Mirroring golf courses and resorts across the UK, The Grove has seen an influx of guests since reopening its doors after lockdown.

Regularly welcoming over 200 golfers each day throughout the summer season, it proudly covets its position as a premium open-to-all leisure facility, located just minutes from the M25, and 18 miles from central London.

By the nature of its prime location, breadth of facilities and its focus on five-star service, it has become a hotspot for guests seeking an escape from the fast-pace of life surrounding this 300-acre parkland oasis.

Alongside its award-winning 18-hole championship golf course – host venue of the European Tour’s 2016 British Masters, in association with Sky Sports – The Grove has built an enviable reputation among the business community, fuelled by its world-class conference and events facilities.

In addition, The Grove continues to invest heavily in its leisure proposition, expanding facilities that support and complement its contemporary hotel, and its broad customer demographic.

Anna Darnell, director of golf & leisure, commented: “What the last few months have shown us is that our leisure market has rapidly bounced back from nearly four months of lockdown.

“In line with many venues, we have seen some larger corporate bookings move to later in the season, but the leisure business has been robust, bouncing back quite quickly, and this is hugely encouraging for the future, as we continue to invest.”

Whilst training to become a fully qualified PGA professional, Darnell enjoyed seasonal work at Loch Lomond and Riffa Golf Club before accepting a full-time position in Bahrain with Riffa. However, her time in the Middle-East was short-lived, returning to the UK 18-months later, when, after a brief spell with Marriott Hanbury Manor, she joined The Grove in 2005 as an event co-ordinator.

Two years later she assumed the position of head golf professional, and in March 2011 was promoted to director of golf, a role that has since seen her broaden her remit with additional responsibilities in the leisure and food and beverage side of the business.

This has included the management of the hotel reservations team, the development of a detailed children’s activities programme, and on-site crèche.

Her current role as director of golf & leisure includes revenue responsibility across the estate, which has included a full bunker renovation programme on the golf course; a significant extension and reinvention to the much-loved Glasshouse Restaurant; sleek individual makeovers to the luxury lounges in the 18th Century Mansion, and the beginning of a bedroom refurbishment project in the hotel’s modern West Wing.

These investments are fuelling The Grove’s long-term positive outlook, and have provided a platform for the launch of the new Clarendon Collection, a frequent player, dynamic points-based programme that unlocks significant savings across its golf operation, including green fees, tuition, retail and selected food outlets.

It is an evolution of its popular Green Book scheme, but is now managed via its own online portal and app, where customers can use their points from one of two available packages to pre-book golf on the pristine Kyle Phillips-designed parkland course, at preferential rates.

“With all the challenges that businesses and families are facing at the moment, you could argue this is a strange time to launch, but based on what we are seeing every day at The Grove, the timing is perfect,” added Darnell.

The previous Green Book programme (a paper-based voucher scheme) was, essentially, a summer-only initiative and quite challenging to administer, both for the customer and for The Grove. By taking Clarendon Collection ‘digital’ the transformation has been incredible.

Customers now use a flexible points system all-year-round and have greater control of when they wish to play golf, and what savings they can make. The dynamic real-time nature of the portal means customers can choose when they redeem points, with a slightly higher value required to play during peak hours, while off-peak tee times require the use of less points.

“We have no members at The Grove, however this is our way of offering an attractive, pre-purchased package to golfers that frequently play their golf with us. It is also the perfect platform from which customers can plan smaller group golf outings – that may be with clients, colleagues or friends – as up to eight rounds per day can be redeemed by each customer,” added Darnell.

“Because we do not have a traditional membership like many clubs, Clarendon Collection allows us to think differently about how we care for our customers. We have a lot of regulars, so this programme gives them a sense of belonging, and a sense of ‘home’ when they visit,” she added.

Clarendon Collection has also highlighted the rise in the number of nomadic golfers in the South East, who want to experience the best of what golf has to offer, but are not attracted to private clubs where there can be administrative layers to becoming a member, including a significant joining fee in addition to first-year fees.

“We are basically giving the market what it wants with Clarendon Collection… ease of use, complete flexibility, the ability to offer playing points to guests, friends and relatives, top-up points for more golf, and an always-open 24/7 portal and app from which to manage it from,” said Darnell.

As an added incentive, in addition to savings on rack rate green fees, Clarendon Collection account holders also receive significant added value, including money off food and drinks purchased in The Stables and Halfway House; savings on golf tuition, retail and rental items, and a playing lesson and Trackman session with a member of the PGA Golf professional team.

Account holders even have the ability to maintain a handicap at The Grove.

The Grove’s own market research is also showing that while Clarendon Collection is proving incredibly popular for SMEs and individuals, larger companies are also seeing it as an attractive product they can use to entertain their most important customers, 1:1.

“We are seeing a market trend towards larger businesses wishing to communicate with customers in smaller ‘pockets’, and spending four hours of quality time on the golf course with a small group of high value customers – managed via Clarendon Collection – is proving very attractive.

“Of course, our larger corporate golf days will continue to happen, often with a money-raising charity angle, but we are seeing some corporates now evaluating the purpose of their days in more detail, and we are well-positioned to adapt to this evolution in the market,” added Darnell.

So, the old adage that ‘business is done on the golf course’ is still true?

“With the continued uncertainty of a global pandemic that is definitely true,” she adds. “The open green space of a golf course is seen as a relatively safe environment and, since re-opening our facility, we have definitely seen visitors combine the pleasure of 18-holes of golf with a meeting on the fairways,” concluded Darnell.