Value golf courses in GB&I: Northern England
We've reviewed some excellent value golf courses in an effort to prove that the recession needn't mean you have to cut down on your golf. From Canterbury in the south east to Kirkistown Castle in Northern Ireland, take at look at these 50 value tracks.
Woodham
GF: £14 STATS: par 73, sss 72, 6,688 yards T: 01325 315257 W: woodhamgolfresort.webnode.com
On the outskirts of Newton Aycliffe in County Durham, just five minutes from the A1, the course at Woodham was designed by James Hamilton Stutt and opened for play in 1981. It’s a parkland layout that, at over 6,600 yards, delivers a stern test. It’s been the venue for a number of competitions in recent years including perhaps most notably the Northern PGA tournament. Alnmouth Village
GF: £14.50 STATS: par 71, sss 70, 6,090 yards T: 01665 830370 W: alnmouthvillagegolfclub.co.uk
There’s a wonderful old-school feel about this Northumberland links nine-holer fashioned by Mungo Park five years before he won the Open at Musselburgh in 1874. Many of the game’s greats have visited, among them Vardon, Taylor and Old Tom himself, and indeed there is just a tiny hint of St Andrews about the place with the course starting out from and finishing back at a charming little pavilion-style clubhouse on Marine Road, which is only really about half a wedge from the town centre.
Subscribe to the Golf Monthly newsletter to stay up to date with all the latest tour news, equipment news, reviews, head-to-heads and buyer’s guides from our team of experienced experts.
Jeremy Ellwood (Jezz) has worked in golf since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all the Top 100 plus 94 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified to compare our premier tracks. He has played over 1,100 courses in 35 countries, from remote nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to grand international resorts, hitting the 1,000 mark on his 60th birthday in October 2023 on Vale do Lobo's Ocean course. Put him on a links course anywhere and he'll be blissfully content.
Contact Jezz on X - @JezzEllwoodGolf
Jeremy is playing...
Driver: Ping G425 LST
3 wood: Srixon ZX
Hybrid: Ping G425
Irons 4- to 11-iron: Honma TWorld TW747Vx
Wedge: Ping Glide 54˚
Putter: Ping Fetch