Two new categories have been included in the England Golf Awards 2022 to help reflect positive changes in the club and amateur game.
In addition to long-standing and popular categories such as Club of the Year, County of the Year and Volunteer of the Year, the public may now put forward candidates for a Women and Girls Trailblazer award and the title of Diversity and Inclusion Champion.
Nominations for the awards, sponsored by adidas Golf, opened to the public at noon today (November 8) and will close at midnight on December 19.
The England Golf Awards, which will be held online, will take place on April 20 next year and, similar to the 2021 edition, will be broadcast live on England Golf’s YouTube channel.
The new categories have been introduced in response to the amount of work being done to attract more female golfers and players from under-represented sections of the community into the game. The categories also align with England Golf’s 2021-2025 Course Planner and ‘18 Tee Shots to Success’ strategy.
The England Golf Awards 2022 aim to reward those individuals, clubs or counties who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to make an outstanding contribution to the game of golf in the past year.
The 10 categories open now for public nomination are as follows:
Women and Girls Trailblazer
Diversity and Inclusion Champion
Club of the Year
County of the Year
Sustainability Project of the Year
Volunteer of the Year
Young Ambassador of the Year
Participation and Development Coach of the Year
Tournament Venue of the Year
Lifetime Achievement Award
A panel of judges drawn from a wide range of backgrounds in the golf industry will study each nomination closely before drawing up a shortlist in each category and then selecting the 10 section winners.
England Golf will also present one elite amateur golfer with the Performance of the Year Award. This will be selected by staff from our performance department.
England Golf CEO Jeremy Tomlinson commented: “It’s a great privilege to stage these awards and take time to salute the many unsung heroes of our game. I’m sure we’ll be inundated with nominations for all the categories and, based on last year’s responses, I can’t wait to read the inspirational stories and showcase them to a wider audience.
He added: “It’s fantastic that we are able to add two new awards to the schedule – a reflection of what the game of golf is doing to become more inclusive and turn pledges into actions.
“The England Golf Awards give us a chance to say a massive thank you to those who dedicate time and effort, and display passion and energy to make the game more enjoyable for us all. Many people responsible for the success of the club and amateur game do not crave publicity for the work they do and prefer to stay in the shadows. However, it’s only right to shine a light on the positive impact being made by so many in our game. I’d encourage as many people as possible to head to the England Golf website and get nominating across a broad range of categories.”
To make a nomination or find out more details, visit www.englandgolfawards.org