The names of the individuals, teams and venues in golf have been unveiled for 59club’s 10th Annual Awards Ceremony, which takes place at at Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club, March 12-13.
Celebrating excellence across sales, service, operations, retail and management, some of the UK’s highest-profile and best-loved venues are the running for the coveted awards.
The award ceremony, hosted by BBC’s Dan Walker, will see the leading figures from the world of golf come together to honour individuals, teams and venues across Europe for their industry-leading performance throughout 2019.
The accolades are determined by scores collected from 59club‘s impartial mystery shopping team, who evaluate the experience afforded to visiting golfers 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, golf course, 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, creating two categories for nominees, based on an average green fee rates; of either above or below £75 per person.
Leading the stakes is none other than the host venue itself, as Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club has been nominated across eight award titles, with Justine Friedrich nominated for her Individual Group Golf Sales Performance; Simon Howell nominated for Retail Manager of the Year; Rob Rowson for Greenkeeper of the Year, and Fraser Liston for Golf Manager of the Year, as well as three further nominations within Golf Sales & Golf Operation Team categories.
Foxhills Club & Resort is nominated seven times, with The Belfry Resort, Rockliffe Hall and Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club each up for six awards, with the four-time Ryder Cup venue returning to defend their title ‘Ultimate Golf Resort’, after claiming one of the highest prized accolades of the evening last year in St Andrews.
Another Ryder Cup venue, this time Celtic Manor Resort, is in contention for four awards, which sees Jim McKenzie in the running for Greenkeeper of the year, and Brian Duncan nominated for Golf Manager of the Year. Hannah Howells is nominated for her Individual Leisure Membership Sales Performance, and Celtic Manor’s Leisure team up for Membership Sales Team of the year.
In contention for Golf Group of the year are previous winners Marriott Golf, which faces stiff competition from Arabella Golf, Almarose Hotels, De Vere Hotels, Macdonald Hotels & Resorts and Foxhills Collection.
Looking ahead to the awards, Simon Wordsworth, 59club CEO and a Fellow of the PGA, said: “This is the 10th year of our awards, a milestone for 59club which signifies 10 years of data, 10 years of passion and dedication and countless successes for our venues who work tirelessly to perfect their customer experiences. Over the past 12 months, our clients have again demonstrated their incredible commitment to achieving the golf industry’s highest service standards. Each year the bar gets higher and higher, with individuals, teams, managers and groups all battling it out to claim top spot, and what better way to recognise our greatest achievers, than with an evening to remember at The Forest of Arden. We can’t wait to get the celebrations underway.”
The award ceremony, which is sponsored by 3DIFS, CGI Insurance, Club Car, Golf Genius, Golfbreaks.com, Gunners Cocktails, Kennet Leasing, Tacit 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.