Lancashire Golf Limited was named County of the Year at Wednesday’s England Golf Awards, hosted by Mark Chapman at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate.
The county received the award in recognition of its outstanding commitment to growing and modernising county golf.
Award-Winning Strategy: Unification & Club Focus
2024 marked a historic milestone for Lancashire, with the unification of the Lancashire Union of Golf Clubs and the Lancashire Ladies County Golf Association to form Lancashire Golf Limited.
This landmark move has created a more inclusive and forward-thinking structure, setting the benchmark for other counties to follow.
Demonstrating its commitment to club engagement, Lancashire carried out a county-wide survey to understand what clubs needed most.
The results have shaped its strategy, leading to targeted club seminars on key topics such as membership recruitment and retention, management, and sustainability – ensuring real, lasting benefits for clubs across the county.
Lancashire has also launched manager networking groups, bringing together groups of 8-10 club managers to share best practices, discuss challenges, and strengthen county-wide collaboration.
This initiative is already helping to build stronger connections between clubs and enhance collective problem-solving.
Driving Growth: New Golfers & Higher Standards
In a pioneering move, Lancashire has also partnered with Southport Golf Academy to create a structured pathway for new golfers, aiming to introduce 800 adults and a similar number of juniors to the game.
A key element of this initiative is linking new players with local clubs, including Southport Old Links, Southport Golf Club, and Hesketh Golf Club, to create a seamless transition into club membership.
Lancashire has also reviewed and enhanced its coaching programmes, ensuring a unified and aligned structure for boys and girls across the county.
Meanwhile, its Course Rating team has achieved yet another major milestone, with 95 courses across Lancashire now being officially rated for both men and women from both the red and yellow tees, including two Open Championship venues.
CEO on Lancashire’s Golfing Future
Accepting the award, Stuart Leech, Chief Executive Officer from Lancashire Golf Limited said: “We’re delighted, and obviously proud to have won this award, as a lot of hard work from a considerable amount of people, including volunteers, has made this happen.
“It’s been quite significant bringing two organisations together – the Men’s Union and the Ladies’ Association – but we’re delighted to do so in what was considered a very short timeframe.
“We’re very keen to promote golf for men and women throughout the county and growing the game of golf within Lancashire. We’re the biggest county to have unified so far within the country and we’ve got over 140 clubs, so it’s very significant.
“We hope that we can set the example for others to follow. There’s a lot of benefits from unification. It is a process that needs to be carefully considered, but there are a lot of things that go as benefits in bringing everything together and ultimately we need to look at things that are going to help the game of golf overall.
“It’s our job as custodians of the game to make sure that golf is in better shape for those that take over from us and move into the future. If we can make sure that all counties and golf as a game is as integrated as possible, then that’s only going to put the game in good shape.
“The work doesn’t stop here. We’ve got a long way to go and we will continue to press on.”
