Burhill Golf and Leisure Limited was recognised for its quality, commitment to customers and business success at the Club House Awards 2008 on September 22.

Birchwood Park Golf Centre in Dartford, Kent, one of the UK’s busiest pay-and-play courses, with its own health and fitness centre, won Community Club of the Year for its pioneering work improving the fitness of local school children while also introducing them to the health and social benefits of golf.

Burhill Golf Club head chef Andrew Owen was awarded Chef of the Year  for earning the group’s flagship venue in Surrey the reputation of some of the best clubhouse food in Surrey, including an outstanding seafood menu.

Burhill Golf & Leisure also received a special commendation in the Golf Group of the Year award for the creation of high standards, rigorous auditing and profitability across its portfolio of three golf clubs and seven pay-and-play golf centres.

Colin Mayes, CEO of Burhill Golf & Leisure, said: “It has been an excellent year for Burhill Golf & Leisure and these awards are recognition for the professionalism and commitment of our teams and the high standards they consistently achieve. In a tough economic climate, the group’s turnover and profitability is sound and we are in a good position to expand not only at our existing centres, but by adding to our portfolio of golf courses and leisure facilities.”

Burhill Golf Centres/Clubs were shortlisted for five of the nine categories at the Club House Awards, entered by hundreds of golf clubs across the UK.

David Cook of Burhill Golf Club was nominated for Manager of the Year, with the club also picking up a nomination for best Catering Club of the Year.
 

Burhill Golf & Leisure has underlined its commitment to making its venues the best in their localities by investing in a fleet of 144 Club Car vehicles.

All 10 Burhill Golf & Leisure golf courses have taken delivery of Club Car’s latest golf car, the Precedent, giving customers the option to play their golf in style, comfort and ease. A variety of utility vehicles for course rangers and food and beverage services have also been purchased.

Colin Mayes, Chief Executive, said: “The investment in a fleet of Club Car Precedents and utility vehicles is central to our goal of offering customers the best facilities, the best service and the best value. It is also about driving our business forward and Club Car, with its outstanding golf vehicles, has proved an excellent partner in this.”

Club Car is the leading supplier of golf cars in the UK and its Precedent model has received widespread praise throughout the industry, as well as being used by both team captains at the 2006 Ryder Cup. The Precedent offers best-in-class reliability, efficiency and performance, and is engineered with innovative technologies and conveniences.
 

Burhill Golf & Leisure’s reputation for junior coaching has been further enhanced after two of its venues were selected as coaching centres by the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Golf Partnership.

Abbey Hill Golf Centre, Milton Keynes, and Wycombe Heights Golf Centre, Loudwater, have been chosen by BB&O to be its official coaching centres for the Buckinghamshire region to coach the next generation of county golfers.

The two centres were chosen due to their hard work and dedication in developing junior golfers, with both working towards achieving an English Golf Union Golfmark award.

Golfmark is a national scheme that identifies and recognises junior and beginner-friendly golf facilities, with centres being assed on three key areas – coaching and playing, club environment and child protection and duty of care.

Justine Lawrence, BB&O’s development officer, said: “BB&O Golf Partnership received £30,000 funding from Sport England to develop golfers in the three counties. We had to go out and select venues and coaches where training can be carried out. We have set criteria to find Golfmark venues or clubs working towards Golfmark – Abbey Hill and Wycombe Heights ticked all the right boxes.”

Two coaches from each centre – Chris Reeve at Wycombe Heights and David Armor from Abbey Hill – will join coaches from the other selected centres in the BB&O area, on a coaching development course where they will be trained in all the areas BB&O want the skilled juniors to be coached in.

Colin Mayes, Burhill Golf & Leisure chief executive, said: “Burhill Golf & Leisure has a great reputation for junior coaching and to have two centres chosen to coach the county golfers of the future is recognition for commitment to the development of the game.”

BB&O held four open coaching and recruitment days across the region and from there have selected 200 children aged nine to 16. This number will be whittled down to 180 who will take part in the coaching programme.

Those children selected will be expected to meet the requirements of the programme and commit to a year of coaching.

“There will be six half-day sessions and in each session there will be technical skills such as swing and short game lessons. We will also look to get the youngsters into the competitive frame of mind by putting all they’ve learnt to the test. There will also be classroom sessions on psychology and lifestyle,” added Lawrence.