PRESS RELEASES - 27th October 2017
Stars of Scotland’s golf industry celebrate at the 2017 Scottish Golf Tourism Awards
Luxury five-star hotel, spa and golf resort Gleneagles took the top prize of Best Experience at the fourth annual Scottish Golf Tourism Awards.
The 2017 Scottish Golf Tourism Awards Gala Dinner was attended by more than 350 guests from across the Scottish golf scene at the Trump Turnberry resort on Thursday October 26th 2017.
The glittering event, hosted by renowned Scottish golf broadcaster Dougie Donnelly, was the culmination of the second annual Scottish Golf Tourism Week organised by PSP Media Group and supported by VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise.
There were 14 awards in total, chosen by voters from across the industry.
The Old Loans Inn, a four-star boutique hotel near Troon, was awarded as the Best Hotel Under 20 Rooms. The four-star luxury Gailes Hotel in Irvine won the Best Hotel 21-50 Rooms award while Gleneagles scored again, winning in the Best Hotels Over 50 Rooms category.
Kingsbarns Golf Links in St Andrews, which was winner of the Best Experience award last year, won the Best Customer Service award last night.
Gleneagles’ completed a treble at the event, also winning an award for the Best Pro Shop.
Blairgowrie Golf Club in Perthshire took the prize for Best Clubhouse, while The Carrick on Loch Lomond was awarded for Best Catering.
There were three prizes for courses that offered Value for Money. Fortrose and Rosemarkie Golf Club on the Black Isle peninsula won in the under £50 category, the Dukes Course in St Andrews won in the £50-£100 group and Castle Stuart Golf Links was deemed best value in the over £100 award.
Strathmore Golf Centre near Perth won the award for Best Course Under £50. The championship Dundonald Links Golf Course in Ayrshire, which played host to the men’s and women’s 2017 Scottish Opens, took the prize for Best Course £50-£100. The Trump Turnberry Ailsa course, which was redesigned last year to great acclaim, was chosen as the Best Course over £100.
The Special Recognition Award for Services to Golf Tourism in Scotland was awarded to Fraser Cromarty, chief executive of Nairn Golf Club, who was credited as been instrumental in showcasing the Highlands as a first-rate golf destination.
Scottish Golf Tourism Week, which attracted more than 70 leading buyers from 39 countries to experience a range of Scottish golf assets, comes as the industry has set out ambitions to grow the value of the golf tourism in Scotland from £286m in 2016 to £300m by 2020.
Tom Lovering, director of Scottish Golf Tourism Week, said: “Massive congratulations to Gleneagles which has proved the value of its consistent investment and care of its facilities to win three awards this year, including the 2017 Scottish Golf Tourism Awards Best Experience. All the winners tonight are highly worthy of their accolades. I extend my congratulations to all as well as the 80 businesses who took part in Scottish Golf Tourism Week. It was a huge success, showcasing Scotland as one of the world’s leading golfing destinations.”
Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotland, said: “I’m delighted to see award winners from right across the country, which goes to underline the outstanding strength in depth of the Scottish golf tourism product. All of the award winners deserve huge congratulations on their success, as do all of the businesses who have taken part in Scottish Golf Tourism Week in 2017. With golf tourism playing a vital part of Scotland’s visitor economy it is vital that our tourism businesses continue to strive to deliver excellent customer service and keep these visitors coming back to Scotland, the Home of Golf, year after year.”