Golf Tourism England launches new website

The new Golf Tourism England website's home page

Thanks to Golf Tourism England’s new state-of-the-art website, English golf should soon be making up for lost time in the golf tourism destination stakes

England’s Celtic cousins to the north, west, and across the Irish Sea have long been in the business of heavily promoting the wonderful variety of golf on offer within their respective borders, but until last year the same couldn’t be said of England, all the more surprising given that it has considerably more courses than Wales, Scotland and Ireland combined.

Formby 16th revised

Golf Tourism England members range from long-established clubs such as Formby...

Golf Tourism England (GTE) was only launched nine months ago to address the issue, and has already become a 100-member alliance of clubs, resorts and hotels who see the huge potential benefit of a co-ordinated marketing body to represent the interests of English golf as a wonderfully varied golf tourism destination. The breadth of the current membership covers long-established private members' clubs such as Formby, Ipswich and Hunstanton, through to modern clubs like Centurion and Chart Hills and hotel resorts such as The Belfry and The Grove.

The Belfry

... through to famous modern-day resorts like The Belfry

That membership figure, along with awareness of the organisation, looks set to expand rapidly with the launch of a new state-of-the-art website to assist anyone looking to find out more about English golf, or book a golfing holiday in England.

GTE, the vision and brainchild of founder and CEO Andrew Cooke, seeks to bring all parties involved in golf tourism in England together for the first time in a determined bid to mirror the success of its Celtic neighbours in recent years. “I am delighted to be in the position to launch our brand new website today, and would like to thank each one of our members who have given their support to the GTE strategy since we launched just nine months ago,” said Cooke. “It serves as affirmation that we are making excellent progress in our bid to set up an association that will have a beneficial effect for all of those involved in the country’s golf tourism industry.

The new website acts a one-stop resource for all would-be golfing visitors to England, with a wealth of information about courses to play, places to stay, travel, recommended restaurants and off-course entertainment. The goal is to provide a valuable tool for potential visitors to find out all they need to know in one place.

Wider English tourism body, Visit England, is fully behind this initiative to promote the appeal of England as a world-class golf destination, with Head of Business Tourism for Visit England, Simon Gidman, commenting: “The establishment of Golf Tourism England’s new website is a hugely important step in its development as the first point of call for local and international visitors thinking of England for their next golf break, and we are delighted to see it come to fruition.” He describes the new website as a “key element in establishing the country in its rightful place as one of the world’s most popular golfing destinations.”

Visitors to the website will be presented with two sections – one for potential visitors, and the other to provide golfing bodies and other interested parties with information on membership and the associated benefits.

The newly launched Golf Tourism England website can be found at www.golftourismengland.com.

Jeremy Ellwood
Contributing Editor

Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly. He is an expert on the Rules of Golf having qualified through an R&A course to become a golf referee. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 91 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified when it comes to assessing and comparing our premier golf courses. He has now played 1,000 golf courses worldwide in 35 countries, from the humblest of nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to the very grandest of international golf resorts. He reached the 1,000 mark on his 60th birthday in October 2023 on Vale do Lobo's Ocean course. Put him on a links course anywhere and he will be blissfully content.

Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf

Jeremy is currently playing...

Driver: Ping G425 LST 10.5˚ (draw setting), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 55 S shaft

3 wood: Srixon ZX, EvenFlow Riptide 6.0 S 50g shaft

Hybrid: Ping G425 17˚, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 80 S shaft

Irons 3- to 8-iron: Ping i525, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Irons 9-iron and PW: Honma TWorld TW747Vx, Nippon NS Pro regular shaft

Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 50˚ and 54˚, 12˚ bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Putter: Kramski HPP 325

Ball: Any premium ball I can find in a charity shop or similar (or out on the course!)