The Grove in Hertfordshire has announced two senior management appointments within its golf and leisure team.
Anna Darnell, Director of Golf & Leisure, has been promoted to Resort Leisure Director, taking on wider business and strategic responsibilities across the 300-acre estate, while Brad Gould, Head of Golf Sales & Operations, and recently named ‘Golf Manager of the Year’ by 59club, becomes The Grove’s new Director of Golf.
Darnell joined The Grove in 2005 as an Event Sales Manager after qualifying as a PGA Professional from Loch Lomond and time spent teaching in the Middle East. Two years on, she became The Grove’s Head PGA Golf Professional and Operations Manager and was subsequently promoted to Director of Golf, before taking on wider leisure-related responsibilities in 2016.
Her new role, which takes effect immediately, gives her responsibility for leisure experience and revenue management, while overseeing golf, spa and activities, and the children’s nursery and crèche.
Gould has been at The Grove for 14 years, starting his career in reservations, tournament coordination and golf sales, before his promotion to Head of Golf Sales & Operations in August 2017. As Director of Golf, he will take full responsibility for golf sales, retail and operations, along with the golf course and estate teams.
Commenting on both appointments, Bernard Murphy, Group Managing Director of parent company Ralph Trustees, said: “Anna and Brad have consistently proven themselves as great leaders within our business. They are hugely respected by the teams they manage and I have no doubt they will thrive with the added responsibility these roles bring.
“We constantly seek to provide the best experience for all our guests and investing in our employees sits at the heart of this. We have recently completed an important customer care training programme across the whole business, and used the lockdown period to complete an extensive refurbishment of our hotel, to firmly establish ourselves as the most desirable resort experience in the UK.”
When The Grove reopens to guests on May 17, it will unveil one of its largest projects to date – the transformation of all 189 rooms in the West Wing, the lobby and Lounges, all masterminded by award-winning interiors studio, Martin Hulbert Design, who have worked with The Grove since the hotel’s launch 2003.
The golf course has also seen a major investment with all 90 bunkers completely renovated and revitalised, enhancing playability and aesthetics. A 200m2 extension has also been added to the practice putting green.
