New golf course a soaring success
The new ‘Twenty Sixteen’ golf course at Exeter Golf and Country Club is officially a soaring success with the men’s golf section close to being full.
With less than 15 men’s golf memberships now available, the club is bucking the trend with its thriving golf section. The new golf course combined with the arrival of new Head Golf Professional, Darren Everett and his team, has attracted golfers from across the region. Darren is now set to launch a state-of-the-art golf simulator to revolutionise all-weather, year-round golf, coaching and fitting in the region. All this in the year that Exeter Golf and Country Club celebrates 121 years as a golf club.
The club attribute this success to a combination of the highly acclaimed new golf course layout, the well-drained course which is playable for most of the year – a rarity for a parkland course, innovative and forward-thinking strategy along with the improvements implemented by Darren Everett and his team.
As well as experienced golfers joining the club throughout the summer season, the club has also welcomed many new golfers learning the sport. Working in partnership with England Golf for their ‘Get Into Golf’ programme, Darren and the team have welcomed over 80 beginner golfers, 60% of whom have become Academy Members, plus over 60 children in their Junior Golf Academy. The club was also selected by England Golf as an ambassador for women’s golf and chosen to offer the Girls Golf promotion whereby girls aged between 14 and 24 enjoyed free golf lessons this summer.
As a member-owned club, the capacity of the golf course has been set by the golf committee and management at a level allowing generous play for club golfers. The club recognises that achieving a good balance between tee time availability and member numbers is vital for the future of the club. Golf Manager, Ben Martin believes the management of this with a full calendar of competitions and social events is at the heart of the success for Exeter Golf and Country Club. He explains that the introduction of golf buggies made the golf course more accessible. The feedback received from all of the club’s opens, county and member run events has cemented Exeter Golf and Country Clubs position as a must play course all year round.
Chris Jones, General Manager, said, “I am proud to say our men’s golf membership is almost full. To ensure our members enjoy value from their membership, we have a cut off point for the number of members we can accommodate. We are delighted that we are almost at that point. At a time when many golf courses are struggling to fill tee times, we are amongst the lucky ones who continue to attract new golfers while maintaining our life-long loyal players, who we very much appreciate. We have had compliment after compliment about the new golf course and this has certainly helped boost our numbers. Achieving this optimum number of golf members ensures ongoing investment and a bright future for the golf course.”
Darren Everett’s arrival at Exeter Golf and Country Club has been a huge success. His transformation of the Pro Shop has been welcomed by members and visiting golfers alike, offering the latest trends in golf, an expert fitting service plus personal and efficient service and coaching. Darren is about to open a new golf studio to revolutionise indoor golf and coaching in the region. The new, top-of-the-range golf simulator will be the only fully enclosed, complete studio in the area. As well as state-of-the-art golf fitting for six major golf brands and coaching, the GC2 launch monitor and simulator allows total all-weather golf for players on six top international golf courses including Hazletyne, the location for the Ryder Cup on 1st October.
Chris continues, “They say, if you’ve got it, ‘flaunt it’. We have invested in promoting the new golf course with a combination of photography and film, culminating this month with some inspirational images of Exeter Chiefs and England rugby star, Henry Slade who plays here at the club.”
Exeter Golf and Country Club documented the transformation of the golf course during 2015 and 2016 with a series of drone films created by Skyflicks Media. The club has also employed the expertise of a leading UK golf course photographer John Mundy, International Food Photographer of the Year 2015 David Griffin, Devon-based lifestyle photographer Matt Austin and videographer Andy Green to portray the golf course and other club facilities including the indoor and outdoor pools, gym, fitness classes, tennis and squash courts, restaurant and spa, ready for the new website set to launch later this year.
The club is now focusing on encouraging more women to play golf. There is a complimentary Ladies Golf Coffee Morning on 6th October from 10am with a putting clinic, 8 holes of golf, scones and tea, hosted by Exeter Golf and Country Club and Darren Everett. To book please contact Darren via proshop@exetergcc.co.uk or www.exetergcc.co.uk – limited availability.
