07
March
2022
JCB Golf & Country Club’s General Manager gives us an inside look at one of the game’s most imaginative new courses... if there’s been a more celebrated new course than JCB Golf & Country Club in the last few years, feel free to reveal it. The combination of exclusivity, stunning design, and excitement from those who’ve had the chance to sample its delights have been intoxicating for the wider golf world. And at the helm of this Staffordshire marvel is General Manager Mark Addison. So what’s it like to run a complex that is a self-confessed marketing exercise for one of the world’s biggest construction companies? How is it run and what is the day-to-day ethos behind a project that has spared no expense to give golfers an extraordinary experience? Mark sat down with us to reveal all... JCB is a truly remarkable project that has captured the imagination of the wider golfing industry. You’ve been there for a considerable part of the journey. Tell us about the genesis of JCB... I joined the project in October 2017. At that point, it had been well underway for at least three or four years. I was at The Belfry previously and was aware of the JCB project and the rumours surrounding the Tour Standard Golf Course and potential vision for the future. JCB have had some previous involvement in sports prior to the Golf project with sponsorship of the Aston Martin F1 team and involvement in The Cheltenham Festival. The Golf & Country Club seemed like a great next step to support the wider JCB business, however possible. It’s no secret that there have been talks of future tour events. I think we have all seen how sporting events and facilities can be used to complement a business strategy with a good example being the John Deere Classic on the PGA Tour. JCB hired Euan Grant (previously at Turnberry and St Andrews Links Trust) as golf course construction manager and commissioned Robin Hiseman, from European Golf Design, to design the course. By the time I joined as Head of Sales and Marketing in late 2017, Euan and Robin were still a big part of the project and the golf course was in the final stages of development prior to our scheduled opening in June 2018. We all understood what the vision was. From a JCB perspective, the property had been created to complement the wider business and help promote the brand to a wider global audience. The company wanted to offer a VIP experience to customers to come and enjoy the facilities - play golf and stay on the property - whilst visiting the global HQ. We also decided upon the business model of a private club with corporate based membership by invitation only – this is still in place today and is testament to the foundations we built back in 2017. It made sense for it to be corporate to complement the global business and link in with... Please LOGIN to read the full article.
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