Brancepeth Castle Golf Club Review

Brancepeth Castle Golf Club in County Durham was designed by the world-renowned golf course architect Harry Colt in 1924. It mostly remains as it left Colt's drawing board with few of the major changes that some of its more famous counterparts have endured. 

It's a beautiful parkland course of 6,400 yards offering a great variation of shots and golfing challenges. It rates very highly within our review section, hence our visit.

This is a fine golf course that seems to fly under the reputational radar despite it having hosted some very high-profile events. These include the recent England Golf Men’s Senior Amateur Championship won by Stephen Jenson of Trevose.

The arrival at Brancepeth Castle is via a long country lane that previously serviced the castle, church, the stables and courtyard that have over time been converted into the clubhouse for this delightful and traditional club.

The club emblem incorporates a boar. The Brancepeth Boar was an animal of huge proportions that lived wild in the area until it was cornered and killed by a villager who had dug an enormous pit to trap it. The creature took on mythical proportions as so many had tried to capture it. 

(Image Credit: Adrian Dupre-Picken)

This is not a long course but it utilises that landscape and its terrain to great visual and practical impact. It highlights the genius in the designs of Harry Colt to perfection. 

I took a look at some of the musings of previous golf course reviewers prior to travel and discovered this amazing quote from the late, great Peter Alliss:

"This is no course for the topper and scuffer….. it is emphatically not for the holiday golfer who has not played for a year or so, or for anyone who is troubled by a widely curving slice or hook. Head up …. And you’re dead!"

When you are struggling trying to tame an errant golf swing this type of comment caused nerves, but actually, this course brought out some of my best golf of the year, through necessity.

Bernard Darwin, that doyen of golf writers, described his visit in August 1926 this way:

"It is quite new, since it is only two years since work was finished from Mr Colt's design, but it is the most mature and grown-up infant that I ever saw, for by judging by the lies and the greens, it might have been there almost as long as the castle itself and the beautiful deer park turf of which it is made."

Colt was known for trying to make his golf courses fit into the natural landscape as much as possible and he clearly succeeded here.

History

(Image Credit: Adrian Dupre-Picken)

The club was formed when Viscount Boyne decided to move his family home to Shropshire from the medieval Brancepeth Castle and Estate. He selected HS Colt and JSF Morrison to lay out a golf course in 140 acres of prime real estate that surrounded the castle and its deer park.

The venue has many military connections, being the home of the Durham Light Infantry from 1939 to 1962. To those wanting to know more about the club history, I thoroughly recommend the Centenary Book published this year entitled 'Brancepeth Castle Golf Club 1924 to 2024: The First Hundred Year.' 

It’s a fascinating and wonderfully readable book ensuring that the important history of the venue is available for future generations to study and enjoy. I loved the chapter called Every Trophy Tells a Story. 

I wonder if every golf club has a record of its trophy history and provenance?

There is a silver wheelbarrow trophy at Brancepeth Castle that was donated to commemorate the brave history of club member Second Lieutenant Richard Annand in May of 1940. He was awarded the first Victoria Cross of World War Two for his efforts in recovering wounded soldiers from no man’s land, despite being gravely wounded himself. He made repeated visits under continual fire and eventually brought back his wounded batman using a wheelbarrow he had commandeered for the purpose. The story of his exploits gained the headlines of 'Wheelbarrow VC', hence the silver wheelbarrow trophy commissioned to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the club. 

The Course Design

(Image Credit: Adrian Dupre-Picken)

All of the short holes at Brancepeth Castle are a delight. 

Historically there were many ravines that offered protection to the castle and its parkland. Colt used these elevation changes and ravines to create several tortuous carries over dead ground. His use of the prevailing landscape here is nothing short of superb. 

He used the existing landscape that created a golf course that empathised with the contours and ground making it look completely natural.  

His characteristic design features are very much in evidence with steep face bunkers evident on most of the holes, excluding the 2nd, 9th and 15th. 

Colt was able to visually disguise the length of the hole by the clever addition of the bunkers and infinity vistas. I find it amazing that most of the construction work was done by hand supported by the horse scoop that he favoured for making for making hollows.

I agree with Alliss' comments recognising that accuracy off the tee is key to a successful round here. Anything less will be a challenge to salvage par.

The Golf Course

(Image Credit: Adrian Dupre-Picken)

After a blind tee shot, the first green is surrounded by the clever bunkering provides a great example of what the remaining holes will be like. A rolling fairway offering a range of stances and challenges. I think these were adapted from the ridge and furrows that existed before the golf course.

The second is played over a huge cavernous drop to a thin green. This is a great short hole and the first of a tough set of short holes throughout the layout.

Please be aware that if you suffer from acrophobia (fear of heights) this is a course you need to visit virtually before setting out to play. 

There are several fantastic bridges over the ravines that offer incredible views across the valley due to their height from the ground. If this could be an issue, please review the flyover videos via this link. https://www.youtube.com/@brancepethcastlegolfclub7917.

The 6th is another beauty. All hazards in play and visible, while the 8th presents a daunting tee shot over another ravine. The fairway runs from left to right and this is a great risk or reward golf hole. The riskier the tee shot the better the reward by a shorter more elevated shot to approach the green.

The flyover video for the 9th and 10th holes are a delight as they also include a view of the medieval castle and its proximity to the green complexes.

These two holes were a delightful challenge and were worth the trip in themselves. 

Another of my favourite golf course reviewers is Tom Doak and his candid and honest reviews offer a genuine insight. This is what he said about Brancepeth Castle.

"There is one monumental hole; the 220-yard 9th," he said in The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses. "Playing from an elevated tee through a narrow gap in the trees and across the length of a deep ravine, to a small plateau green clinging to the opposite hillside. Yet I’ve heard others cite the par-3 10th as their favourite."

"The 202-yard 10th, going back across the ravine with the castle at your back, is equally as difficult as the 'garden hole' 9th. But don’t take our word for it; you should experience Brancepeth’s fascinations and occasional consternations for yourself."

I can think of no better recommendation to travel and experience this course than this comment. 

Any golfers considering a road trip to Scotland from England should seriously consider a quick detour to include this venue as a must play.

(Image Credit: Adrian Dupre-Picken)

I absolutely loved the 9th hole. I knew what was coming from my initial research and found myself thinking about it a few holes before. Never a good move on any golf course.

The views from the tee box did not disappoint. A narrow channel through trees towards a green protected by trees and a green hanging precariously on the side of a monumental hill. What could possibly go wrong? 

We had been given a clear run whilst on the course with no golfers to hold up so I took four different attempts at this green. This is a memorable golf hole in so many ways. My first attempts avoided the tree in front of the green but hung on the side of the hill. I only managed to shape one shot directly onto the putting surface and I then messed up the par attempt. Chipping onto the green from the ‘wrong' side was equally treacherous but also great fun. 

Follow this immediately with another beautiful par 3 across another area of dead ground from an elevated tee to a green of meandering perfection. I could literally have played these two holes again and again as they were so interesting and difficult, but most importantly simply great fun.

The 12th tee box offers a realistic chance of a birdie if the tee shot is well placed between the three bunkers placed to make this a challenge.

The 18th is an interesting closing hole requiring a tee shot across a ravine towards a fairway that was previously used for the castle tennis courts. 

Take the time to spot the short game practice area and the beautiful church that the golf club helped to reinstate after a calamitous fire.

(Image Credit: Adrian Dupre-Picken)

Conclusion

For a determined Harry Colt fan like me this was a delightful golfing experience from start to finish. I was privileged to visit during Centenary celebrations and was made to feel incredibly welcome by all I met. 

This is a golf course that should be on all golfers' radar as it offers so much for the visitor. The fees for its quality are excellent, its history unsurpassed, and the fun to be experienced by taking on its challenges to be relished.

I will return, probably whilst driving to Scotland from my Midlands base. This is a golfing gem and I was happy to enjoy its delights.