and a guest satisfaction score from our mystery shopper audits, and, additionally, one of the measurements we aim for has been the 59club silver flag award, which are presented to the venues that not only achieve the required standard of service as part of the mystery test audit criteria, but also provide excellent facilities for customers to enjoy… It plays quite a big role in the bigger picture.

We didn’t get to win the silver flag award we covet, so that’s something we’re aiming for this year, but we have seen multiple success at the awards based on our appetite for gathering feedback from members and guests and the effective management of the survey data we received. We won an ultimate service excellence award in 2019, being one of only two venues recognised at that standard, and again in 2020 we retained that premium title, and also in 2021, we were honoured with a service excellence award in the same category.

From a personal perspective the most important and valuable element 59club delivers for me, is the data; collecting data, helping make sense of the feedback and being able to action any kind of changes accordingly, because of what our actual customers and a panel of mystery shoppers are telling us. Ultimately, it’s a really objective measure of the performance of the golf business.

Furthermore, every year we run the members’ survey and, as a result of that, we identify the three or four lowest scoring areas, and we implement changes based on the feedback. The changes we’ve made in the past are ongoing, and we will address any further necessary changes when we complete this year’s member survey.

We deliver pretty much the same survey, annually – albeit we break it down into three different parts: you and your membership; the course and its facilities; and staff. So, we can track progress that way.

In 2020 we used the survey platform more frequently for really nuanced stuff. For example, when coronavirus hit, we surveyed the membership on its preferred choice of touch-free hole inserts and, from the golf-club perspective, it’s really factual. It’s not my decision to use option A, for example, it’s the decision of the membership, because they’ve voted on it. I’ve found it’s far easier to justify a decision with a set of data to support you.

Without doubt, if we weren’t working with 59club we’d have a really subjective view of the golf club’s performance. I would only have opinions to judge my business on, rather than truly objective measurements.

If you look at the real top-quality venues in the UK, there’s a very high possibility those venues are working with 59club and what that says to me is that 59club gives you a really good, stable platform upon which you can build your business, whether that be a service or a product.

There’s a very experienced team of people inside 59club, and, ultimately, if you follow the guidance of these guys you’re not going to go far wrong.

Knowing that, I don’t understand why clubs in our sector wouldn’t work with 59club, to be frank. It’s a tool that offers so much in terms of looking at the broader picture, as well as somebody who wants to look at minute details in terms of, for example, selling golf shirts.

It’s a no-brainer for me. I’ve worked with 59club for years and I will continue to work with them wherever I go in the future. It’s incredible value for money.

A welcome return to a “Live Event”, saw the very best Venues, Teams and Individuals from across the UK, Ireland and Europe South assemble at The Belfry Hotel and Resort on March 3^rd 2022, ahead of 59club’s annual Service Excellence Awards.

The day began with a full day’s education provided by Gregg Patterson of Tribal Magic, and Lora Cavan, having flown in from the US and Canada respectively.  And as night fell, aspirations of being recognised with a 59club Service Excellence Award grew, as the curtains opened on the ceremony that has long been regarded as the ‘Oscars’ of the golf & hospitality Industry, since the 59club’s honours list began some 12 years ago.

The 2-day event, a long-standing fixture within the golf business recognises the finest customer service providers for having achieved the highest standards of excellence in 2021. 59club’s illustrious accolades are determined by scores collected from their impartial mystery shopping audits, which evaluate the experience afforded to visiting golfers and prospective members, in accordance with 59club’s objective benchmarking criteria.

On the night, 59club presented awards across 29 categories, recognising ‘service excellence’ spanning all areas of the businesses – sales, service, operations, retail, spa, golf course, food & beverage and management. With 59club continuing to reflect the very best performances, regardless of a venue’s size, scale or profile, by segmenting several individual accolades in to 3 categories based on a venue’s average green fee rate.

Portmarnock Golf Club and Gleneagles collected the highly prized awards of Ultimate Golf Members’ Club and Ultimate Resort. Portmarnock achieving success in their first year of working with 59club, with Gleneagles recapturing the title they last won in 2018.

Andrew Whitelaw, General Manager of Portmarnock Golf Club, said; “I am absolutely delighted that the team have won the Ultimate Members Club Experience through their hard work and dedication to service excellence, truly one of the toughest awards to win it is recognition on how hard the team have worked. It really was a team effort in every department, which it has to be with 59club. To win an award that recognises our commitment to our members is extremely satisfying and motivating. After a couple of challenging years when the club operated in unusual circumstances the teams ability to change and deliver a world class experience was wonderful to be part of.”

Of their success Andrew Jowett, PGA Head of Golf of Gleneagles said; “This award underlines an incredible team effort, not just in golf, but across every facet of our 850-acre estate. It is an important accolade because it recognises world-class customer service and experience, something we strive for every day at Gleneagles.

“The fact this award comes as a direct result of authentic, independent and benchmarked visitor feedback, underlines its importance and value to us as a leading hospitality and leisure business.”

The Awards was a great showcase for The Mere Golf Resort and Spa, after they claimed 5 of the 6 available Sales Awards, their success included a magnificent performance from Alice Cox-Cooper, adding a further 2 individual titles to their awards cabinet as well as having led her Membership Team to success in both the Golf and Leisure categories. The Mere also celebrated Max Cornes, after he scooped one of the Golf Event Sales Awards, and the venue went on to secure their first ever Gold Flag Designation.

Of their achievements, Gary Johnson, General Manager of The Mere, commented; “These awards are paramount to the continuing success of our business!

“It has been our strategic plan to focus on all of our service standards and procedures to ensure we are always aiming for excellence!

“59club and Matt have proven that with a proven formula and competitor set analysis drilled down and determination the goals can be achieved and the team at The Mere Golf Resort and Spa make me a very happy and proud leader!

“Finally…That gold flag was always in our cross hairs and it is sat on full display on our trophy wall.”

For other venues there were double celebrations on the night, firstly The Grove saw Phil Chiverton and Brad Gould retain their Greenkeeper and Golf Manager of the Year titles. Next it was Foxhills Club and Resort, who were left reveling after Sean Graham and his Golf Operations Team picked up Awards, and finally, Worsley Park Marriott Hotel and Country Club enjoyed 2 victories with an individual win for Stephen Hindle and a team accolade for his Golf Operations team.

Special recognition must go to Glenn McNaughton of Long Ashton Golf Club after being named F&B Manager of the Year for the 3^rd consecutive year, while Matt Aplin of Goring and Streatley Golf Club fended off tough competition to be named Greenkeeper of the Year for an unbelievable 4^th year in a row, leaving everyone questioning – can he make it 5?!

Of this year’s awards, Will Hewitt, General Manager of 59club UK, commented; “It was an honour to recognise and celebrate our leading service providers in person once again, and while the past year presented huge challenges for the golf industry, relating to both the operation and the people within those businesses, that only added to the splendour, it was incredible feeling seeing all those familiar faces and many newcomers united by their shared passion for delivering the very best customer experiences, the excitement in the room was electric!

“Golf has been incredibly fortunate to benefit from a significant surge in demand, and it is extremely encouraging that more venues than ever before are choosing to work with 59club to focus on their service offering and sales levels whilst working to engage and keep this new audience. 59club’s focus will remain the provision of objective and accurate performance data, providing greater market insights and a supportive network of likeminded professionals which will further aide performance enhancement.”

Celebrations continued into the night, as 59club’s Industry Benchmark of excellence, it’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Flag Designations, were announced. These highly prized accolades recognise member clubs’ and resorts that provide excellent facilities for golfers to enjoy, as well as having achieved the required standard of customer service throughout 2021.  

This year, 59club presented 18 ‘Gold Flags’. The deserving winners were: Celtic Manor Resort, Foxhills, Gleneagles, Long Ashton, Portmarnock, JCB, Royal Dornoch, Hanbury Manor, Gullane, Panmure, Edgbaston, Belvoir Park, Frilford Heath, The Mere, Mount Juliet Estate, Rockliffe Hall, The Belfry Hotel & Resort and The Grove.  

8 ‘Silver Flags’ went to Forest of Arden, Harpenden, Burnham & Berrow, Branston Golf & Country Club, Whittington Heath, North Foreland, West Herts and Radyr Golf Club.

And a further 8 ‘Bronze Flag’ Awards were presented to Worsley Park, The Vale Resort, Ladybank, Dunbar, Royal Winchester, Conwy, Woodsome Hall and Farleigh Golf Clubs.

The following morning all attention turned to the 59club Golf Day which played out on the world famous Brabazon Course, the winning team made up of David Griffin (Celtic Manor Resort), Callum Nicoll (Rockliffe Hall), Jake Rhodes (Golf Genius) and David Kinsey (BRK) claimed the illustrious 59club Claret Jug, with James Sibbles from Golf Genius claiming the individual title which brought the 12^th annual Service Excellence Awards Event to a perfect end, leaving all attendees reinvigorated and focused for the year ahead, and many with heightened hopes of securing their own victories next year.

Full list of award winners can be seen in the table below.  

59club ‘Service Excellence’ Award Winners 2021/22:

The Ultimate Members’ Club: Portmarnock Golf Club

The Ultimate Golf Resort: Gleneagles

Gold Flag Designations: Belvoir Park Golf Club, Celtic Manor Resort, Edgbaston Golf Club, Foxhills Club & Resort, Frilford Heath Golf Club, Gleneagles, Gullane Golf Club, Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel & Country Club, JCB Golf & Country Club, Long Ashton Golf Club, Mount Juliet Estate, Panmure Golf Club, Portmarnock Golf Club, Rockliffe Hall, Royal Dornoch Golf Club, The Belfry Hotel & Resort, The Grove and The Mere Golf Resort & Spa.  

Silver Flag Designations: Branston Golf & Country Club, Burnham & Berrow Golf Club, Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club, Harpenden Golf Club, North Foreland Golf Club, Radyr Golf Club, West Herts Golf Club & Whittington Heath Golf Club.  

Bronze Flag Designations: Conwy Golf Club, Dunbar Golf Club, Farleigh Golf Club, Ladybank Golf Club, Royal Winchester Golf Club, The Vale Resort, Woodsome Hall Golf Club & Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club.  

My59 Ultimate Service Excellence Award: Long Ashton Golf Club & St Austell Golf Club. 

My59 Service Excellence Award: Ashford Manor Golf Club, Farleigh Golf Club, Foxhills Club & Resort, Henbury Golf Club, Langdon Hills Golf Club, Radyr Golf Club & Stoke by Nayland Golf Club.

Golf Manager of the Year: Brad Gould (The Grove), Sean Graham (Foxhills) & Stephen Hindle (Worsley Park)

Greenkeeper of the Year: Andrew Smith (West Herts), Matt Aplin (Goring & Streatley) & Phil Chiverton (The Grove)

Food and Beverage Manager of the Year: Glenn McNaughton (Long Ashton), Greg Smith (Edgbaston) & Susan Robb (Royal Dornoch)

Golf Retail Manager of the Year: David Coles (Harpenden), Tom Hughes (The Belfry) & The Retail Team (Crane Valley)

Golf Operations Team of the Year: Foxhills Club & Resort, JCB Golf & Country Club & Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club

Leading Individual Group Golf Sales Performance: Joel Westwell (The Grove)

Leading Individual Corporate Golf Day Sales Performance: Max Cornes (The Mere)

Leading Individual Golf Membership Sales Performance: Alice Cox-Cooper (The Mere) 

Golf Membership Sales Team of the Year: The Mere Golf Resort & Spa

Leading Spa Experience Performance: Rockliffe Hall

Leading Individual Leisure Membership Sales Performance: Alice Cox-Cooper (The Mere)  

Leisure Membership Sales Team of the Year: The Mere Golf Resort & Spa

The very best individuals, teams and venues have been unveiled for 59club’s 12^th Annual Awards Ceremony, celebrating excellence across sales, service, operations, retail and management, with some of the highest-profile and best-loved venues in the running for a hospitality industry ‘Oscar’.

The glittering affair, hosted by BBC’s Dan Walker will be staged at The Belfry Hotel & Resort, 3^rd and 4th March 2022, and will once again provide an opportunity for the industry to come together to honor individuals, teams, and venues for their outstanding performance throughout 2021.

The accolades are determined by scores collected from 59clubs impartial mystery shopping team, who evaluate the experience afforded to visitors and prospective members in accordance with 59club’s objective benchmarking criteria. 

Each venue is judged on its performance in the following areas: sales, service, operations, retail, facilities, food & beverage and management. 59club continues to reflect the very best performances, regardless of a venue’s size, scale or profile and as has been the case in recent years, five of the main titles will be further segmented in to 3 categories based on the average guest fee charged.

Leading the nominations this year is The Mere Golf Resort & Spa who are vying for awards across 8 categories. The Mere have displayed particular strength in the Sales arena with 6 of their nominations spanning the Golf & Leisure Membership Sales departments & Corporate Golf Sales categories. Following closely, The Belfry Hotel & Resort, The Grove and The Vale Resort, are all competing for titles across 7 awards.

It is not unusual for the Resort properties to be leading the nominations but reflecting the changing nature of the 59club UK family, the world of Member Clubs is well represented with Branston Golf & Country Club securing 5 nominations, closely followed by JCB Golf & Country Club and Long Ashton GC with 4 nominations each and 3 nominations for Royal Dornoch GC, Panmure GC and Harpenden GC.

A number of venues, teams and individuals are looking to defend the titles which they collected 12 months ago.

Special recognition must go to Glenn McNaughton of Long Ashton GC who aspires to be named Food and Beverage Manager of the Year for the third consecutive occasion, whilst Goring and Streatley GC are hoping to see Matt Aplin scoop the Golf Course Manager of the Year for a fourth consecutive year.

59club’s diversification into Spa Experience and Corporate Sales (Meeting & Events and Golf), sees the dawn of two new awards categories, with Eden Hall, Foxhills Club & Resort, Hoar Cross Hall, Rockliffe Hall, The Belfry, The Mere and The Vale in the running to be named “Leading Spa Experience”, while Bernadette Turner (Breadsall Priory Marriott Hotel & Country Club) Ella Faller & Marc Brooks (Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club),  Elliott Brown (The Grove), Max Cornes (The Mere), and are competing to be crowned “Leading Individual Corporate Golf Sales Performance”.

Looking ahead to the Awards, Will Hewitt, General Manager, 59club UK said: “We are delighted to be returning to a live event to celebrate the 12^th year of our awards, bringing the 59club family together to reward the outstanding venues, teams and individuals who have delivered excellence in spite of the well documented challenges faced during 2021. The Awards nominations illustrate some outstanding displays of consistency from many of our longest standing partner venues but also some incredible experiences delivered by many of those who have recently come on board. 59club Awards are always hard earned and we look forward to recognizing the highest standards in our industry with an event to remember”.

Other UK venues to receive multiple award nominations include Breadsall Priory Marriott Hotel & Country Club, Celtic Manor Resort, Edgbaston GC, Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club, Foxhills, Gleneagles, Portmarnock GC, Rockliffe Hall and Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club.

With Bulbury Woods GC, Burnham & Berrow GC, Crane Valley GC, Farleigh GC, Gullane GC, Mount Juliet Resort, Radyr GC, Stoke by Nayland GC, The Bristol GC and West Herts GC all nominated.

The night’s proceedings will also see 59club bestow accolades upon venues for their commitment to engage, analyse and enrich their member and guest experience, utilising a broad range of survey tools across the my59 software platform. Nine venues will be recognised within this category, including: Ashford Manor GC, Farleigh GC, Foxhills, Henbury GC, Langdon Hills GC, Long Ashton GC, Radyr GC, St Austell GC and Stoke by Nayland GC. These venues will all compete to win an Ultimate Service Excellence accolade.

The award ceremony – sponsored by; 3d ifs, Albatross Digital, Asbri Golf, BRK, Club Car, Comesto, Dragon Golf, Golf Genius, Golfbreaks.com, Golf HR, Kennet Leasing and Toro – will also see 59club’s Industry Benchmark, its Gold, Silver and Bronze Flag Awards presented to golf resorts and private member clubs which have demonstrated distinction against broad criteria for both customer service delivery and the quality of their facilities.

To watch the highlights of our previous ‘live’ awards ceremony click here

59CLUB UK ‘SERVICE EXCELLENCE’ AWARD NOMINATIONS (in alphabetical order):
Leading Individual Golf Sales Performance

Andy Todd (Panmure GC); Chloe Stewart (The Bristol GC); Joel Westwell (The Grove); Tom Gregory (The Grove)

Leading Individual Golf Membership Sales Performance

Alice Cox-Cooper (The Mere Golf Resort & Spa); Ashley Freeman (Rockliffe Hall); Becky Chard (The Vale Resort); Philomena Wilkinson (Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club)

Golf Membership Sales Team of the Year

Forest Of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club; Rockliffe Hall; The Mere Golf Resort & Spa; The Vale Resort

Leading Individual Leisure Membership Sales Performance

Alice Cox-Cooper (The Mere Golf Resort & Spa); Becky Chard (The Vale Resort); George Wainwright (Branston G&CC); Neil Rees (Celtic Manor Resort)

Leisure Membership Sales Team of the Year

Branston G&CC; Celtic Manor Resort; The Mere Golf Resort & Spa; The Vale Resort

Leading Spa Experience Performance

Eden Hall; Foxhills Club & Resort; Hoar Cross Hall; Rockliffe Hall; The Belfry Hotel & Resort; The Vale Resort

Leading Individual Corporate Golf Day Sales Performance

Bernadette Turner (Breadsall Priory Marriott Hotel & Country Club); Ella Faller & Marc Brooks (Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club); Elliot Brown (The Grove); Max Cornes (The Mere Golf Resort & Spa)

Food & Beverage Manager of the Year

Ali Zrayer (Portmarnock GC); Craig McKinlay (Panmure GC); Dan Orchard (Branston G&CC); Eddie Devane (Mount Juliet Estate); F&B Team (Bulbury Woods GC); F&B Team (Harpenden GC); Glenn McNaughton (Long Ashton GC); Greg Smith (Edgbaston GC); Houssem Belabed (Gleneagles); Jacques Hobson (The Belfry Hotel & Resort); Lianne Harrison (Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club); Susan Robb (Royal Dornoch GC)

Golf Retail Manager of the Year

Andrew Crerar (Panmure GC); Brad Smith (Royal Dornoch GC); David Coles (Harpenden GC); David Haines & Graham Coombe (Burnham & Berrow GC); John Howells (JCB Golf & Country Club); Jack Heginbotham (Long Ashton GC); James Lambert (Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club); John Eyre (Woodsome Hall GC); Retail Team (Crane Valley GC); Simon Swales (Radyr GC); Tom Hughes (The Belfry Hotel & Resort – Brabazon Course); Tom Minshull (The Grove)

Greenkeeper of the Year

Andrew Smith (West Herts GC); Angus MacLeod (The Belfry Hotel & Resort – Brabazon Course); Callum Wark (JCB Golf & Country Club); David Wyborn (Foxhills Club & Resort); Eoin Riddell (Royal Dornoch GC); Gary Johnstone (Portmarnock GC); Ian Brawn (Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club); Jake Field (Edgbaston GC); James Braithwaite (Long Ashton GC); John Smith (Breadsall Priory Marriott Hotel & Country Club); Kenny MacPhail (Farleigh GC); Matt Aplin (Goring & Streatley GC); Neil Robson (Harpenden GC); Phil Chiverton (The Grove); Stewart Duff (Gullane GC – #1 Course)

Golf Operations Team of the Year

Branston Golf & CC; Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club; Foxhills Club & Resort; Gleneagles; JCB Country Club; Long Ashton GC; The Belfry Hotel & Resort (Brabazon Course); The Belfry Hotel & Resort (PGA National Course); The Grove; The Mere Golf Resort & Spa; The Vale Resort; Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club

Golf Manager of the Year

Andrew Jowett (Gleneagles); Brad Gould (The Grove); Brian Duncan (Celtic Manor 2010); Callum Nicoll (Rockliffe Hall); Chris Reeve (The Belfry Hotel & Resort); James Clark (JCB Golf & Country Club); Karl Hepple (Stoke by Nayland GC); Noel Werner (The Vale Resort); Sean Graham (Foxhills Club & Resort); Simon Joyce (Branston Golf & CC); Stephen Hindle (Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club); Tom Lawton (The Mere Golf Resort & Spa)

Four-time Ryder Cup venue The Belfry Hotel & Resort will host the 12th annual 59club Service Excellence Awards ceremony, in March, as the leading performance management specialists return to a ‘physical’ event for its prestigious ‘golf industry Oscars’.

Popular BBC TV presenter Dan Walker, fresh from his starring role in 2021’s series of Strictly Come Dancing, will once again host the two-day UK&I event that has also become renowned for its educational and networking opportunities in addition to being a celebration of 59club’s clients’ achievements across the year.

For all enquiries and to secure your tickets today, please contact Naime Torgut at The Aspiration Group – naime@theaspirationgroup.com.

What a year it’s been for James Ibbetson, General Manager of Farleigh Golf Club, having been crowned Golf Manager of The Year in the prestigious 59club service excellence awards, whilst simultaneously leading his team to a second victory, earning the enviable ‘my59 Ultimate Service Excellence’ title, in recognition of the club’s commitment to engage, analyse and enrich their members and guest experience utilising the my59 survey tools. All while dealing with the pressures presented by the pandemic, and after only one year with the Surry club.

Glory aside; Ibbetson explains how satisfaction surveys have become fundamental at Farleigh, and how 59club’s performance management tools are supporting his progressive plans…

I’ve been working with 59club for the best part of 12 years now and, when I joined Farleigh, in November 2019, introducing the survey tool was one of the first things I did. Indeed, I think it was the first members’ survey at Farleigh, and it’s something we have continued to do on an annual basis.

The members were given a month to complete the survey, and subsequently their feedback really helped shape the action plan for future development at the golf club, from a policy and procedure perspective, to managing potential investments, etc…

Working in the business, we don’t play the golf course that often, as much as we would like to get out there and see it from a member’s perspective; so we’re heavily reliant on gaining feedback from the members, who play the course day in, day out.

Delivering surveys is not a tick-box exercise; we use the process as a window to gain as much information from the membership as possible, and then we can start acting upon it. There’s very little point in doing a survey if you’re not going to do anything with the information you collate. We’re an open book with the data and try to communicate the results out to the members in as much detail as possible – from experience, the more invested the members are in the process, the more fruitful the feedback. It’s also important for them to feel as though their voice and opinion has been recognised, and the club are actively doing something about this.

We value our members interaction with the entire process and as such, we send out snapshots of the results: highlighting areas where we performed well, the 59club analytics in terms of where we sit in relation to the ‘industry’ and the ‘best performers’; and then also the areas where we didn’t do so well, outlining the actions we’re going to take to improve, and how we’re going to get there. We call this our ‘You Said, We Did’ action plan.

For the most part, members chose to remain anonymous when completing surveys, for those who were happy to waive anonymity it was straightforward to reach out to those individuals. Myself and the team make a point of calling these individuals to try to arrange sit down meetings to discuss their feedback, and any additional points that they may have since completing the survey, in greater detail. Annually, we probably sit down with 30-40 members in person to run through the results.

The 59club survey tool has developed over time, it’s a very user-friendly experience. Pretty much all the questions you’d want to ask new and existing members are already saved within the various templates, meaning you don’t need to spend hours and hours adding your own questions. Over the years they’ve developed a key list of questions and criteria that all club managers need. Or at least providing information club managers would like to have.

I’ve been guilty in the past, perhaps, of making some surveys too long, which has had a negative impact on the response rate. And that came out in some of the early feedback. Nowadays, we are more succinct, and focus on the specific areas we want to explore, and that naturally flows well from a members’ perspective also.

Feedback has helped us shape the decision making on our offering. It just gives you a well-rounded representation and, yes, some of the feedback you get may be a little bit pipedream-esque, but for the most part you do get real, solid insight that you wouldn’t have achieved otherwise.

Sometimes when you’re in the building six or seven days a week you may miss something that’s right in front of you. And you certainly don’t see it from a member’s perspective. It’s easier to push decisions through if members feel they’ve been actively involved in the process and there’s logic behind what we are trying to achieve.

You need to show the members that you’ve taken onboard some of the feedback and that you’re going to action certain things, even if you can’t action them immediately. Simply sending out a survey and then doing nothing with it is counterproductive. If that’s your intention, you’re better off not sending out the survey at all. Members take the time to submit their feedback, the least a club can do is sit down and analyse the results, communicating actions in the process.

The more information you have, the better – and the more a member feels involved in the decision-making process, the easier it is to get their support and their buy-in, which is, ultimately, what we’re after.

We don’t just survey members, though – we also use it for societies. Twenty-four hours after an event, all event organisers receive an automated survey from the my59 software, requesting their feedback: Communication before the event, quality of the F&B and the golf course on the day… amongst many other areas. So, we rely on the information collated by 59club heavily – one of our very early surveys, identified the need for a tee-time confirmation email which has long since been implemented and well received.

We have also taken this a step further in 2021 tailoring surveys for internal use, specifically for our Employee of the month nominations. In the past the nominees had been put forward by the Heads of Department – we felt however that it was important to open this up to all employees to get their buy in. A simple survey is therefore sent out to all staff each month requesting their nominations.

As a result of our 2021 Membership Satisfaction Survey (Sent out in October, over 240 responses, overall satisfaction score of 80%), the following have been identified as priorities for 2022 and beyond. Important to note that some of these areas have already been actioned:

A horsebox halfway house is now available on site during busy days and has been met with some fantastic feedback from members and guests alike.

Inefficiencies were identified with the current booking platform, and as such we are currently working alongside our software provider to make the online customer journey more fluid and ultimately user friendly.

Members can feel a little bit of an anti-climax around renewal time, with feelings as though you hand your money over and that’s it – and so in response to this, the ever-popular membership renewal booklet (with over £1,000 in additional value) will return for 2022. And, for the first time in the club’s history, all renewing members will receive a personalised bag tag on renewal.

Our member communication came out as excellent – during the lockdown, whilst the club was closed, we sent 2 member round ups each week, which we have now scaled back to once a week.

New tee markers, along with new divot bins and replacement tee caddies will be onsite ready for the season.

Full bunker audit instigated, with the most problematic bunkers being addressed as soon as possible with the remainder works scheduled in order of priority as part of a wider 3-5 year plan.

Additional staff training is currently being undertaken with a view to re-instate table service as of January 2022.

If you’re a club that wants to progress and are looking to focus on the things the members & visitors actually want, it’s a very, very useful tool. But the biggest piece of advice I have for anybody contemplating it is: if you’re going to do it, you’ve GOT to do it properly.

The golf industry ‘Oscars’ went ‘virtual’ this year, with hundreds tuning in online to watch their contemporaries receive a coveted 59club Service Excellence Award, as the market-leading performance-management specialist continued to honour its best performers across the UK & Ireland.  

And, for two individuals, it proved doubly worthwhile, as Long Ashton’s Glenn McNaughton and Goring & Streatley’s Matt Aplin retained titles they received the previous year.

McNaughton repeated his feat of being crowned ‘Food & Beverage Manager of the Year’, while Aplin continued to bloom as one of the victorious ‘Greenkeepers of the Year’, both within their respective qualifying categories.

There were also more celebrations at the Bristol-based club, as Long Ashton was named one of the class winners in the ‘Golf Operations Team of the Year’ category, while retail manager Jack Heginbotham secured the club a third title, and the venue went on to retain its my59 Service Excellence accolade, in the virtual event hosted by presenter and broadcaster Dan Walker.

Owing to 59club’s ever increasing portfolio of affiliate venues, along with the diversity of the golf club industry, an additional tier for the 2020 awards was introduced, which saw winning performances recognised across three categories, to reflect the respective price points and the market segment each property has chosen to compete within.

McNaughton was joined in the F&B winners’ enclosure by Kingswood’s Simon Ibbotson and Stoke Park’s Christian Tarca, while Aplin’s fellow greenkeeping celebrators were Phil Chiverton, of The Grove, and Gary Nicoll, of Panmure GC. The latter three venues enjoyed further celebration when Panmure landed a my59 Service Excellence award, Tim Harris (Stoke Park) scooped ‘Golf Retail Manager of the Year’, and Brad Gould (The Grove) was crowned ‘Golf Manager of the Year’, alongside Tom Lawton (The Mere Golf Resort & Spa).

Speaking of the Long Ashton’s triumphant successes, Gareth Morgan, General Manager said: “Over the past 2 years, 59club has given us the structure and the theory to ensure everyone in the team knows what is expected of each other across multiple departments, and that has assisted us to develop our reputation for delivering great customer experiences both on and off the course. I can genuinely say there is a buzz around the place every time a mystery golfer report lands.

“The recognition the team have received this year has been well deserved in my biased opinion. Despite all of the challenges COVID has thrown our way they have each contributed to an increase in service levels, and I am incredibly proud that every possible area of the Club received a nomination for this year’s awards.

“We are already looking ahead at how we improve from here.  Because, as 59club always tell me – better never stops!”

Will Hewitt, 59club UK’s general manager, said: “This was our 11th annual Service Excellence Awards ceremony, but the first – and, hopefully, the last – we’ve been forced to host remotely.

“As always, our congratulations go out to all the winners and those who secured ‘podium’ finishes, which is still a sign of exceptional quality. But a special mention must go to Long Ashton GC for stealing the show in securing four titles.”

Stirling GC witnessed a double celebration as Kenny Monaghan scooped the ‘Golf Retail Manager of the year’, while the venue claimed the ‘Golf Operations Team of the Year’ title alongside Gleneagles.

Also landing two titles was Farleigh GC, which secured both a ‘Golf Manager of the Year’ award, through James Ibbetson, and the much-coveted ‘my59 Ultimate Service Excellence’ title for its commitment to engage, analyse and enrich its members and guest experience utilising the my59 survey tools.

Two other venues shared the ‘my59 Ultimate Service Excellence’ award: newcomer Glynhir GC, and Stoke by Nayland Hotel, Golf & Spa, which retained this highly prized title from 2019.

Phil Stickler (St Pierre, Marriott Hotel & Country Club), and Dan Hawkins (Celtic Manor Resort) were both victorious within the individual ‘Golf & Leisure Membership Sales’ category, with Branston Golf & Country Club claiming the ‘Leisure Membership Sales Team’ award.  

Other venues celebrating success on the day were Ashford Manor GC, Dulwich & Sydenham Hill GC, Edgbaston GC, Haydock Park GC, Highgate GC, John O’Gaunt GC, Pollock GC, Radyr GC, and Trentham Park GC.

The places in the 59club service excellence awards are determined by scores collected from its impartial mystery shopping audits, which evaluate the experience afforded to visiting golfers and prospective members, in accordance with objective benchmarking criteria. And they represent all areas of the business: sales, service, operations, retail, golf course, food and beverage, and management.

59club’s coveted industry benchmarks of excellence – its gold, silver and bronze flag designations – are scheduled to be revealed at a ‘live’ event in the summer, as 59club recognises member clubs and resorts that provide excellent facilities for golfers to enjoy, as well as having achieved the required standard of customer service throughout the year.

WINNERS (and runners-up)

My59 Service Excellence, sponsored by Golfbreaks.com 1, Ashford Manor GC; Dulwich & Sydenham Hill GC; Edgbaston GC; Haydock Park GC; Highgate GC; John O’Gaunt GC; Long Ashton GC; Panmure GC; Pollok GC; Radyr GC; and Trentham Park GC.

my59 Ultimate Service Excellence, sponsored by 3D-IFS:  1, Farleigh GC; Glynhir GC, Stoke by Nayland Hotel, Golf & Spa.

Leading Individual Golf Membership Sales Performance, sponsored by Albatross: 1, Phil Stickler (St Pierre, Marriott Hotel & Country Club); 2, Philomena Wilkinson (Forest of Arden, Marriott Hotel & Country Club); 3, James Flesher (Dunston Hall Hotel).

Leading Individual Leisure Membership Sales Performance, sponsored by Tacit & Eagle:  1, Dan Hawkins (Celtic Manor Resort); 2, George Wainwright (Branston Golf & Country Club); 3, Victoria Martin (Old Thorns).

Leisure Membership Sales Team of the Year, sponsored by Kennet Leasing: 1, Branston Golf & Country Club; 2, Celtic Manor Resort; 3, Old Thorns.

Food & Beverage Manager of the Year*, sponsored by Comesto:1,Christian Tarca (Stoke Park); Glen McNaughton (Long Ashton GC); Simon Ibbotson (Kingswood GC); 2, Craig Sutherland (Brora GC); Jacques Hobson (The Belfry Hotel & Resort); Leanne Ray (Wexham Park GC); 3, Daisy Foster (Foxhills Club & Resort); Greg Smith (Edgbaston GC); Josie Swift (Farleigh GC).

Golf Retail Manager of the Year*, sponsored by Asbri Golf: 1, Jack Heginbotham (Long Ashton GC); Kenny Monaghan (Stirling GC) Tim Harris (Stoke Park); 2, Alyson Lilley (Gleneagles); Paul Babbage (Farleigh GC); Stuart Morrison (Tain GC); 3, Matt Lacey (Hurtmore GC); Peter Lane (Harpenden GC); Sean Graham (Foxhills Club & Resort).

Greenkeeper of the Year*, sponsored by Toro: 1, Gary Nicoll (Panmure GC); Matt Aplin (Goring & Streatley GC); Phil Chiverton (The Grove); 2, Angus MacLeod (The Belfry Hotel & Resort); Craig Parry (Edgbaston GC); Derek Hunter (Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club); 3, David Wyborn (Foxhills Club & Resort); James Braithwaite (Long Ashton GC); Terry Wharton (Haydock Park GC).

Golf Operations Team of the Year*, sponsored by Club Car: 1, Gleneagles; Long Ashton GC; Stirling GC; 2, Farleigh GC; Stoke Park; The Mere Golf Resort & Spa. 3, Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club; Porters Park GC, The Grove.  

Golf Manager of the Year*, sponsored by Golf Genius: 1, Brad Gould (The Grove); James Ibbetson (Farleigh GC); Tom Lawton (The Mere Golf Resort & Spa); 2, Gareth Morgan (Long Ashton GC); Karen Drake (Burnham & Berrow GC), Stuart Collier (Stoke Park); 3, Andrew Jowett (Gleneagles); Ruud Hercik (Gaudet Luce GC); Tom Scott (Harpenden GC).

*Three categories

While 2020 was an unpredictable year, the appetite across 59club partner venues to deliver the greatest customer experiences across golf, leisure and hospitality didn’t falter.  

59club, the market-leading performance-management specialist, will continue to honour their best performers across the UK and Ireland with a virtual recorded presentation, as their 11th Annual Service Excellence Awards Ceremony is available to watch from 4pm, Wednesday, March 24 hosted by presenter and broadcaster Dan Walker.

Despite the difficulties presented by COVID-19 and the consequent lockdowns throughout 2020, 59club continued to support their client venues to ensure the highest standards of service were maintained, whilst also introducing a virtual employee training platform to upskill performance and elevate service standards even further.

The award winners are determined by scores collected from 59club’s impartial mystery shopping team, which evaluates the experience afforded to visiting golfers and prospective members across the spectrum, in accordance with objective industry leading benchmarking criteria.

59club UK’s General Manager, Will Hewitt, explained: “Let’s not forget, 2020 was a unique year for most industries, not just golf; it was very testing and threw up unprecedented challenges to venues across the globe.

“But they weren’t closed for the whole of the year and, when they were open, our mystery shopper audits continued, enabling us to maintain our annual recognition of performance in what will be a virtual ceremony to celebrate what has become widely regarded as the ‘Oscars’ of the industry.”

He added: “It’s certainly a different programme, as, this year, our awards will be split with, hopefully, a ‘live’ event in the summer to crown the gold, silver and bronze flag recipients, the 59club Industry Benchmark of Excellence. But the virtual event on March 24 will celebrate the individuals, teams and venue titles which have become so highly coveted.”

Owing to 59club’s ever increasing portfolio of affiliate venues, along with the diversity of the golf club industry, an additional tier for the 2020 awards has been introduced, which now sees winning performances recognised across three categories, to reflect the respective price points and the market segment each property has chosen to compete within.

Among the nominees aiming to become multi-award winners are four individuals hoping to retain titles they won in 2019: Long Ashton’s Glenn McNaughton, and The Belfry’s Jacques Hobson, in their respective ‘Food & Beverage Manager of the Year’ category; Foxhills’ Sean Graham, in ‘Golf Retail Manager of the Year’; and in the ‘Greenkeeper of the Year’ category; Goring & Streatley’s Matt Aplin.

Both Radyr Golf Club and Stoke by Nayland Hotel, Golf & Spa are also looking to retain their 2019 titles which saw them each receive the ‘Ultimate Service Excellence’ award for their commitment to engage, analyse and enrich their member and guest experience, utilising a diverse range of survey tools across 59club’s software platform.

Meanwhile, Forest of Arden, Marriott Hotel & Country Club’s Philomena Wilkinson is in the hunt for her second success in the category of ‘Leading Individual Golf Membership Sales Performance’, having won the equivalent title in 2018.

Host Walker, who is a familiar face on TV through his work on BBC Breakfast and Football Focus, is a keen golfer himself, and said: “I’ve been lucky enough to present these awards for a number of years. It’s always a pleasure to reward venues and people who go the extra mile to make our golfing experiences as memorable as possible. It’s great to see how the event has become seen as the ‘Oscars’ of the golf industry.”

■ The pre-recorded awards presentation will be available to view at www.59clubuk.com from 4pm on March 24, as presenter & broadcaster, Dan Walker announces the winning individuals, teams & managers for their achievements across 2020.   

Nominations:

my59 Ultimate Service Excellence, sponsored by Golfbreaks.com: & 3D-IFS:  Ashford Manor GC; Dulwich & Sydenham Hill GC; Edgbaston GC; Farleigh GC; Glynhir GC; Haydock Park GC; Highgate GC; John O’Gaunt GC; Long Ashton GC; Panmure GC; Pollok GC; Radyr GC and Stoke by Nayland Hotel, Golf & Spa; and Trentham Park GC.

Leading Individual Golf Membership Sales Performance, sponsored by Albatross: James Flesher (Dunston Hall Hotel); Phil Stickler (St Pierre, Marriott Hotel & Country Club); and Philomena Wilkinson (Forest of Arden, Marriott Hotel & Country Club).

Leading Individual Leisure Membership Sales Performance, sponsored by Tacit & Eagle: Dan Hawkins (Celtic Manor Resort); George Wainwright (Branston Golf & Country Club) and; Victoria Martin (Old Thorns).

Leisure Membership Sales Team of the Year, sponsored by Kennet Leasing: Branston Golf & Country Club; Celtic Manor Resort; and Old Thorns.

Food & Beverage Manager of the Year*, sponsored by Comesto: Christian Tarca (Stoke Park); Craig Sutherland (Brora GC); Daisy Ash (Foxhills Club & Resort); Glenn McNaughton (Long Ashton GC); Greg Smith (Edgbaston GC); Jacques Hobson (The Belfry Hotel & Resort); Josie Swift (Farleigh GC); Leanne Ray (Wexham Park GC); and Simon Ibbotson (Kingswood GC).

Golf Retail Manager of the Year*, sponsored by Asbri Golf: Alyson Lilley (Gleneagles); Jack Heginbotham (Long Ashton GC); Kenny Monaghan (Stirling GC); Matt Lacey (Hurtmore GC); Paul Babbage (Farleigh GC); Peter Lane (Harpenden GC); Sean Graham (Foxhills Club & Resort); Stuart Morrison (Tain GC); and Tim Harris (Stoke Park).

Greenkeeper of the Year*, sponsored by Toro: Angus Macleod (The Belfry Hotel & Resort); Craig Parry (Edgbaston GC); David Wyborn (Foxhills Club & Resort); Derek Hunter (Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club); Gary Nicoll (Panmure GC); James Braithwaite (Long Ashton GC); Matt Aplin (Goring & Streatley GC); Phil Chiverton (The Grove); and Terry Wharton (Haydock Park GC)

Golf Operations Team of the Year*, sponsored by Club Car: Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club; Farleigh GC; Gleneagles; Long Ashton GC; Porters Park GC; Stirling GC; Stoke Park; The Grove; and The Mere Golf Resort & Spa.

Golf Manager of the Year*, sponsored by Golf Genius: Andrew Jowett (Gleneagles); Brad Gould (The Grove); Gareth Morgan (Long Ashton GC); James Ibbetson (Farleigh GC); Karen Drake (Burnham & Berrow GC); Ruud Hercik (Gaudet Luce GC); Stuart Collier (Stoke Park); Tom Lawton (The Mere Golf Resort & Spa); and Tom Scott (Harpenden GC).

*Three categories

Excellent article below written when one of the 59club team, Will Hewitt recently spoke to editor of Golf Retailing,  discussing how 59club can help your business in 2021.

Read more below…
http://bit.ly/38hGaus

– Sponsored by 3difs, CGI Insurance, Comesto, Golf Genius & Toro, 59club’s regular accolades reward individual staff performance throughout the year –

59club, the leading specialist customer service analysts and training provider, today announce their prestigious quarterly Service Excellence Award winners, as they continue to recognise staff excellence throughout the year across their affiliate golf venues. The designated UK & European awards focus on four categories spanning Golf Operations, Golf Course, Retail, and the Food & Beverage experience.

The honours saw Brad Gould of The Grove recognised for his outstanding performance within the Leading UK & European Golf Operation category, which saw him achieve a 3-percentage point advantage over his closest rival.

Chris Fitt of Foxhills Country Club & Resort, Christopher Reeve of The Belfry Hotel & Resort, Andrew Jowett of Gleneagles Hotel and Stuart Collier of Stoke Park Country Club, Spa & Hotel all narrowly missed out following a run of very successful audit reviews, as adjudicated by 59club in accordance with its objective benchmarking criteria.

On receiving his prestigious accolade, Brad Gould, Head of Golf Sales, said; “I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of our exceptional team at The Grove, who have continued to deliver a 5 star guest journey in the most trying of circumstances.  We will continue to focus on how we can enhance our customer experience and rewarding staff members through the valuable feedback we receive from benchmarking within 59club visits.”

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When it came to delivering the best golf course, it was a very close race which saw Alex Millar of Stoke Park Country Club, Spa & Hotel claim 59club’s Leading UK & European Golf Course Experience, with just half a percentage point between Alex and his closest competition, Phil Chiverton of The Grove.

Angus Macleod of The Belfry Hotel & Resort, Craig Parry of Edgbaston Golf Club and Terry Wharton of Haydock Park Golf Club came in third and joint fourth position thereafter, again with just the minuscule of percentages between these top performers.

Talking about his success, Alex Millar, Head of Estate said; “It’s a great acknowledgment for the greenkeeping crew for all their hard work this season, and to get the mark we did is very special. The 59club standards are a great way to see where you are in the industry, and what you have to strive for.”

Within the Retail category, it was Jack Heginbotham of Long Ashton Golf Club who claimed 59club’s Leading UK & European Retail Experience award, with a 1-percentage point margin over his closest rivals.

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Sean Graham of Foxhills Country Club & Resort & Tom Davies of Ashburnham Golf Club came in joint second position, with Matt Lacey of Hurtmore Golf Club & Alyson Lilley of The Gleneagles Hotel claiming third and fourth, respectively.

Commenting on his winning performance, Jack Heginbotham, Head PGA Professional said; “I am delighted to receive this award on behalf of my talented Pro Shop team here at Long Ashton Golf Club.  Since starting our work with 59club we have learned so much relating to service, and it would be remiss of me not to thank my team for the hard work they have put in alongside me to improve our service levels and dramatically improve our mystery golfer scores across the board.”

When it came to recognising service excellence delivered within the clubhouse during a golf visitor mystery shopper experience, there was nothing to separate the leaders, which saw 59club’s UK & European Leading Food & Beverage Experience award presented to both Steven Marshall of Gullane Golf Club and previous winner Jacques Hobson of The Belfry Hotel & Resort.

Houssem Belabed of The Gleneagles Hotel was just 1-percentage point behind the joint winners, with Greg Smith of Edgbaston Golf Club and Simon Ibbotson of Kingswood Golf & Country Club sharing third position.

On receiving his shared accolade, Steven Marshall, Club House Manager said; “It is a great honour and a privilege for me to win the Service Excellence Award on behalf of Gullane Golf Club.  As one of Scotland’s most prestigious members clubs, we continually strive to provide a first-class experience for members and visitors alike.  Achieving a high level of customer service is always of upmost importance to all our F&B team, especially in these challenging times.”

Joint winner Jacques Hobson, F&B Outlets Manager added; “I am extremely proud to be part of a dedicated team that provides exceptional customer service at every level. To be recognised for this award two years running is a privilege and demonstrates how The Belfry goes above and beyond to deliver memorable experiences for its guests. I am confident that the service and hospitality myself and my team deliver will continue to exceed expectations for years to come.”

Commenting on the success of each of the winners, Will Hewitt, 59club UK General Manager, said: “Congratulations to all award winners, and of course to all of our contenders. It’s always an extremely close race with the smallest of margins splitting the very best, as we delve into the league tables each month. Now more than ever, amid what was a challenging period for many, for us to be able to continue recognising the industry’s best customer service providers and sales performances, despite the obvious restrictions and disruptions is something we are very proud of.

“We are equally as delighted to witness that standards at our client properties, regardless of those obstacles, has remained as you would always expect, at the very highest levels observed within the industry across the board, and we have enjoyed supporting these performances.

“Well done to all those individuals, teams and managers who contributed to delivering the very best experiences in golf. Standards like these will always set you apart! Be proud, enjoy the glory & keep up the great work”.

59club is the industry’s leading customer service & sales analysts and training provider, raising service standards across the golf & hospitality sector to new heights as they gather primary data and implement strategic solutions. 59club’s ultimate objective is to transform the revenue performance of its clients by enhancing their approach to customer service and sales procedures. By understanding where strengths and weaknesses lie (using live consumer data), 59club can help venues implement lasting change to benefit their members, guests, staff and profits.

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Former host of the British Masters and HSBC Championship venue are chosen to host 59club’s glitzy ceremony as Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club will welcome 59club clients from across Europe on the 12-13^th March 2020. An extension to the ceremony will see The Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa host the awards to recognise excellence across Asia, The Middle East & Africa on the 20^th April 2020, as the Service ‘Excellence’ Awards are split for the first time.

The Ceremonies will bring the industry together to honour great individuals, clubs and group achievements across all 59club spectra, with revellers invited to attend their choice of local or international awards, with many expressing the desire to celebrate and network across both events. 

Whilst proceedings may have diversified, the principals remain the same, as 59club stand to recognise the leading Golf and Leisure venues that consistently achieve ‘service excellence’ across all areas of the business – sales, service, operations, retail, facility, food & beverage and management. With winners recognised by the genuine scores collected from the independent visitor panel who evaluate the experience afforded to both visitors and prospective customers.

The climax of the night for many is when the 59club’s Industry Benchmark awards are announced; the Gold, Silver and Bronze Flag Awards. The awards are bestowed on the finest member clubs and commercial venues that not only achieve the required standard of service as part of the mystery test audit criteria, but also provide excellent facilities for customers to enjoy. 

59club will also bestow accolades upon venues for their commitment to engage, analyse and enrich their member and guest experience, utilising a collateral of survey tools across the my59 software platform.

An Educational Day will precede the evening Awards Ceremony in true 59club style; with the promise of inspirational content for those looking to start 2020 on the best foot. Further to last year’s success 59club will continue to include a Golf Day.

59club’s driving force very quickly grabbed the industry’s attention, and saw the event hailed the ‘Industry Oscars’ in its early days. Now in its 10^th year, amid huge expansion plans across the globe which have already signified openings of local 59club offices to accommodate growth in Asia, Middle East, Africa, Europe and the USA;  the 2020 line up is set to once again deliver a spectacle of glory, equally fitting the calibre of nominees, winners and all those present at the awards for their commitment to delivering ‘service excellence’.

Simon Wordsworth, 59club CEO said: “59club is fully committed to assisting the industry to advance. The awards for us is about bringing everyone together and paying tribute to what we have achieved collectively.

“What started out as a simple idea to develop people and process in the early days, has grown into a global pioneering brand that has taken every experience across the hospitality industry and made staff, managers, venues and groups accountable for the service and sales etiquette they deploy. That 59club seal of approval means everything to the staff on the ground, the managers leading their team and the people at the very top – who all revel over the quantifiable effects that come with achieving best in class standards.”

“A special thanks goes to our award sponsors; 3DIFS, CGI Insurance, Club Car, Golf Genius, Golfbreaks.com, Gunners Cocktails, Kennet Leasing, Tacit and Toro who have been instrumental in creating the 2020 Awards, these are set to be the best yet!”

Tickets are on sale now, to secure your place at the Education Day, Awards Ceremony and Golf Day, and for all accommodation/travel requirements, please contact Naime Torgut; naime@theaspirationgroup.com or visit www.59club.com  

Stay up to date with all the action, and behind-the-scenes insight by following 59club on Twitter and Facebook.