Long-term Partner and highly respected PGA Professional Stephen Nicholls walked off with the coveted Partner of the Year title at the fifth annual TGI Golf Awards.
The Rossendale Golf Club Pro, who joined golf’s leading retail services group back in 2003, was honoured at the ceremony, which sees the leading figures from the golf industry join TGI Partners and Partner Suppliers at the glitzy event.
PING once again had a double celebration as it picked up two awards, winning the main Supplier of the Year gong, alongside the Product of the Year for its G Range, the second consecutive year it has won both awards, and the third time it has been crowned top supplier.
Nicholls, who has been a PGA Pro for 35-years, saw off competition from Woking’s Carl Bianco, Lee Harrington (Limerick) and Chris Robinson (Portpartick Dunskey) to scoop the main award.
He said: “It was an incredible honour simply to be nominated in a group of this size with so many high-quality PGA Professionals. To then go on and win it when I was up against three excellent Pros is just unbelievable.
“I’ve been in the group for a long time and it has really helped my business. At times during my career I’ve been a little all over the place, but TGI Golf has always helped me to put great disciplines in place. The retail consultants have been invaluable to me, helping me to streamline my business, and the educational events staged are great to help you continually evolve your business, you’re always learning.”
For the second consecutive year, and making it a hat-trick overall, PING collected the coveted Partner Supplier of the Year award after another fine score in TGI Golf’s annual Suppliers Survey, completed by its Partners.
Collecting the award, Steve Carter, PING’s European Sales Director, said: “It is a privilege to accept this award on behalf of everyone at PING, and we’d like to thank everyone in the team at TGI Golf and the Partners for their continued support. We have a very strong and respectful relationship and to be voted the number one supplier for the second year in a row by first class retailers is a great honour.”
PING also collected the Product of the Year award for its G series, making it a third straight win in that category, while FootJoy was voted Apparel Supplier of the Year and Callaway took home Hardware Supplier of the Year.
In the Partner Awards categories Stuart Williamson of Clydeway Golf Performance Centre, became the first multi-award winner when he added the Pro Shop of the Year award to his New Partner of the Year trophy won in 2013.
Tim Stevens from The Leicestershire Golf Club won Most Improved Business, while Bernard Quigley from Tullamore Golf Club was crowned New Partner of the Year.
Eddie Reid, TGI Golf Managing Director, said: “It was great to see so many Partners and the senior management teams of the biggest brands in the room, sharing the camaraderie, fun and seriousness of what has become industry standard in terms of awards. With the supplier award winners taken from our Partners’ votes through the Supplier Survey it’s great to see how important the awards have become to the brands.
“I’d like to congratulate all of the nominees but in particular those who won and continue to show TGI Golf as the number one group in terms of quality.”
TGI Golf www.tgigolf.com