The Social Golfer wins GOLD Award at Essex Digital Awards…

Despite stiff competition, The Social Golfer competed with websites from across all genres and won the Gold Award accolade in the SPORT & ENTERTAINMENT category!!

It was a balmy spring evening at Colchester United Football Stadium, where the great and the good from Media and Marketing throughout Essex and the South East gathered for an evening of entertainment and networking.

What are the Essex Digital Awards?

Now in their second year, the Essex Digital Awards(EDAs) look to reward innovation and progressive thinking by businesses across the county.

Previous winners span several industries and range from individuals to national companies, but all have at the core of their entry a desire to use digital media as a means to achieve greater things for their business.

The EDA’s are backed by a range of Essex-based companies including Volvo Colchester, Freelance SEO Essex, Essex Chambers of Commerce, and Northcliffe Newspapers’, Essex Chronicle.

What is The Social Golfer?

Since its official launch in 2010, the community-focused website (run by Essex-based Marketing Consultant – Ian Mullins) has firmly established itself as one of the most used golfing websites in the southeast and the UK.

The fast-growing online golfing community is a place where you can make new friends, join local golf games, run local golf societies and local golf groups, join in chat and forum discussions, track your scores, establish a Handicap (using both UK calculation and USGA calculation formats) and study your progress using our unique game analysis tools.

You can also download your own official TSG Handicap Certificate (UK or USGA).

The Social Golfer handicap system allows you to track your golf handicap after every game and lets you compare your golf stats with your golfing friends/buddies/mates and compete in our monthly TSG league table.

You can also upload your golfing photographs, share golf videos and catch up on BBC Golf News feeds for free and take advantage of our member green fee offers.

In addition, TheSocialGolfer.com lets you locate, read, review, and rate over 25,000 local and worldwide golf courses and gather golf club information free of charge; such as green fees, scorecard details, Google maps, and contact numbers!

The site currently has over 4,500 registered users in the UK and 8,500+ worldwide.

What Did The Social Golfer win the Gold Award?

The site has grown steadily over the five years since its official launch and reached its first million hits within a calendar year in 2014…

  • Awarded Microsoft Bizspark ‘Start-up of the day’ in 2010
  • The site was in profit in its second year and now has ambitions to become the biggest golf club in the UK even though it doesn’t own a golf course
  • The site is currently generating approx. 80-100k page impressions a month and continues to grow with 32% of site traffic coming from new visitors
  • It has over 1600+ Twitter followers and the Facebook page has 450+ Likes
  • The site’s Twitter page is among the Top25 influencers for golf on Twitter
  • In 2014, the site moved approx 900,000 places in the global ranking from the 1.8 millionth most visited websites to 900,278.

In addition, its UK ranking has moved from 129,824 in Dec 2013 to 42,581 in Dec 2014

The Social Golfer wins Gold Award….how?

In this five-year period, the TSG team has also established partnerships with many major local, national, and international brands including:

London and Manchester Golf Shows, GolfPunk Magazine, Alamo Car Hire, Online Tee Times, Trophies&Medals.com, and over 22 clubs in Essex and the surrounding counties including; Woolston Manor GC, Warley Park GC, and South Essex GC

In March 2014, the site was short-listed to be an official England Golf partner.

In the summer of 2014, the site launched its first – above the line – marketing campaign on talkSPORT (London) and talkSPORT.com Ian himself has written articles and featured in Essex Golfer Magazine and on local Essex Radio promoting golf as a sport and the website.

The team also recently agreed on a deal with Group M (The largest advertising agency network in the world owned by Sir Martin Sorrell) to supply advertising inventory to their clients which include Direct Line, RBS, and Sony in 2015.

Global Advertisers that have supported the site to date include Emirates, BA, AMEX, Nike, and BMW.

In March 2015, The Social Golfer was short-listed as a finalist in the Essex Digital Awards

The Social Golfer wins Essex Digital Award – What they said?

“We are very proud to receive this award, as we were not only competing against other sports sites but those from the world of entertainment. It has been a long road from very humble beginnings but with over 900+ events organised on the site in 2014 and the community is gaining real momentum. It’s always nice to be recognised for your efforts, especially by your peers but the accolades in this case go to the development team and the members themselves. They’re the ones that make the site what it is!” Ian Mullins, Editor – TheSocialGolfer.com

I love my golf and I can understand why TheSocialGolfer.com were a clear winner in this category. The judges must have been impressed by how the team had developed both an active and loyal community that would rival any ‘Bricks and Mortar’ golf club – and in the space of only five years. TSG seems to be showing the way for the future of golf and for online communities of any genre.  Ian and his team have certainly got a handle on how the internet can grow a business like theirs.”  Awards compere and Veteran BBC TV & Radio, European Tour Weekly, and Golfing World presenter Robin Bailey.

 “The Essex Digital Awards look to celebrate and inspire creative uses of the internet…. Our judging panel was clearly impressed by The Social Golfer, scoring it highly in the face of some stiff competition. We’re excited to see where the TSG team takes the idea next.”  Andy Pritchard, Director of the Essex Digital Awards