Direct Golf wins Best Website accolade at ECMOD awards

Direct Golf has won the best website accolade at the prestigious European Catalogue and Mail Order Days (ECMOD) awards

Direct Golf

Direct Golf has won the Best Website accolade at the prestigious European Catalogue and Mail Order Days (ECMOD) awards.

Held at Chelsea Football Club on April 18, the awards recognise business excellence among direct-to-customer retailers in traditional and newly emerging channels.

With the likes of John Lewis, Argos, Lakeland and The White Company all nominated for various awards, Direct Golf came out on top in the Best Website category.

"We are absolutely thrilled to to win this award. It's great to be recognised for having a best-in-class web presence, not just in golf, but across a variety of retail sectors," said John Andrew, Direct Golf's Chairman and Class AA PGA Professional.

"We've worked hard over the past 18 months to redevelop the site and continue to adopt and evolve our offering to the benefit of our customers."

Commerical Manager Steve Lewis and Website Manager Neil Rowett accepted the award.

The Direct Golf website was redeveloped and relaunched in 2012, and now includes an online TV channel and a new online ordering facility.

Since the changes - which also include mobile and iPad applications - were made, sales have increased by 7% and website visits are up 14% year-on-year.

"We've got some exciting plans for the business going forward. Awards are a great benchmark for our business, but it's important we keep pushing forward and raisig the bar," added Andrew.

Direct Golf has recently received a £3.5m funding boost from RBS to help grow the business.

Nick Bonfield
Features Editor

Nick Bonfield joined Golf Monthly in 2012 after graduating from Exeter University and earning an NCTJ-accredited journalism diploma from News Associates in Wimbledon. He is responsible for managing production of the magazine, sub-editing, writing, commissioning and coordinating all features across print and online. Most of his online work is opinion-based and typically centres around the Majors and significant events in the global golfing calendar. Nick has been an avid golf fan since the age of ten and became obsessed with the professional game after watching Mike Weir and Shaun Micheel win The Masters and PGA Championship respectively in 2003. In his time with Golf Monthly, he's interviewed the likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Jose Maria Olazabal, Henrik Stenson, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood and Billy Horschel and has ghost-written columns for Westwood, Wayne Riley, Matthew Southgate, Chris Wood and Eddie Pepperell. Nick is a 12-handicap golfer and his favourite courses include Old Head, Sunningdale New, Penha Longha, Valderrama and Bearwood Lakes. If you have a feature pitch for Nick, please email nick.bonfield@futurenet.com with 'Pitch' in the subject line. Nick is currently playing: Driver: TaylorMade M1 Fairway wood: TaylorMade RBZ Stage 2 Hybrid: Ping Crossover Irons (4-9): Nike Vapor Speed Wedges: Cleveland CBX Full Face, 56˚, Titleist Vokey SM4, 60˚ Putter: testing in progress! Ball: TaylorMade TP5x