59club, the independent golf analysis business that measures service at many of the leading golf venues in the country, has just hosted its second Awards Ceremony to recognise ‘Service Excellence’ within golf throughout 2011. The ceremony, held at DeVere Mottram Hall, was attended by most of the leading golf clubs, resorts and golf hotel groups in theUK.
The venues within the 59Club scheme receive mystery ‘society/corporate golf day enquiry calls’ and ‘live green fee visits’ six times per year, ensuring that all ‘sales’ and ‘customer service’ standards are met and maintained across the entire year.
In total, there were 22 awards presented on the night. The ‘4 Star Service’ venues and ‘Major Award’ winners are listed below:
Leading Service Providers:
Golf Sales Office Team of the Year: Carden Park
Golf Operation Team of the Year: The Belfry
Best Conditioned & Presented Golf Course of the Year: The Belfry
Leading Service Provider 2011:3rd Place: Slaley Hall
Runner up: Carden Park
Winner: Dunston Hall
Group of the Year 2011: De Vere
4 Star Service Venues:
Breadsall Priory, Sprowston Manor,SpeyValley, Forest Pines, The Belfry, Herons’ Reach, Carden Park, Dunston Hall, Oulton Hall,WychwoodParkand Slaley Hall.
Simon Wordsworth, 59Club CEO, said: “The nominations and winners totally deserve their accolades, as they work diligently within the 59Club scheme to initially improve, and then maintain higher service standards across their venue. Golf clubs are not only battling with other clubs, but battling with other sports, other leisure pastimes and computers for people’s time and attention. People now have a huge choice with what they do in their leisure time, never mind where they play golf. You are not only competing with the nearby good local courses, but on a regional level and now with other courses that are within the distance of a short haul flight. As the world gets smaller your service has to get better. Your staff and the service they deliver are a massive part of the experience; it is your chance to establish a point of difference.
It is pretty easy to build something that looks great but pretty difficult to maintain great service levels. All venues within the 59club programme are already taking steps to address this in an attempt to stay ahead of fellow golf directors, sales directors and general managers. They should be very proud of what they are working towards for their club and for golf in general. It is our pleasure to highlight the excellent work that went on at 59club venues throughout 2011.”
He added, “On March 31st, 59club will produce a full customer service report on the golf industry, as it now has 4 years of information, trends and patterns that present a very detailed view on what golfers are truly experiencing when they come to a 59club venue. Overall standards are rising, the best are definitely getting better and all groups have increased their average in 2011. A 59club venue is 7 times more likely to stay in touch with its customer and will do so four times as quickly. When we trial a venue, its trial visit results are likely to be around 40% below an existing 59club venue.”
Steve Dacre, Group Golf Sales Manager for the De Vere Group, commented, “There’s no question that standards across the industry have improved in the last twelve months, and we’re delighted to have picked up the main award for the second consecutive year. The 59Club offers us invaluable feedback and ensures that we have all the information we need to not only react, but improve the ways in which customer service is delivered in golf. For six of our venues to be recognised with the highest standard that the 59Club has awarded is testament to our consistently high standards and dedication towards delivering the ultimate experience for our guests and members. The 59 club scheme is firmly ensconced into the day to day routine of De Vere staff and is a key tool in their quest to deliver excellence.”
“To be recognised as the top golf operations team by 59Club, who are the ultimate bench markers in golfing customer service, is a great honour,” said Gary Silcock, Director of Golf at The Belfry. “Our main aim at The Belfry is to provide the very best experience for the golfer from the moment they enter the resort to the moment they leave. The fact that we manage to provide this despite the large number of golfers visiting last year is testament to the great effort by every member of staff,” he added.
FULL AWARD LISTING:
Major Awards:
Golf Sales Office Team of the Year: Carden Park
Golf Operation Team of the Year: The Belfry
Best Conditioned & Presented Golf Course of the Year: The Belfry
Leading Service Provider 2011:
- 3rd Place: Slaley Hall
- Runner up: Carden Park
- Winner: Dunston Hall
Group of the Year 2011: De Vere
4 Star Service Awards:
Breadsall Priory, Sprowston Manor,SpeyValley,ForestPines, The Belfry, Herons’
Reach, Carden Park, Dunston Hall, Oulton Hall,WychwoodParkand Slaley Hall.
Striving for Excellence Awards:
Most Improved Golf Sales Team – Breadsall Priory
Leading Individual Golf Sales Performance – Leighton Williams & Rachael Davies
Most Improved Golf Operations Team – Linden Hall
Leading Individual Performance by a Golf Operations Team – The Belfry
Most Improved Golf Retail Experience –HellidonLakes
Best Golf Retail Experience – Formby Hall
Most Improved Food & Beverage Experience – The Oxfordshire
Best Food & Beverage Experience –SpeyValley
Best Greens – The Dukes,St. Andrews
Mystery Shopper Independent Awards:
Best Presented & Tastiest Food in Golf – Stoke Park
Friendliest & Warmest Atmosphere in Golf – The Manor House
Most Memorable Golf Hole – 17th Hole at The Oxfordshire
Most Picturesque Golf Course – Brocket Hall
Favourite Course to Play –ForestPines
59club www.59club.com
Pic 2
Simon Wordsworth, CEO 59Club (right) presents Peter Briggs (centre) Director of Golf at De Vere Dunston Hall being presented ‘Leading Service Provider 2011’