Mount Juliet Estate's success at the 59Club Awards reflects the operating culture Director of Golf Matt Sandercock has spent years building, where communication is constant, feedback is used with care, and small details are treated as part of the standard rather than a finishing touch.
When Mount Juliet Estate's name kept being called at the 59Club UK & Ireland Service Excellence Awards, the recognition captured the daily habits behind one of Ireland's leading golf resorts.
The Kilkenny venue was named Ultimate Golf Resort, earned Gold Flag Resort status, and collected F&B Manager of the Year, Leading Corporate Sales Call, Golf Operations Team of the Year, while PGA Fellow and Director of Golf Matt Sandercock was named Golf Manager of the Year.
For Sandercock, the night carried weight because it reflected a full estate effort and gave his team a meaningful way to measure the standards they had been building.
"We won Ultimate Resort in 2024 for the first time, which was an amazing achievement," he said. "We felt that we might have won it again last year, so when we didn't it just gave us that extra hunger to step it up on the small things, and that's exactly what we did. The team did really well, and our success was recognition of that."
Across a Jack Nicklaus Signature-designed championship course, five-star hotel, food and beverage operation, member golf and visitor programme, Mount Juliet encompasses a broad experience, and expectations are high across the board.
"A lot of golf clubs would see the journey being the 18 holes at a golf course, maybe not how tight the car park is, how hard it was to book the tee time, or whether they got asked if they enjoyed it afterwards," Sandercock said. "For us, those things matter."
Pictured: Matt Sandercock
From the first enquiry to the follow-up after play, each stage gives the team a chance to add a personal touch and elevate the experience.
"Our latest one this year is that if a hotel guest has highlighted a birthday while staying, we have it on the BRS, so our starter can wish them happy birthday on the 1st tee," Sandercock said. "Those are the touches we add to take things to the next level."
For clubs working with smaller teams and tighter budgets, the same thinking might mean recording whether a visitor is playing the course for the first time, bringing a guest, hoping to eat afterwards, or returning after a previous issue. Sandercock places real value on the person taking the booking, because that conversation often decides whether the experience begins with confidence or uncertainty.
"The person answering the phone is just as important as the guy in operations, or the guys and girls in the tent or on the tee," he said. "If you book in, you don't just get called Mr or Mrs Smith, we use your first name – it's more personable and welcoming."
Better booking habits can change the feeling of a visit before anyone has even stepped foot on the property. Staff can ask whether food will be needed, whether a buggy is required, and whether there is anything the team should know before arrival. A clear confirmation can explain where to park, what catering is available and who to speak to on the day, reducing frustrations that appear when expectations are left unspoken.
Small details become reliable when they are discussed and owned by the team. A greenkeeper acknowledging a golfer, a starter using a first name naturally, or a shop assistant noticing a guest looking unsure can all influence how a club feels.
Sandercock's own standards have been shaped through a career that has included Assistant Professional roles at Bovey Castle and Sunningdale, where he developed a clear understanding of both five-star hospitality and high-end member service. The PGA network has also remained central throughout that journey.
"The biggest thing for me is having PGA Members as such good friends in all different walks of life," he said. "Whether they're Teaching Pros, Club Managers, Assistant Pros or Directors of Golf, it's a really good network base to learn from and pick up the phone."
That instinct to pick up the phone runs through the way he leads. Mount Juliet's senior managers meet regularly, managers and assistant managers train together, and the golf operation stays closely linked to the rest of the estate.
"The world revolves around emails now and that's not ideal," Sandercock said. "You need to pick up the phone and actually speak to people or see them in person. We do away days – we were in Kilkenny Castle recently for training – and you see colleagues in trainers and jeans instead of suits and ties. You see a bit more of their personality and you get time to air how you're feeling.
"We've got 360 staff here. We're not all going to be best friends every day, but I have to make sure my team are comfortable. If they've got a challenge, I'll go to the department we need to work with and sort it out. You can't survive in the hotel world if you can't flex and pivot a bit – you can't always be right."
Feedback is handled with similar care and attention. Mount Juliet uses 59Club surveys, member surveys and daily guest feedback, while Sandercock meets every Monday with the Course Superintendent, General Manager and Agronomist to discuss any concerns. Because one isolated complaint does not always reveal a wider problem, he looks for patterns before deciding what needs action.
"The big thing is not to pick up on the one outlier," he said. "There's always going to be somebody that got in a bunker and couldn't get out. If it's 20 people in 20 bunkers and they can't get out, I've got a problem."
His non-negotiables as a leader are rooted in honesty, communication, and trust. Problems need to be raised early, because most operational issues are easier to solve before they are hidden or allowed to reach the guest.
"Everything can be fixed," he said. "At the end of the day, I'm dealing with golf. I'm not working in A&E. Everything can be fixed, but we have to talk. Talk and trust can only come from honesty."
Trust also empowers staff to think and act for themselves, particularly when there are clearly defined standards and expectations set.
"Everyone has a say," Sandercock explained. "If they think that's what I would do, then just go and do it. If I'm not here, I'll back them up. At the end of the day, it falls back to me."
While some may afford themselves the opportunity to bask in the glow of the success Mount Juliet has achieved, for Sandercock, satisfaction comes not from reflecting on past performance, but in pursuing future goals.
"We know what our 59Cub score was last year and we want to better it," he said. "We've got new buggies arriving, a new greens mower, we're looking at a bunker project, we're focused on staff training. It's all about those 1% gains so that when we get to the 59Club Global Awards later this year, we know we've done everything we can. But whether we win it or we don't, I'll still be trying to do more next year."
