"I have been visiting Heworth Golf Club for several years now
and the club has progressed enormously since my first visits.
Having built a first class clubhouse with a friendly convivial
atmosphere, and making course improvements which show in their
excellent fairways and greens, Heworth is pleasure to visit
anytime." Mick Gibbard (Past
Captain Bedlingtonshire Golf Club 2004)
"Heworth
Golf Club has changed dramatically in the 15 years since my
last visit and while its friendliness remains the same, the
improvements that have been made since then have transformed
the club.
Back in 1986
Heworth had just purchased the freehold of their 18-hole
course at Jingling Gate - it had been extended from nine to 18
holes only 10 years before -for £70,000. If it was a very
reasonable price then, it looks a bargain now and proved the
catalyst for the improvements that have been made over the
past decade.
In 1990 course
irrigation was installed and two years later the club, in
conjunction with the Forestry Commission, embarked on a
four-year tree planting programme which has added much-needed
definition to transform the course.
As if that were
not enough, three years ago Heworth opened their magnificent
£560,000 clubhouse, combining the last word in facilities and
comfort while continuing the exceptionally warm atmosphere
that characterised
the old one.
And helped by
the extra turnover from Heworth's 350 social members, the loan
taken out to build the clubhouse will be repaid in seven
years. Not that the old clubhouse building has been wasted for
at the end of this month it will be transformed into the new
shop of Adrian Marshall - Heworth's first ever club
professional. Marshall, a Heworth lad who learned his golf at
the club before joining the paid ranks 17 years ago as an
assistant, has had extensive experience of the retail golf
business at Wallsend and Boldon and, assisted by his brother
Warren, he looks set to become a major player in the Tyneside
area.
But back to the
course, and the combination of the tree planting and the
excellent work of head greenkeeper Malcolm Harvey. A new green
and bunker have been installed at the seventh, a new medal tee
back in the trees at eight has extended the length to 378
yards and there is a new bunker on the right to catch the big
hitters as well. The drive at the 11th hole has been
dramatically changed by a new mounded bunker on the right
which forces the aim of the tee shot left and re-defines the
562-yard par five. And last but not least, two mounded bunkers
at driving distance on either side of the 16th fairway make
you think at this short par four.
The course
itself measures 6,422 yards off the white tees, 6,163 off the
yellows and 5,539 off the reds, with a par of 71 for men and
73 for women.
The opening
three holes are from the original nine, four to 12 are the new
nine (opened 25 years ago this month) and then it's back to
the original course.
The opening two
holes are relatively straightforward par fours of 341 and 366
yards, provided you miss the bunkers, but the third can be an
awkward little customer despite being only 125 yards. It
starts to get tougher at four and five, par fours measuring
383 and 437 yards respectively, while the 177-yard sixth is
also a bit of a handful. Then it's get your scores at seven
eight and nine, 374, 378 and a 496 dog-leg par five before you
come to Heworth's 'Amen Corner'. For the tenth (442 yards) and
12th, at two yards longer, are real monsters, while the
562-yard 11th is a genuine par five. The final par five at 13,
504 yards, is less of a threat while 14 and 16 are two
shortish par fours and 15 can be a deceptive par three at 158
yards. But there is a sting in the tail and 17, at 406 yards
and played back into the prevailing wind, can be a beast and
the 228-yard par three 18th can be a real card-wrecker if you
go through the back and out of bounds.
Then it's the
joys of the 19th and you won't be disappointed for the
friendliness is matched only by the quality of the food and
refreshment on offer under the guidance of chef/manager David
Johnson.
It is not hard
to see why Heworth is thriving, with waiting lists on both the
men's and junior sections. The latter has a full complement of
85 juniors, and has been responsible for producing Faye
Sanderson, at only 17 a semi-finalist in the 2000 England
Schoolgirls Championship, a member of the English Girls Elite
Squad and a fully- fledged senior Durham County player.
She, like all
the other Heworth golfers, are members of one of the most
improved and progressive set-ups in the region and one that is
destined to get better and better in the years ahead, while
still retaining everything that has made this club special in
the past."
Alan Hedley, Correspondent with the Newcastle Journal and Golf
North East
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