59club Asia welcomed the golf industry’s finest golf clubs, teams and individuals to The Eastin Thana City Golf Resort on March 27th, 2024, to honour the leading properties across Southeast Asia for delivering the finest customer experiences during 2023.
An elaborate awards event sponsored by Jebssen & Jessen, TORO, Beyond Green Co., Ltd., Club Car among with many other leading industry brands such as Titleist, Fenix XCel and Fore Event Management. The day included many special activities, such as, golf event,educational seminar, networking, all centered around the prestigious annual Service Excellence Awards Ceremony, the 3rd staging for 59club Asia, and the very first hosted live in Thailand.
59club Asia’s team has also made the Awards Ceremony extra special this year bycollaborating with Golf Channel Thailand HD to air the honourable winners for a broader audience within Thailand through Golf Channel platform, as well as welcoming Mr. SuchatSuwannasri; President of Thai Golf Course Association and Mr. Somchai Suebboonphongfrom board of director within the Thai Golf Course Association to witness, excellence being honoured and personally congratulate the award winners during the Ceremony.
Qualification for these highly-regarded awards remain unbiased, based solely on scores collected through 59club’s impartial mystery shopping programme, which recognises service excellence across all areas of the hospitality business – including management, sales, service, operations, retail, golf course condition, along with food and beverage.
Nikanti Golf Club impressively claimed three of the main service excellence awards, with Kornwat Aiemngamngam winning Food & Beverage Team of the Year, whilst Brad Revillearned Agronomy Team of the Year, and Sukum Phongprateep rounding off the triple crown,being named Golf Operation Team of the Year.
Double celebrations followed for Aquella Golf & Country Club, as they saw Siwaporn Srisajjangretain the Golf Retail team of The Year title for the second consecutive year, and Best Caddy Experience of the Year went to Naratip Srisupab.
Finally, in the main service excellence awards segment, the coveted Golf Manager of the Year title was presented to Chris Geraghty of Vattanac Golf Club.
The evening continued with 59club’s Golf Flag presentation, recognising properties who have achieved the ultimate benchmark of excellence for pairing the very best facilities for members and guests, with the highest customer service offering.
A milestone for golf in Asia, saw 59club present to region’s first ever coveted Gold Flag Destinations. With Aquella Golf & Country Club making history, having soared from Bronze to Gold status in just under 24 months. Vattanac Golf Resort also made great progress moving from Silver to claim Gold Flag status in just under 12 months, with an impressive rise to fame saw Nikanti Golf Club who only joined 59club Asia in 2023, and claimed the coveted Gold Flagduring their very first year of partnering with 59club.
Brian Gibson; General Manager of Aquella Golf and Country Club added; “I am extremelyproud that we won these Awards, jumping from Bronze to Gold is fantastic and my team is beyond proud. Working with 59club has been a good guide for us in terms of customer service and it’s great to measure ourselves against some of the best clubs in the world, we look forward to retaining our Gold Flag in 2024, as our team and Absolute Golf Services continue to set the standards in service in Phuket, Thailand.”
Chris Geraghty, General Manger from Vattanca Golf Resort also said “We are delighted to be receiving the 59club’s Gold Flag and one other Award. These recognitions are testament to the relentless dedication of many stakeholders including our endeared and respected Ownership, Troon, and each and every one of our Associates at Vattanac Golf Resort who are all passionately unified in pursuit of exceeding the expectations of our Guests. Working with 59 Club has empowered us to utilize objective feedback and industry benchmarks to make regular assessments of our performance, and has been a valuable resource for all departments.”
Warissara Sasomsub; Nikanti’s Managing Director said “Nikanti was born from a dream to create an exceptional golf course; delivering a beyond-excellence experience for all golfers; that has always been our dream, mission and goal. Our team try their best every day to make this dream become reality. By receiving these Awards myself and all Nikanti team are very proud, yet we will still continue to work towards our dream & goals.”
Celebrations followed for Riverdale Golf Club and Thana City Country Club both enjoying an uplift; each landing a sought-after Silver Flag Designation, with Bangkok Golf Club earningtheir very first flag designation, straight in at Silver.
Mr. Kiattisak Ketsiri said that he is proud of his team for having made progress and improvements. He also said “I am confident that the future year is bright for both Riverdale Golf Club and Bangkok Golf Club, both park of the MBK Group of companies, as the team hasfully embraced 59club Asia Mystery Shopping Audit, I am proud of what the team has achieved, and I am certain that we will continue to make good progress to achieve more success in 2024”.
In addition to the global honours roll, and to recognise excellence across the region’s most recently affiliated properties - those just starting their journey with 59club Asia during 2023 and not managing to complete the necessary number of audits to qualify for the main service excellence awards - an additional 5 accolades were introduced to showcase the new coming venues for delivering the best one-off service experiences.
Leading the newcomers into the winner’s arena was Laguna Golf Group, who saw their properties claim two titles after Lisna Wati of Laguna Golf Bitan was crowned the Leading Retail Experience 2023, and Stephen Banks of Laguna Lang Co was crowned Leading Golf Operations Team of 2023. Mark Bates of Laguna National Golf Resort Club claimed the Leading Golf Course Presentation 2023. Joining the best newcomers with a double celebration was the team at The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club who impressively saw General Manager Peter Downie claim the Leading Golf Visit Experience 2023 and Peggy Cheung honoured for delivering the Leading Food & Beverage Experience 2023.
59club Asia’s Director of Operations, Araya Singhsuwan said; “This is the first time we have hosted the event live here in Asia, and it was incredible that our clients and industry professionals embraced our event to share in the industry celebrations.
The Customer Service levels in the region are being elevated year-on-year, and it is truly rewarding to witness the clubs affiliated with 59club Asia enjoying the benefits that come with a pioneering customer-centric approach to business. I’m honoured to have been supporting our clients, who all dedicate themselves to providing the absolute best experience for their member and guests’ enjoyment. Personally, it is very rewarding for me to see many that I’ve worked side by side in 2023 stepping up the stage to collect their trophiesand plaques. I am immensely proud and very much look forward to continuing the greatersupport to our partner properties for the next year, as we continue to drive standards in the industry to an all-time high.”
In addition to 59club Asia’s Awards Event, the global Customer Service Management Specialists, have hosted five additional awards ceremonies during 2024 – which started in the UK, before heading off to Europe, USA, MEA, Canada, and most recently Asia, before finishing their seventh awards celebration of the year with 59club Australia & New Zealand later in June – as 59club continue uniting the world of golf & hospitality around their commitment to deliver customer service excellence.
59club Service Excellence Awards 2023
Food & Beverage Team of The Year - Nikanti Golf Club, led by Kornwat Aiemngam
Golf Retail Team of The Year - Aquella Golf & Country Club, led by Siwaporn Srisajjang
Agronomy Team of The Year - Nikanti Golf Club, led by Brad Revill
Golf Operations Team of The Year - Nikanti Golf Club, led by Sukum Phongprateep
Golf Manager of The Year - Vattanac Golf Resort, led by Chris Geraghty
Best Caddy Experience of The Year - Aquella Golf & Country Club, led by Naratip Srisupab
59club Flag Designations
Gold Flag Designation: Aquella Golf & Country Club, Nikanti Golf Club and Vattanac Golf Resort
Silver Flag Designation: Bangkok Golf Club, Riverdale Golf Club and Thana City Country Club
59club's Best Newcomer of 2023
Leading Golf Visit Experience 2023- The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country club led by Peter Downie
Leading Retail Experience 2023- Laguna Golf Bintan led by Lisna Wati
Leading Golf Course Presentation 2023 - Laguna National Golf Resort Club led by Mark Bates
Leading Food & Beverage Experience 2023 - The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country club, with Peggy Cheung