England Golf Awards 2023 -the winners take their bow

The unsung heroes and the champions of English amateur golf were last night honoured at the 2023 England Golf Awards sponsored by FootJoy.

Broadcaster and presenter Clare Balding hosted the event with 400 invited guests in attendance at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate, as the event was hosted in-person for the first time in four years.

The awards are designed to recognise and reward individuals, teams, clubs and counties who have shone in the past year and made a positive contribution to the amateur game in this country.

There were 11 category winners announced each with their own special tale to tell.

In nine of the 11 categories, nominations were made by the public and a panel of 39 judges comprising experts from the golf industry, the media and England Golf staff had the unenviable task of picking one winner in each section.

The nominees for the Tournament Venue of the Year and Performance of the Year category were put forward and then judged by staff in the England Golf championships and performance departments respectively.

Each category winner receives an engraved glass trophy – supplied by Burridge London – to mark their achievement.

To find out more about each category winner, simply click on the links below.

· County of the Year (sponsored by Marsh Sport) – Bedfordshire

· Participation and Development Coach of the Year – Mike Dodd (Sturminster Marshall GC, Dorset)

· Performance of the Year (sponsored by Performance 54) – Dylan Shaw-Radford (Huddersfield GC, Yorkshire)

· Tournament Venue of the Year – Sherwood Forest GC (Nottinghamshire)

· Volunteer of the Year – Sonia McCarthy and Kirsty Joly (Sandown Park GC, Surrey)

· Women and Girls’ Trailblazer (sponsored by Your Golf Travel) – Girl Guiding Project (Hertfordshire)

· Young Volunteer of the Year (supported by the Golf Foundation) – Emily Horsted (Woodhall Spa GC, Lincolnshire)

· Lifetime Service Award (sponsored by Global Golf Post) – David Phillips (Saltford GC, Somerset)

England Golf CEO, Jeremy Tomlinson, said: "It has been an honour and privilege to welcome everyone to the Hilton Manchester Deansgate to celebrate the exceptional contributions of so many wonderful people to golf in England.

"We received some fantastic nominations for clubs, volunteers and individuals across the country and we'd like to congratulate all of our finalists, and of course, our winners.

"I would also like to extend my thanks to our wonderful host Clare Balding, whose warmth and enthusiasm radiated throughout the evening." 

Speaking after the event, Clare Balding said: "As a passionate golfer and someone who loves to play regularly, it was an absolute dream for me to host the England Golf Awards 2023.

"I had such a fantastic time hosting and huge congratulations to all our finalists and our winners. They are truly the people who make the game so enjoyable for players up and down the country."

We are dedicated to growing the game of golf in England. As one of the country’s largest sport governing bodies, we look after the interests of around 1,800 golf clubs and 737,000 golf club members. Golf is our passion. We develop and nurture the game by:

Promoting golf as an open, welcoming, inclusive and fun sport for everyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or ability

Inspiring new golfers with our innovative campaigns

Encouraging new golfers to value the benefits of club membership

Working with partners to offer business support to clubs

Staging top-class championships and competitions for all ages and abilities

Coaching national squad players to follow in the footsteps of past graduates including Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Georgia Hall and Bronte Law.

FootJoy - FootJoy delivers a versatile selection of performance golf shoes, gloves, & clothing for men, women, & kids. Shop the best performance gear in golf today!

Citation - Citation take away the headache and hassle of ticking off your must-have Health & Safety and HR compliance obligations and tracking the latest legislation changes, so you can get back to work. Oh, and they’ll help you achieve best-practice standards at the same time. Time to take your business where you want it to go.

DotGolf - Established in New Zealand and part of the golfing landscape ‘down under’ for over 20 years, DotGolf now also serves the members, clubs, counties and regions across all the Unions of Great Britain and Ireland from our UK office, and is proud to be the principal digital supplier to England Golf.

Golf Foundation - The Golf Foundation is a registered charity that introduces children to golf, from all backgrounds, creating golfers. We do this because we know that golf can change lives.

Marsh Sport - Marsh is the world’s leading insurance broker and risk adviser. With over 40,000 colleagues operating in more than 130 countries, Marsh serves commercial and individual clients with data driven risk solutions and advisory services.

OCEANTEE - OCEANTEE is on a mission to drive positive change in golf by bringing sustainability to the forefront of the game. They utilise, showcase and support pioneering sustainable materials and processes to create high quality golf products that are good for players and good for the planet.

Performance54 - Performance54 (P54) is a global golf marketing, events and consultancy business which delivers value to stakeholders in sport. P54 is part of the Performance54 Group, which also includes event activation specialists, RedDoor54, and sport marketing experts, Sport54.

Your Golf Travel - Your Golf Travel is the World’s largest golf travel business, offering golf breaks and golf holidays to over 3,500 destinations in 24 countries throughout the UK, Ireland, Europe and the Rest of the World.

Burridge's - The Burridge name has become internationally recognised as a major International resource for golf prizes (The pioneer and original supplier of golf prizes), horse racing mementos, motorsport awards, engravable glass & crystal, silver, corporate, promotional and incentive gifts, sports trophies and long service awards.

Players 1st - Players 1st is the leading player experience platform designed to help your club retain and recruit players. We want to empower your organisation – from greenkeeper to front desk.

Titleist - Titleist, Golf’s Symbol of Excellence, is the game's leading performance equipment brand, having earned the overwhelming trust of tour professionals, club professionals, competitive amateurs and dedicated golfers worldwide..

Ashley Lambell, Digital Communications Manager

Tel: 07522 224683

Email: pr@englandgolf.org