Nominees unveiled for golf industry oscars

Nominees for this year’s golf industry awards have been announced by Golf Tourism Scotland , the industry’s national trade body. The annual GTS Gold Standard Awards celebrate the very best in Scottish golf tourism by recognising leading transport and golf tour operators, golf secretariats, caddiemasters and accommodation providers, as well as naming the year’s top golf course.

With 11 awards up for grabs, the GTS Gold Standard Awards gala dinner has become one of the golf industry’s most eagerly awaited annual events. The recipients of the Special Achievement Award and the acclaimed Young Industry Person Award will also be named.

Spela Golf at the 2009 Awards

“There is always a great deal of anticipation in the run-up to the Gold Standards Awards,” commented Lee Derrick, chairman of GTS. “We receive nominations from every sector of Scotland ’s golf tourism industry, which demonstrates some of the fantastic work done this year across the country. By the time the winners are announced at the dinner, the sense of expectation in the room is palpable, and that makes for a wonderful night. I think this year’s awards will be one to relish because of the range of entrants that have been nominated for the awards.”

With three categories sporting over 10 hopefuls and a total of 82 nominees vying for the 11 coveted awards, the GTS Gold Standards Awards evening will be once again hotly contested by the leading golf tourism businesses. As before, GTS members have been able to nominate the contenders and are able to cast their votes online. As a result, the GTS Gold Standard Awards are the only Scottish golf industry honours to be nominated by, and voted for by the industry itself.

And the nominees are…

GOLF COURSE OF THE YEAR. Nominations for this category were open to any golf course in Scotland that offers tee-times to visitors. And the nominees are:

Balcomie Links (Crail), Carnoustie Championship,
Castle Stuart Golf Links, Gullane No 2, Kingsbarns Golf Links, Machrihanish Dunes, New Course (St Andrews), North Berwick West Links, Pitlochry, Old Course (St Andrews), Torrance Course (Fairmont St Andrews), Turnberry Ailsa and Western Gailes.

GOLF SECRETARIAT OF THE YEAR. Nominations for this category were open to any golf club/course whose administration provides a service to visitors and/or the travel trade. And the nominees are:

Brora Golf Club, Carnoustie Golf Links, Crail Golfing Society, Gullane Golf Club, Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (Muirfield), Kingsbarns Golf Links, North Berwick Golf Club, Prestwick Golf Club, Royal Dornoch Golf Club and St Andrews Links Trust.

CADDIEMASTER OF THE YEAR. Nominations for this category were open to any caddiemaster providing a service to visitors and/or the travel trade. And the nominees are:

Sam Fox (North Berwick Golf Club), Malcolm Gibson (North Berwick Golf Club), Davie Gilchrist (Kingsbarns Golf Links), Kenny McLeod (Fairmont St Andrews), Doreen Mayes (Crail Golfing Society), Martin Roy (Carnoustie Golf Links) and Robert Thorpe (St Andrews Links Trust).

HOTEL OF THE YEAR (Small hotel/guest house category). Nominations for this category were open to accommodation providers with 20 or fewer bedrooms that provide services to golf visitors. And the nominees are:

Aslar Guest House (St Andrews), Dunvegan Hotel (St Andrews), Glenderran Guest House (St Andrews), Glenmorangie House (Tain), Greyfriars Hotel (St Andrews), Hazelbank Hotel (St Andrews), Highgrove House (Troon), North Berwick Golf Lodge, No 12 Quality Street (North Berwick), Rocpool Reserve (Inverness), Old Loans Inn (Troon), Sandown Guest House (Nairn) and Ugadale Cottages (Machrihanish).

HOTEL OF THE YEAR (Country house hotel category). Nominations for this category were open to hotels and exclusive-use properties operating in rural areas that provide services to golf visitors. And the nominees are:

Culloden House Hotel (Inverness), Fenton Tower (East Lothian), Greywalls Hotel (Gullane), Inn at Lathones (St Andrews), Lochgreen House (Troon), Meldrum House Hotel (Oldmeldrum), Rufflets Country House Hotel (St Andrews) and Udny Arms Hotel (Newburgh).

HOTEL OF THE YEAR (Large hotel category). Nominations for this category were open to hotels with more than 20 bedrooms which provide services to golf visitors. And the nominees are:

Kingsmill Hotel (Inverness), Macdonald Marine Hotel & Spa (North Berwick), Macdonald Rusacks Hotel (St Andrews), Marcliffe Hotel & Spa (Aberdeen), Royal Golf Hotel (Dornoch) and St Andrews Golf Hotel.

HOTEL OF THE YEAR (Resort hotel category). Nominations for this category were open to resort hotels with golf course(s) attached. And the nominees are:

Fairmont St Andrews, Gleneagles Hotel, Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa (St Andrews) and Turnberry Resort.

GOLF TOUR OPERATOR OF THE YEAR. Nominations for this category were open to any tour operator bringing golfers to Scotland . And the nominees are:

Adventures In Golf, Executive Golf & Leisure, Haversham & Baker, Hidden Links, Golf Scotland , Golfers Scotland , Grasshopper Golf, Links Golf St Andrews, Morton Golf Holidays, PerryGolf, Pioneer Golf, Spela-Golf.com and Travelling the Fairways.

TRANSPORT OPERATOR OF THE YEAR. Nominations for this category were open to any business providing transport services in Scotland including rail, road, air and sea. And the nominees are:

Charlton Chauffeur Drive, Executive Travel Company, George Malcolm, McLaren Travel, Mac-Mur Tours,
St Andrews Executive Travel, West Coast Motors (Kintyre Express) and Woods Coaches