Windlesham Golf Club in Surrey has won a top England Golf award for its great work in getting more juniors and beginners into the game.
They are the 2015 winners of the prestigious GolfMark Club of the Year award, supported by COBRA PUMA GOLF. The club’s success was recognised at the England Golf Awards dinner held at the Hinkley Island Hotel in Leicestershire. They pipped two other clubs to the title, with Bristol & Clifton and Bedford & Coounty sharing the runners-up place.
This award, now in its seventh year, recognises GolfMark clubs which have made an outstanding contribution to developing the game through a range of activities. Stewart Judd, Windlesham’s general manager, said: “Part of our vision is to continuously improve and GolfMark is a key part of that. It has helped us put procedures in place, helped us grow our membership and helped us develop as a sustainable business.”
GolfMark is an England Golf initiative which supports its strategic plan, ‘Raising Our Game’. The plan calls on all who care about the sport to work together to create a brighter future for the game, including more members, more players and stronger clubs. GolfMark has just been refreshed to support clubs to achieve high standards in its four areas: recruitment and retention; management and sustainability; coaching and competitions; and safeguarding.
Windlesham offers innovative packages for juniors and also sets out to attract adult beginners with flexible coaching and membership packages which welcome newcomers to the club. Initiatives include academy memberships, Tuesday coffee mornings for ladies, a structured programme for under-10s, school links and a junior order of merit competition with a scholarship for the winner.