Join us for a round at Gosforth Golf Club
The golf courses within a few minutes’ drive of Newcastle offer great variety – from traditional English parkland layouts which are more than 100 years old to those played over ancient moorland and newer venues with all the trappings of modern golf businesses.
At Gosforth Golf Club, less than five minutes’ drive from the heart of the city, you’ll find the former – a beautiful, traditional English parkland layout which is divided by the Ouseburn and a bridlepath, and has produced some of our region’s best players over the last 120 years.
Equally well known as The Bridlepath, due to the route which splits the course in half, the clubhouse side is undoubtedly the tougher of the two halves. It opens with a short par four measuring just over 300 yards from the back tees with a long green guarded by a trio of bunkers. A short shot in can yield birdies when played well.
The first test comes at the 423-yard second, where your tee shot much stay well clear of the out bounds right while not venturing into the trees left. It doesn’t get much easier at the green – where an out of bounds fence looms at the back edge and two deep bunkers protect the left side.
A series of tricky shots follow, starting at the 157-yard par three third. Finding the green here is essential with a bunker left and a steep drop and another trap right. At the 339-yard par four fourth, you must play confidently from the tee – which is easier said than done with the out of bounds fence right – to leave a short, unobstructed approach. Shots played from too far back or from the wrong side of the trees to the left are tough – particularly with the Ouseburn lurking just short of a distinctly two-tiered green which is cut into the hillside. The downhill par three fifth offers little respite with the green and the scale of the six bunkers which ring it hidden from view from the tee.
Crossing the bridlepath, the sixth is a great risk and reward par four which measures just 281 yards. A front bunker with a large catchment area protects the green from balls bouncing in, and the only place to miss is out to the right.
The seventh is the toughest hole on the course and the first of Viking corner, named after the pub which used to sit on the boundary of the course. More than 450 yards from the back tee, the wind swirls between the trees and finding the fairway – guarded by a single bunker left some 200 yards out – is key to be able to control the steeply uphill second shot. There is no room for error here with two bunkers left, and a steep drop right and beyond this devilishly sloped green.
The wind is again a factor at the 163-yard downhill par three eighth, though you should find the large putting surface, which is framed by a trio of bunkers.
The ninth and 10th are both tough par fours, measuring 392 yards and 416 yards respectively, with deep fairway bunkers and trees bordering both sides of the fairways. At nine, the green is wrapped around the right bunker while a second trap guards the left side. At 10, a far more generous green awaits.
The short par three 11th, just 141 yards from the back tee, is framed by trees and its difficulty is dictated by the pin position. You can be aggressive when the flag is front left, while you should play far more cautiously when the pin is located on the narrow back right shelf beyond the deep bunker.
The 419-yard 12th follows and while it’s a long par four, a very large green with bunkers set on its front corners welcomes approaches with long-irons or fairway woods.
The two par fives at Gosforth are played back-to-back and parallel to one another. At the 530-yard dogleg-left 13th, the simpler of the two, the green is rarely within reach as the hole rises before turning sharply to the left around 100 yards from the front edge of the small, tricky putting surface. At the 521-yard, straightaway and downhill 14th, you must avoid the out of bounds right while also staying clear of the ditch which crosses the fairway some 350 yards from the tee. The relatively new green complex, with its flanking bunkers, can be tough to read correctly.
Crossing back over the bridlepath, the demanding final stretch presents numerous challenges. The 15th plays into the prevailing wind from an elevated tee. Sweeping from right to left among the trees, this 420-yard par four requires a long second shot, which much be struck well to make it up to a back flag on the steeply two-tiered green which is lowest in the front right corner. Putts up or down this slope are near-impossible to get close.
The 179-yard par three 16th is no pushover either with two large bunkers set well short of the green – though players who make it past these will find lots of room and a relatively flat putting surface.
The 17th presents a late birdie chance. Just 253 yards from the back tee, there’s a generous fairway at the bottom of the hill while confident drivers of the ball can take aim at the green. The steep slope presents many tricky shots should you miss, while a devilishly sloping green and a trio of bunkers ensure those who aren’t accurate will find it hard to make a par. The challenging, yet brilliant, 18th is all that now stands between you and a good score.
The 418-yard par four 18th at Gosforth is one of the toughest finishing holes in the North East. Played into the prevailing wind, it is flanked by a hedge and trees to the left and the Ouseburn at its widest point on the course to the right. The tee shot, played to a generous fairway, is daunting and requires a driver should you wish to reach the green in regulation. A single long bunker protects the left side of a vast green set in the shadow of the clubhouse. Closing with a two-putt par here is a great finish.
OUR VERDICT
With its mix of short par fours and birdie chances, and incredibly tough closing stretch, Gosforth is always a pleasure to play and is rarely overpowered. Some of the county’s finest players have played their golf here – from 1954 English Amateur champion Alan Thirlwell to seven-time Northumberland champion Jimmy Hayes, and Jenny Lee Smith, winner of the first Women’s British Open – and it’s easy to see why.
