East Devon sport is celebrating a milestone achievement following the announcement that Honiton GC has been named Golf Club of the Year (under £1 million turnover) at the National Club awards hosted by John Inverdale.

Honiton were selected from a shortlist of six National Golf Clubs, and the award was presented by former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton.

The club submitted an entry in August and were informed in October that they had been shortlisted for 3 categories: Best New initiative; Best Caterer and Best Club (with a turnover of less than £1million).

Devon Greenslade, Club Manager, explained: “We submitted the entry based on the work that was undertaken by our Ladies Section, who in March, achieved the England Golf Women in Golf Charter which was the catalyst for the initiatives that were then launched, starting with our England Golf Women on Par ‘Gin and Swing’ event in April.

“The aim was to encourage women to take up golf and understand more about the game this was the springboard for them to attend our Golf Access Programme, which commenced in May and saw a number of women attend a 10-week programme, hosted by our Club Professional, Adrian Cave and volunteers from the club.  

“We recognised early on that we needed to create an Academy Pathway to support these new golfers and at the end of the Golf Access programme we saw around 50% join the club as Academy Members.”

Jayne Jackson, Lady Captain, added: “When Honiton Golf Club was announced, we could not believe it, we were in shock!  To have won a National Award on this scale is something that we could not believe was possible. 

“When I took on the Captaincy in January 2023, I wanted to encourage more women to get into golf and grow our Ladies Section as, like many golf clubs, we have a high age demographic. Our hard work has paid off and I am immensely proud of what our team has achieved.”

Paul Hill, Club President, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won this award, I want to thank those that were involved, our staff and volunteers for their hard work and dedication to the club, it has been a phenomenal year.”