Bedfordshire County Golf Ltd has been named the winner of the ‘Respect in Golf’ prize at the 2026 England Golf Awards, recognising its pioneering work in bringing mental health awareness and support into the heart of the golfing community.
Bedfordshire County were one of 13 award winners at a blockbuster night on Tuesday, 3 March in Deansgate, Manchester in an event hosted by TV presenter and Strictly Come Dancing winner, Chris Hollins. 450 guests were also present.
Bedfordshire County won the award off the back of developing ‘Fore Your Mind’, a dedicated mental health awareness initiative for golf.
Piloted and officially launched in Bedfordshire in November 2024 in partnership with England Golf, and led by golfers Graham Freer, Dave McGarry and Steve Whitney, the programme has already made a remarkable impact, with 17 counties now on board.
The initial idea behind the project was to get a mental health first aider at every single golf club in Bedford.
David Hawkins, former secretary & CEO at Bedfordshire Golf, said: “We raised a working party of five people and pulled together our own life experiences.
“Dave McGarry, who lost his wife to cancer, Ange, when she was just 50. Steve Whitney, who lost his son, Will, who took his own life. I myself lost my son 10 years ago who died overnight. He was 27.
“And six years later, I developed deep anxiety. And when we’re out there on the golf course, it’s the perfect place for us to talk. Men don’t talk, but now we’re going to train them to talk.
“Using the database that the CST provides us through the Mental Health First Aid programme, we can identify the needs or the resources that are needed by that person to actually get the help that they need to help them through the next stages of their life”, said David.
Half of England’s counties sign up
Nine of the England Golf awards were nominated for by the public, with a panel of 50 judges from across the golf industry and media selecting the final winners.
Each winner received an engraved glass trophy and a gift hamper to mark their achievements and lasting influence on the sport.
And since its inception in 2024, almost half of England’s counties are now signed up to the ‘Fore Your Mind’ initiative.
“My proudest achievement is the fact that we now have almost 50% of the counties in England who have taken up the programme”, added David.
“Myself, Steve, Dave and Graham give our time freely to any county that wants help, needs guidance, wants to ascertain where they can get the detail from today or wants to understand how they can get the funding from England Golf.
“We’re here to help them and helping people is what we’re about.
“I want to be able to say every single one of the golfers in England can actually access help for their mental health problems.”
Colmworth Golf Club were also nominated for the ‘Sustainability Project of the Year’ award, which was eventually won by Redbourn Golf Club in Hertfordshire.
Read: Colmworth Golf Club nominated for national sustainability award
The full list of winners from the England Golf Awards can be found here.
