Award-winning Shifnal Golf Club are grateful to their volunteers

The club were named the England Golf tournament venue of the year at England Golf’s centenary dinner and awards at The Midland Manchester Hotel.

It hosted the English Girls’ Under-16/Under-14 Championship in August, and was recognised by the country’s national governing body for its efforts.

Frank Gardner, match director at Shifnal, said: “It’s a culmination of three years of hard work from the point of being awarded with the tournament to the time we hosted it.

“We’ve achieved a lot over the past 12 months with a good turnover of staff showing great improvement of the course and an enhanced reputation as a result of hosting this tournament and we’ve brought the club together.

“We’ll probably have a party! We had 60 volunteers who worked their socks off for this tournament.

“It was their efforts and without them it wouldn’t have been the success that it was, so it’s them that we need to thank.”

During the championship, the course was in immaculate condition for the competition with extra green staff having come to help ahead of the event, while four course managers, three from other clubs, were in attendance too.

The club was faced with an emergency 999 situation but handled it brilliantly at the event, while they also urgently and expertly dealt with another instance of adversity when the septic tanks were blocked.

Shifnal erected a temporary marquee, with temporary furniture at the back of the clubhouse, to accommodate the influx of people to their limited clubhouse space.

A hut at the 10th tee is not a serviced hut, but they ensured it was operated by volunteers selling drinks and snacks while there was an additional tea and coffee station set up next to the practice putting green for people to grab and go.

Furthermore, the club made their own high-visibility vests and their own lanyards to identify members as an official volunteer. Steve Hawke, volunteer co-ordinator, added: “It means a great deal because it was a club effort.

“Sixty volunteers spread across a range of activities and tasks, with people keen to be involved, do the right thing and show our club at its best.

“Volunteers by their nature just get on with it and don’t necessarily want a great deal of recognition or accolade, so to be able to recognise people’s efforts with an event like this is exceedingly worthwhile.

“It ran seamlessly, the course was in great condition and our course manager has transformed our course – a new young pro has generated energy and enthusiasm into the golf club and we see ourselves as the premier venue within our county.

“We attract a lot of very good golfers and we want to build on that incrementally.

“2029 is going to be our centenary year, so we are thinking about options to host something in line with that.”