Reimagining and reworking Chart Hills Golf Club

Chart Hills was originally opened in 1994 to great aplomb as the UK’s first Sir Nick Faldo designed golf course. A string of accolades quickly followed, including a position among the Rolex World Top 100 Golf Course in 1995. Sadly, through the years and multiple changes of ownership, the course and club became rundown, and a persistent lack of investment took its toll. This culminated in a severe dip in its reputation both locally and nationally. RAMAC Holdings purchased Chart Hills on Christmas Eve 2019 and immediately began planning a transformation of the facility and the journey back to its former glory.

GMS were appointed to provide full scale marketing services to Chart Hills in January 2020. Initially through the closure of the facility, as an agency we were tasked with building momentum and excitement ahead of the soft relaunch some 18 months after the change of ownership. A strategy which combined regular communication with the inherited membership and a dynamic content campaign with prospects, and focused on highlighting each phase of the investment leading up to re-opening, Chart Hills quickly became the most talked about golf course development in the UK.

GMS results

An aligned press campaign supplemented with premium content publishing across channels led to a phenomenally successful relaunch of the club.

In July 2021 the club opened its doors with a sold-out membership before a shot had been hit in anger, and some 200+ on its 7-day waiting list. The marketing has been revered by industry peers and the press around each phase has been widespread and immensely
positive.

The momentum continues to this day, with sales and business performance way exceeding forecast and an overwhelming demand for visitor tee times from golfers across the country.