NATIONAL CLUB AWARDS 2023 - GOLF CLUB OF THE YEAR AWARDED TO HONITON GOLF CLUB

Honiton Golf Club were awarded Golf Club of the Year (under £1 million turnover). They were selected from a shortlist of six national golf clubs and the award was presented by Peter Shilton (former England Goalkeeper).

On Wednesday, 22nd November 2023, a party of 10 representatives from Honiton Golf Club travelled to The Athena in Leicester to attend the National Club Awards hosted by John Inverdale. 

The club submitted an entry in August and were informed in October that they had been shortlisted for 3 categories: Best New Initiative; Best Caterer and Best Club (with a turnover of less than £1million). They were unsure what to expect as there was a lot of competition from over 50 national clubs shortlisted in various categories. There was the inevitable anticipation and those that were part of the submission felt that they had already achieved a high benchmark by reaching the shortlist.

Honiton’s Club Manager Devon Greenslade explained, ‘We submitted the entry based on the work that was undertaken by our Ladies' Section who, in March, achieved the England Golf Women in Golf Charter which was the catalyst for the initiatives that we then launched. Starting with our England Golf Women on Par ‘Gin and Swing’ event in April, the aim being to encourage women to take up golf and understand more about the game, it was the springboard for them to attend our Golf Access Programme which commenced in May and saw a number of women attend a 10-week programme hosted by our Club Professional Adrian Cave and volunteers from the club. We recognised early on that we needed to create an Academy Pathway to support these new golfers and, at the end of the Golf Access programme, we saw around 50% join the club as Academy Members.

As a result of all the hard work, the Club were awarded Golf Club of the Year (under £1 million turnover), selected from a shortlist of six national golf clubs and the award was presented to Devon Greenslade, Jayne Jackson and Adrian Cave by Peter Shilton (former England Goalkeeper).

Honiton's Lady Captain Jayne Jackson said, ‘When Honiton Golf Club was announced we could not believe it, we were in shock!  To have won a national award on this scale is something that we could not believe was possible. When I took on the captaincy in January 2023 I wanted to encourage more women to get in to golf and grow our Ladies' Section as, like many golf clubs, we have a high age demographic. Our hard work has paid off and I am immensely proud of what our team has achieved.’

Club President Paul Hill said, ‘We are absolutely delighted to have won this award. I want to thank all who were involved, our staff and volunteers for their hard work and dedication to the club - it has been a phenomenal year.’

The Club Mirror – Festival of Clubs has been running for 31 years. The award for Best Golf Club was sponsored by TNT Sports. The aim of the awards is to recognise the vital role that sports clubs play in their communities.

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