Langland Bay on South Wales’ Gower Peninsula has been racking up the awards from Wales Golf over the past 10 years – now it is the first winner of the Club of the Decade award

SWANSEA’S Langland Bay has received the first Wales Golf Club of the Decade Award – having introduced more than 300 people to play golf regularly amid a host of improvemnts.

The stunning venue on the Gower coast also has had the largest ladies section in Wales for the last five years

It has made large strides in terms of the quality of course, visitor numbers, membership retention and attraction, with steady progress throughout the last 10 years.

Langland Bay has been shortlisted eight times in the last 10 years for the Wales Golf Club of the Year Award, winning in 2013.

The Club of the Decade is a new award for 2020.

“The timing isn’t ideal to receive this under the current circumstances, but while this is an incredibly difficult time that everyone is going through, this is some good news to lift their spirits,” said Andrew Minty, PGA director of golf at Langland Bay.

“It is an honour to win this award. Our staff have worked so hard and consistently over the last 10 years and this shows with the fantastic condition of the course and the service at Langland Bay.

“We have achieved so much over the last 10 years to improve all aspects of not only the course and club, but also the members experience.

“We are looking forward to getting back to normal to celebrate this achievement,” added Minty.

Langland Bay now has award No. 5

APART from the Wales Golf awards, Langland Bay has also won a tourism award, customer service award and a “luxury lifestyle award”.

Langland Bay’s PGA director of golf Andrew Minty Picture by STEVE POPE / SPORTING WALES

Director of Golf Minty was also awarded with the UK Manager of the Year award by the Golf Club Manager’s Association in 2016 – the youngest-ever winner at 34.

Over the last 10 years Langland has introduced – through its New2Golf campaigns alone – more than 300 new golfers.

Langland’S multi-functional membership offers a large number of benefits including fitness classes and discounts – all aiding member-retention.

Langland is one of very few clubs to have a waiting list for membership in the principality, and also increasingly rare in the UK full stop.

It prides itself on great communication with its members on a weekly basis with Langland’s aim to give members an experience – not just a membership.

Langland also has had the largest ladies section of any golf club in Wales for more than five years.

Over the last 10 years visitor number have increased to allow investment in a large number of course improvements, including a new irrigation system and other improvement projects annually.

Also the club’s junior coaching campaigns include going into local schools to teach golf, plus they have also qualified for the R&A Women in Golf Charter.

Representatives of Langland Bay were due to collect the award at the Wales Golf Annual Awards Lunch at Ryder Cup venue Celtic Manor.

But unfortunately the event was postponed because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Langland Bay Golf Club set up on the cliffs of the Gower coastline south of Swansea

Dixon praises club’s high standards

CHIEF executive Richard Dixon praised the high standards Langland Bay has set, with repeated nominations in Wales Golf’s annual awards reflecting the progress it has made over the last 10 years.

Dixon said: “Congratulations to Langland Bay, deserved winners of this new award in recognition of their consistent progress over the last decade.

“The list of achievements is long and growing for Langland Bay, which makes it a very forward-thinking club and one to be enjoyed by all levels of golfer.

“Growing the game of golf and introducing new participants has been one of their fortes.

“It takes quite something to get onto the shortlist for the Club of the Year and Langland Bay has kept coming back year-after-year with further improvements boosting our sport of golf and their club.

“They are a great example of what a club in Wales can achieve with plenty of vision and effort, working closely with the Wales Golf team through schemes such as New2Golf.

“We look forward to making the formal presentation of this well-deserved award at an event later in the year.”

New2Golf membership offers cheaper lessons

GOLF clubs participating in the Wales Golf New2Golf membership scheme offers a number of incentives for beginners who are new to golf – or anyone looking to return to the sport.

Membership costs £5 for adults and is free to anyone under 18.

Vouchers and offers are included the welcome pack for the scheme which is available to all beginner and lapsed golfers wanting to take up the sport.

Members’ benefits include:–

• Fifty per cent off an individual or playing lesson
• Six golf lessons for the price of five
• Bring a friend of family member lesson voucher
• Membership discounts
• Prize draws
• Rules & etiquette poocket reminders

Full terms & conditions can be found by clickinghere.

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Belton Woods Director of Golf Alex Davies

Golf groups looking to book a day out at Belton Woods in the future can do so safe in the knowledge that the resort’s new director of golf boasts extensive knowledge of the organisation of golf events and competitions.

Advanced PGA professional Alex Davies, 34, joins the Lincolnshire resort having gained experience in the running of a number of high-profile events in previous positions, including the British Masters, Wales Open, Wales Senior Open, the Celebrity Cup, the Sir Alex Ferguson Golf Day, and, even, the 2014 NATO Summit.

Davies has previously worked at four-time Ryder Cup venue The Belfry, 2010 Ryder Cup host Celtic Manor Resort, and the prestigious Brocket Hall, in Hertfordshire. His is a CV which demonstrates broad experience of top-quality golf resort management and a wide-ranging understanding of golf operations, membership, club-fitting and customer service.

Davies explained: “I’m delighted to be able to bring some of the experience I’ve gained in more than 10 years at five-star golf resorts to bear on Belton Woods. The resort has an excellent reputation and I will be looking to build upon that, working in tandem with the local community and the other departments within the resort.

“This was an opportunity I was keen to pursue and am delighted to have secured the position. I’m already engaging positively with the members and have been quick to realise the potential of the golf club as well as that of a stay-and-play venue. It’s an exciting time to be director of golf at Belton Woods.”

The resort’s general manager, Ian Peck, added: “It takes just a few minutes in Alex’s presence to realise how passionate he is about golf and in making golf enjoyable for his members and visitors. He also brings invaluable experience in a wide range of processes and skills which will enhance our overall golf operation. We’re delighted to welcome him to the resort.”

Belton Woods – managed by Almarose, one of the UK’s leading independent hotel management companies – features 45 holes of golf over three challenging and picturesque courses, including the Championship Lakes course, formerly home to the oldest PGA tournament in the world: the Midlands PGA Championships. With its long holes, thin fairways and, as the name suggests, plenty of water hazards, this is a challenging course for any golfer.

The picturesque Woodside course has gentle undulating fairways, which makes local knowledge the key to a low score. The course runs alongside many of the wooded areas surrounding the resort and has a number of pot bunkers to catch out the unwary.

www.beltonwoods.co.uk

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