Heythrop Park Resort’s new golf and leisure supremo Tim Good has arrived at the luxury Oxfordshire destination pledging to raise its profile, and to seal its place among the UK’s most desirable golf resorts.
Good’s arrival coincides with a major refurbishment at Heythrop Park, which has a 7,088 Par 72 Tom MacKenzie golf course set in a 440-acre countryside estate near Chipping Norton, with over 350 hotel rooms at two hotels, the De Vere Heythrop Park and the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
“There is incredible potential to grow the golf side at Heythrop Park” said Good, who arrives after two and a half years as Director of Golf at De Vere Mottram Hall in Cheshire.
“I have heard it described as English golf’s sleeping giant, and when you come here you can instantly see why. When you look at the refurbishment work they have recently done, and the impressive size of the facility, it really does have everything you need for the ideal stay-&-play golf break.
“Everywhere you look there is history, scale and quality. We will be concentrating on growing our membership and our short golf break business, and also on putting out a clear message to golfers in the United Kingdom – if you do nothing else new in 2014, make it the year that you come and experience the spectacular Bainbridge Course at Heythrop Park Resort for the first time.
“It is a truly memorable golfing challenge, but of course it has not been on the scene for long, and is therefore still waiting to be discovered by most golfers. I aim to change that, and am looking forward to helping to put HeythropPark up where it belongs – which is among the UK’s most talked-about golf destinations.”
Though aged just 33, Good has already worked at several high-profile British golf venues. Prior to his roles at Heythrop Park and De Vere Mottram Hall he was Golf Operations Manager at Marriott Hanbury Manor, and originally started as a trainee PGA pro at the Celtic Manor Resort.
He takes on the role of Director of Golf, Leisure and Spa at Heythrop Park Resort, which is based around an early 18th century mansion house set among landscaped Natural England gardens. As well as having two major hotels and a championship-quality golf course, the resort also has luxurious leisure facilities with a 20-metre indoor pool at the centre of a well-appointed Spa and Gymnasium.
“I was attracted by the opportunity to grow business at a destination which has clearly not yet fulfilled its promise“, said Good. “We are in an affluent area, not far from London, and we have an exciting new relationship with De Vere Venues which is full of potential.
“Since it opened in 2009 the golf course has not yet attracted either enough golfers or, for that matter, publicity.
“It is certainly one of the most significant golf courses to have opened in the United Kingdom over the last decade. Tom MacKenzie’s superb design takes you through beautiful wooded valleys, with lakes and streams defining several holes which would clearly be stand-out ‘signature’ holes on most other courses.
“I think that maybe the original launch pricing for the golf offering at Heythrop Park was misjudged, but there is no doubt that this is a wonderful place to be a member, or to visit on a golf break or a green fee. This year we will make golf at this high-quality venue more affordable, and there has definitely never been a better time for golfers to visit Heythrop Park Resort.”
Green Fees for 2014 have been set at £30 during the week and £40 after 11am at the weekends. Golf Membership is £999, and Golf & Resort Membership, which includes full use of Heythrop Park’s fitness and leisure facilities, is £1,100.
Heythrop Park www.heythroppark.co.uk