Ramside Hall golf course development

Work has started on a £15million development at Ramside Hall Hotel and Golf Club, in County Durham, including an 18-hole golf course designed by Jonathan Gaunt.

The 27-hole golf resort features a four-star hotel on the outskirts of Durham City, owned by Ramside Estates Ltd, the largest privately-owned hospitality group in North East England. The development will also include a spa, leisure centre and extension to the hotel.

Gaunt Golf Design built the original holes which opened in 1996 and will revamp four of the existing Cathedral Course holes and add 14 new holes on former agricultural land near the villages of Pittington and Belmont. Five original holes will be retired.

Construction begins this month on a layout that will measure more than 7,200 yards have a par of 72 including four par-5s and five par-3s.??

Says Gaunt: “This site is special. It’s a mature and established piece of land with lots of elevation changes, a sense of rural remoteness and natural water features including becks and streams. From the tenth tee there is a view of Durham’s iconic Norman Cathedral.”

John Adamson, Ramside Estates’ director, adds: “In 1996, we built 15 man-made water features and worked with over 50,000 planted trees to create our golf course. The new one will be bigger, better, longer and even more exciting to play, especially the par-3 12th hole which will be encircled by water hazards.”

Hotel expansion will be completed later this year with 48 new bedrooms, doubling its capacity. The leisure centre feature a gym, 25-metre pool, cardio-cycling studio, restaurant and café.

The development, expected to be completed by 2013, also includes executive homes bordering the golf course.

For more information visit www.ramsidehallhotel.co.uk

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