Recognising Australia’s Leading Clubs & Resorts in Service Excellence
On Monday,5th May 2025 – 59club Australia & New Zealand held its second Service Excellence Awards at the QT Hotel in the heart of the Sydney CBD. We had the privilege of recognising the very best Venues, Teams, and Individuals for their dedication to customer service excellence during an intimate lunch awards ceremony.
59club’s industry accolades are determined by scores collected from their impartial mystery shopping audits, which evaluates the experience afforded to patrons all in accordance with 59club’s objective benchmarking criteria.
During the awards ceremony, five awards were presented to the Individuals, Managers and Teams responsible for delivering the very best one-off experience across Australia. These awards recognised Retail Experience, F&B Experience, Golf Operations Team, Golf Visitor Experience over $120 Green Fee and Golf Visitor Experience Under $120 Green Fee.
A further five main award titles collectively recognised 59club Australia & New Zealand’s finest Customer Service Providers for maintaining elite levels of service excellence throughout 2024 and 2025, before the presentation of 59club’s iconic Flag designations took centre stage, of which five were awarded.
“It was an honour to celebrate the remarkable achievements of the venues and individuals who have partnered with 59club Australia & New Zealand over the past year. By committing to rigorous measurement of their customer journeys and team interactions, these venues have not only elevated their service standards but have also set a new benchmark for excellence in the golf industry. Their dedication to enhancing customer experiences, driving revenue growth, and fostering brand loyalty is truly inspiring. To all nominees and winners, your passion and hard work shine brightly, and it’s a privilege to recognise your contributions to shaping a stronger future for our industry.
“A special thank you to our valued partners, Golf Genius, Turtleson, Pacesetter and Global Talent Solutions, for their unwavering support as we continue this journey together, already looking ahead to an even brighter 2026 awards celebration.”
Sam Hughes – General Manager -59club Australia & New Zealand
Links Golf & Wellbeing and The Lakes Golf Club emerged as the big winners of the night, both securing accolades in a total of three awards each, along with earning the coveted title of Gold Flag Designation.
The Lakes Golf Club are now our first venue to go from Silver Flag to Gold Flag which is a great achievement as they continually look at ways to improve the customer jounrye. They also took home, Food & Beverage Manager of the Year with Jade Henderson now the first back-to-back winner in any category, along with Leading Individual Food & Beverage Experience and Superintendent of the year (over $120).
Links Golf & Wellbeing also received a Gold Flag Designation and are now the second venue in Australia to earn one in their first year. They also won the highly competitive Golf Operations Team of the Year, along with Leading Individual Golf Visitor Experience (over $120) and Leading Individual Golf Operations Team of the Year.
Glenelg Golf Club and Sandhurst Club both retained their Silver Flag Designation and respectively were nominated for several awards.
Noosa Springs Resort joins 13th Beach Golf Links as a Bronze Flag Designation venue in their first year and were nominated for Golf Operations Team of the Year and Leading Individual Golf Visitor Experience (Over $120)
As is tradition across all the 59club franchises around the globe, the ceremony culminated with the presentation of 59club’s Gold, Silver & Bronze Flag Designations – The ultimate recognition for clubs & resorts who strive to deliver the best facilities and service offering to their Members and Guests. The full list of winners can be found here.
59CLUB Australia & New Zealand FLAG DESIGNATIONS
(in alphabetical order):
BRONZE FLAG DESIGNATION: 13th Beach Golf Links, Noosa Springs Resort
SILVER FLAG DESIGNATION: Glenelg Golf Club, Sandhurst Club
GOLD FLAG DESIGNATION: Links Golf & Wellbeing, The Lakes Golf Club, New South Wales Golf Club
59CLUB Australia & New Zealand ‘SERVICE EXCELLENCE’ AWARD WINNERS (in alphabetical order):
Food & Beverage Manager of the Year: Jade Henderson, The Lakes Golf Club
Retail Manager of the Year: Jarrod Love, Coolangatta & Tweed Heads Golf Club
Superintendent of the Year (under $120 green fee): Kurt Schulenburg, Long Reef Golf Club
Superintendent of the Year (over $120 green fee): Anthony Mills, The Lakes Golf Club
Golf Operations Team of the Year: Links Golf & Wellbeing
59club Leading Individual Experience Award (in alphabetical order):
Leading Individual Food & Beverage Experience:
The Lakes Golf Club
Leading Individual Retail Experience:
Oatlands Golf Club
Leading Individual Golf Operations Team:
Links Golf & Wellbeing
Leading Individual Golf Visitor Experience (under $120 green fee):
Minnippi Golf & Range
Leading Individual Golf Visitor Experience (over $120 green fee):
Links Golf & Wellbeing
