Vale Resort Wins Golf Academy Award

The Vale Resort has won a major national accolade for the high standards and quality of its golf coaching and facilities based at its 650-acre rural setting near Cardiff, South Wales.

 

The Vale Resort takes the number two spot in a new UK-wide listing by the Association of British Travel Agent’s Golf 2012 publication and was highlighted for hosting one of the best junior golf academies in the UK.

 

To secure second place, the Vale was commended for its ‘enviable’ range of academy facilities, including a covered driving range, practice putting areas and short game practice area.

 

Special mention was also made of The Vale Resort’s futuristic swing training set-up which allows video analysis to help correct faults and its specialist fitting centre which aligns individual needs to clubs and equipment anyone may purchase.

 

Known for its investment in the development of young golfing talent, The Vale Resort has placed particular emphasis on developing its junior section with young golfers aged seven upwards given the scope and encouragement to enjoy the game from an early age with specialist activities, advice and golf camps in the summer.

 

A shining example being one of the international golf’s most talked about new young golfers, Rhys Pugh who has been playing at the Vale Resort since he was six years-old.

 

Seventeen year old Welsh golfing prodigy Rhys Pugh was recently picked for the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team as was the youngest member of the squad to face the United States at Royal Aberdeen. Pugh won the Peter McEvoy Trophy and Fairhaven Trophy in 2010 and captained the GB & I Boys team at the Jacques Leglise Trophy. He holds the record as youngest player to represent Wales, an honour he achieved as a 15-year-old in the 2009 Home Internationals.

 

The Vale Resort was named in the top three alongside the Faldo Golf Institute in Hertfordshire and Lincolnshire’s Woodhall Spa first and third respectively.

 

Earlier this year, chosen by a panel of experts, over renowned Ryder Cup host The Belfry, the Vale Resort picked up the accolade at the inaugural 59 Club Awards Dinner, established to recognise excellence in golf.

 

The Vale Resort in Wales was recognised as the ‘UK’s Most Enjoyable Golf Course’ beating off competition from over 50 courses in the UK.

 

Golf Operations Manager at the Vale Resort Clive Coombs said: “We are very pleased to have won this latest recognition for Golf at the Vale Resort. To benchmark ourselves against some the best quality golf operations in the UK is something we are focused on and to have won an independent stamp of approval from ABTA is another important achievement in our progression as a golf business.

 

“We have assembled a high level of coaching expertise in our team and we place a strong focus on our investment in our Academy and junior golf – to see the achievements of many of our young golfers is something we are all very motivated by and proud of being part of.

 

“We have invested in golf technology and facilities to support and encourage golfers of all abilities and give them the very best advice on offer backed up by the latest computer analysis so they can improve their techniques and build on their game but in an enjoyable and flexible way that suits each individuals’ needs.

 

The Vale’s Wales National course, which has hosted a number of European Challenge Tour events, offers a mixture of mature wooded areas, wide and narrow fairways and vast areas of water features. This is all set within 650 acres of beautiful Welsh countryside, boasting an abundance of wildlife. 

 

The Wales National opened in 2003 and is one of the longest champion golf courses outside America at 7,433 yards off the championship tees. Water comes into play on a number of holes and greens are also constructed to USGA standard. The Wales National’s 2nd hole is the longest par 5 in Wales.

 

The other, par 72, Lake course is dominated by a 20-acre lake and has water coming into play on 12 of its holes. Its 8th hole looks down over the largest heronry in Wales. Its unique signature hole, The Island Green (12th), has been ranked as one of the UK’s top golf holes.

 

Clive Coombs leads a team of four top golf professionals, all fully qualified members of the PGA with over fifty years of professional golfing experience between them. The team is renowned for its friendly approach to beginners or newcomers as well as to their challenging tutorials for more competitive golfers.

 

ABTA has been at the heart of travel and tourism for more than 60 years. The ABTA brand stands for expertise, reliability and fairness which are core qualities to the organisation and seeks to raise standards and set benchmarks in the travel and tourism industry in the UK.