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.

Jeremy Ellwood
Contributing Editor

Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly. He is an expert on the Rules of Golf having qualified through an R&A course to become a golf referee. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 91 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified when it comes to assessing and comparing our premier golf courses. He has now played 1,000 golf courses worldwide in 35 countries, from the humblest of nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to the very grandest of international golf resorts. He reached 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 will be blissfully content.

Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf


Jeremy is currently playing...

Driver: Ping G425 LST 10.5˚ (draw setting), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 55 S shaft

3 wood: Ping G425 Max 15˚ (set to flat +1), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 65 S shaft

Hybrid: Ping G425 17˚, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 80 S shaft

Irons 3-PW: Ping i525, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 50˚ and 54˚, 12˚ bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Putter: Ping Fetch 2021 model, 33in shaft (set flat 2)

Ball: Varies but mostly now TaylorMade Tour Response