Foremost Golf, the UK’s largest retail and marketing services group, has announced the winners of the Foremost Golf Awards for 2023.
The awards are chosen by Foremost member professionals, who vote for the suppliers and products that made the greatest impact on their business throughout last year.
PING was selected for the coveted Supplier of the Year Award for 2023, claiming top spot for the 14th time since 2008.
PING claimed four separate awards at this year’s event, following the hugely successful launch of the G430 range. The G430 captured ‘Best Woods Range’ following on from the success of the G425 a year ago. PING also captured the prestigious ‘Outstanding Customer Service’ award and ‘Best Irons Range’ for G430.
“The G430 launch was an immediate success,” commented PING Managing Director, Lisa Lovatt. “We are delighted to receive these awards; winning them is a result of the resilience and hard work across the business. We thoroughly appreciate the work of professionals across the country and will continue to provide cutting-edge products and service to our customers and consumers.”
Foremost members recognised Titleist’s continued dominance in the golf ball market once again as the brand claimed awards in two categories; Best Golf Ball with the Pro V1 and Pro V1x, the most popular golf ball used by PGA Tour players.
Titleist also added the ‘Best Wedge Range’ award for the eighth consecutive year with the Vokey line, in a year which saw SM9 enter the second year of its cycle and member pre-books for SM10 – which launched earlier this year – breaking all previous records.
Odyssey Golf was the recipient of the highly competitive ‘Best Putters’ award for the White Hot OG model. This follows on from the brand’s win in 2022 with the White Hot and Ten models and comes at a time where the brand continues to innovate in the category with the arrival of its new Ai-ONE range, designed using Artificial Intelligence.
After joining Foremost’s Elite Marketing Programme in 2023, Sunderland of Scotland celebrated immediate results in the ‘Best Outerwear Range’ at the awards as voted by Foremost members.
Motocaddy scooped the Best Trolley award, with the ever-popular M1 model successful in this category. Motocaddy is again effectively employing the Elite Marketing Programme to drive higher value sales as customers move to focus on more premium products.
The supplier award for ‘Best Apparel Range’ was presented to Under Armour for the seventh year in a row. Under Armour also broke new ground in 2023 by winning ‘Best Golf Shoe’ for the first time. The award demonstrates the success of the group’s Exclusive Line Glide SL which has delivered more cash profit for Foremost members than equivalent-priced models in the category in 2023.
Neil Heslop, Under Armour (PJH Brand Management, Partner), commented: “I was blown away to hear we had also won the Shoe of the Year award. This is further validation of our regional approach to product development – with elements of technology across the entire range ultimately starting in JJ Rivet’s labs in the UK and Europe. I’d like to thank the Foremost membership for their continued support of the Under Armour brand. The platform you give us to not only showcase our product, but to communicate to your consumers via EMP platforms is truly valued.”
Commenting on the awards, Chris Glenday, Foremost’s Head of Supplier Partnerships, said: “This years’ supplier awards were incredibly competitive, which is testament to the overall quality of product available from the brands we work with. I would like to congratulate all the award winners for their achievements and look forward to what they can continue to bring to the market.”