On Tuesday February 22, the winners of the 2022 Northern Rivers & Mid North Coast Wedding Industry Awards (formerly Brides Choice Awards) were announced via a virtual zoom presentation.
With over thirty categories and in excess of three hundred finalists, Yamba Golf & Country Club (YGCC) was declared the winner of not one, but TWO, huge awards including ‘The Best Wedding Venue Golf Club’, and ‘The Best Wedding Venue Co-ordinator’. These awards are voted on by actual bridal couples from the last 12 months in the region which encompasses Port Macquarie all the way up to Yamba.
YGCC’s Function Co-ordinator, Eryn Hammond, says “Winning the category of Best Wedding Venue Golf Club for the fourth consecutive year is a fantastic reflection of the Club’s unwavering hard work and dedication to making every couples’ dream wedding day come to life, regardless of surrounding circumstances that have impacted our industry so heavily for the last two years. However, winning The Best Wedding Venue Co-ordinator is just outstanding! I honestly am still in shock…” This is the first time the Club has been nominated in this category with finalists being selected from many different types of venues throughout the region, not just Golf Clubs.
“I in no way, expected to win,” Miss Hammond continued, “given that the category contained finalist co-ordinators from so many different, amazing venues through out the whole region it means the world to me. I can’t express enough how personally humbled I am by this award. It’s already so special to know your brides and grooms choose YOU, amongst hundreds of options, to look after the biggest day of their lives, so being recognised for successfully giving your all to the people who deserve the best day ever is the reason I do the job and love it so much.”
YGCC has definitely received some well-deserved accolades for their incredible efforts, including a Top 5 place in The Australian Wedding Awards 2021 earlier this year. These awards cover more than 30 regions Nation-wide and recognise the best business nominated in each of the 50+ categories.
YGCC placed 3rd in the category for Best Wedding Venue – Golf & Country Club against the highly commended, Everglades Country Club (Central Coast NSW), and the winners, Lake Side Golf Club Camden (Western Sydney NSW). Miss Hammond stated, “This is a phenomenal result for our Club competing against massive chain venues like Lake Side – 1 of 4 venues owned by Club industry giant, Wests Group Macarthur.” She continued, “Everyone here is so elated with these wins, there’s been lots of praise, smiles, and hugs throughout the whole week, and I can definitely feel the support from my colleagues, management, and Board of Directors. We’re on Cloud 9 right now haha!”
YGCC was also awarded the prestigious title of “2020 PGA Queensland Pro Am Tournament of the Year” which the Club triumphed 21 other Pro-Am’s including Queensland Metropolitan Pro-Am’s. The results were delayed due to Covid-19 Restrictions prevalent at the time, but that couldn’t deter the pride of YGCC Golf Operations Manager, Chris Durrington. “Words cannot express how proud we are of this accomplishment,” Mr Durrington said. “We also won 2 PGA Regional Tournament of the Year awards for 2016 & 2017, but this is our FIRST Queensland PGA win!” He continued, “We are deeply honoured to be chosen as the winners against very tough competition, and this award is a testament to the many hard-working people we have on our team.”
Both Miss Hammond and Mr Durrington extend a massive thanks to all of the staff, management, volunteers, and members of YGCC who have supported them and contributed efforts to receive these outstanding awards.