Felixstowe Ferry Golf Club has become the first winner of England Golf’s Championship Venue of the Year Award, sponsored by Travelbag.
The club was honoured at last night’s England Golf Awards 2018, sponsored by Bridgestone. About 500 guests attended the glittering, black tie event at the Royal Lancaster London to celebrate all that’s great about golf in England.
Felixstowe Ferry hosted the 2017 English Women’s County Championship, a five day tournament involving six teams and their many supporters, which was eventually won by Yorkshire.
Alison Kemp, who was ladies’ captain in 2017, said: “This just means everything to the club.” Jo Woodward, who helped to organise the event, added: “We are absolutely over the moon, this is testament to all the hard work that went into the championship by all the volunteers and staff, we have a great team at Felixstowe Ferry Golf Club.”
The club produced a course in tip-top condition and its army of volunteers included tireless hostesses who looked after the needs of each team. The club overcame a shortage of space for spectators by setting up a refreshment tent – serving Pimm’s in the afternoon - which turned into a tournament hub.
The attention to detail was remarkable, right down to the seaside-themed decorations on each team’s table and the specially produced signage which helped to organise the car park - and even the members’ dogs wore club collars.
The new award was introduced to recognise the contribution of the golf clubs which host England Golf’s 55 championships and tournaments each year, offering competition to 6000 players, ranging from handicap golfers to elite amateurs.
England Golf championship director James Crampton commented: “We couldn’t run our events without the amazing support of our clubs and volunteers. All three of our finalists went above and beyond to make their events outstanding successes and deciding on our winner was extremely difficult.
“Felixstowe Ferry won through because of the scale of their enthusiasm. The club got right behind the event from our very first meeting and the support they gave us was quite exceptional.”
The other finalists for the award were Goswick Golf Club, Northumberland, which hosted the English Senior Men’s County Championship – also won by Yorkshire; and Manchester Golf Club, hosts of the English U14 Boys’ Open Championship for the Reid Trophy, won by the South African Casey Jarvis.
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