Two Bedfordshire golf clubs reach finals of prestigious national awards

Two golf clubs in Bedfordshire are up for awards.

Bedfordshire Golf Club is among three nominated for the prestigious Club of the Year award while Colmworth GC has been shortlisted in the Sustainability Project of the Year category.

The former, based in Stagsden, has a vibrant junior section, welcoming golfers of all levels, starting from six-years-old up to 17, with handicaps from one upwards, and individuals playing club competitions and regularly representing the county. The club also hosts a number of schools championships events. It has run Girls Golf Rocks for several years and now run Women on Par.

Meanwhile, Colmworth Golf Club located in rural north Bedfordshire and surrounded by acres of rural habitat, includes sanctuaries dotted around the course.

The club made the move to using organic TurfCare – reducing their use of pesticides and fungicides, while the course drains into its lakes which in turn supplies its irrigation. Its ponds are home to many fish and an array of wildlife including kingfisher.

The club has its own honey bees and sells the honey in its shop, as well as recycled aluminium water bottles with a refill station on the 13th tee.

The awards will be presented at the England Golf Centenary Dinner and Awards evening at in Manchester on February 13. Sky Sports presenter and former golfer Nick Dougherty will be hosting the evening and tickets are available here.

England Golf Chief Executive Jeremy Tomlinson said: “We’re very much looking forward to a wonderful night to celebrate 100 years of England Golf, with a great opportunity to recognise many of the wonderful volunteers in the game.

“Those who have been nominated for an award should be immensely proud of what they have achieved and while it is always a difficult task for our judging panels, we believe we have some excellent finalists and wonderful winners, as such we look forward to welcoming everyone at the Centenary Dinner.”

Nominations were invited from the public for nine of the categories and an expert panel of 38 judges, comprising England Golf staff as well as key industry and media colleagues, have chosen the remaining finalists.