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Jonathan Davison

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Brancepeth Castle
« on: October 04, 2007, 04:29:25 AM »
As requested by Paul Turner
Brancepth Castle is in Durham, North of England designed by Harry Colt although some books have Dr Mackenzie as designer. It is a gem which I played a lot of scatch opens and county events and always enjoyed the course and club. The par's 3 are wonderful as all of Colt's are.
The photographs are a few years old, I think the club may have consulted an architect on a few issues. Although I am not sure if the work was ever done, there was also talk of clearing a few trees to give a more open feel a bit like the black & white photo that Paul Turner posted. Please post more if you have Paul, the next time I'm in the north east of England I will try and visit the Colt gems again.
Brancepeth Castle
Tyneside GC
Northumberland



#16


tee shot #8




Great movement around Colt's green, #8


#8 green






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JMorgan

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Re:Brancepeth Castle
« Reply #1 on: October 04, 2007, 07:34:27 AM »
Nice, thanks Jonny... keep them coming.
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Paul_Turner

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Re:Brancepeth Castle
« Reply #2 on: October 04, 2007, 09:50:09 AM »
Jonny

Thanks. The old pic was just lifted from the club's website, sorry I don't have any more.  

Your second to last pic shows classic Colt&Co shaping around the greens.

It looks like the club has been planting saplings which is the opposite of what they need to do.  You can see it was once classic parkland setting,  I imagine a deer park in the gorunds of the castle?

Donald Steel did shift a few bunkers in the early 90s.  My bet is those two on your third pic (6th?) are his work (I think I can usually spot his redo work).

The ravines and par 3s get all the notice,  but what are the supporting holes like?  Are they still interesting?   The pics are a bit small on their website so I can't really tell.
« Last Edit: October 04, 2007, 09:52:42 AM by Paul_Turner »
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can't get to heaven with a three chord song

Mark Pearce

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Re:Brancepeth Castle
« Reply #3 on: October 04, 2007, 10:04:34 AM »
Paul,

It's a few years since I played there but the star holes are the ravine holes (and particularly the par 3 ravine holes, 9 and 10)).  The supporting holes vary in quality but overall Brancepeth is a very solid layout.  In the North East (County Durham and Northumberland) my top 5, without giving it too much thought, would be something like:

Seaton Carew
Goswick
Northumberland
Brancepeth
Tyneside

Hexham's delightful but variable.  Bamburgh Castle is beautiful but the golf's not quite strong enough to make top 5.  
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In June I will be riding the first three stages of this year's Tour de France route for charity.  630km (394 miles) in three days, with 7800m (25,600 feet) of climbing for the William Wates Memorial Trust (https://rideleloop.org/the-charity/) which supports underprivileged young people.

Rich Goodale

Re:Brancepeth Castle
« Reply #4 on: October 04, 2007, 10:17:44 AM »
Mark

I'm thinking Road Trip/Mini Buda for next Spring in the North East.  Interested?

Rich
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Mark Pearce

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Re:Brancepeth Castle
« Reply #5 on: October 04, 2007, 10:35:02 AM »
Rich,

Does a bear crap in the woods?

Mark
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In June I will be riding the first three stages of this year's Tour de France route for charity.  630km (394 miles) in three days, with 7800m (25,600 feet) of climbing for the William Wates Memorial Trust (https://rideleloop.org/the-charity/) which supports underprivileged young people.

Jonathan Davison

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Re:Brancepeth Castle
« Reply #6 on: October 04, 2007, 10:40:26 AM »
Mark
Another gem in my eyes would be South Shields, a bit of work by Mackenzie.
Paul
I think Brancepeth has 2 weak holes, # 5 a long par 3 over flat ground with not much in the terms of interesting features, and also #13 a blind tee shot with blind bunkers. Others great holes include the first, great drive and pitch hole with a green that slopes away. Probably over 3% slope from front to back. #8 also is a great par 4, which I am sure is featured in Colt's book. Brancepeth is one of those courses where you must hit your tee shots in the correct place, if you don't it will be a tough day. Doesn't matter how long you are you must it in the correct spots!!

Other gems in the north east


Darlington - Mackenzie


Darlington


Tyneside Colt


South Shields


Site of old Mackenzie course at South Shields
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Andrew Mitchell

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Re:Brancepeth Castle
« Reply #7 on: October 04, 2007, 10:44:44 AM »
Mark/Rich

With all those trees at Brancepeth I don't want to be party to Mark's bear impersonation but I think I could be persuaded to a road trip/mini Buda next Spring ;D
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2014 to date: not actually played anywhere yet!
Still to come: Hollins Hall; Ripon City; Shipley; Perranporth; St Enodoc

Mark Pearce

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Re:Brancepeth Castle
« Reply #8 on: October 04, 2007, 10:56:26 AM »
Tyneside has some history.  Originally laid out by Mungo Park, Willie Park Jr was pro there for many years but Colt laid out the current course.  Plenty of Colt in the North East - Brancepeth, Northumberland, Tynemouth, Alnmouth, City of Newcastle, Darlington (the Colt Association has it listed with an asterisk indicating MacKenzie was involved, which ties in with Jonny's post).  
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In June I will be riding the first three stages of this year's Tour de France route for charity.  630km (394 miles) in three days, with 7800m (25,600 feet) of climbing for the William Wates Memorial Trust (https://rideleloop.org/the-charity/) which supports underprivileged young people.

Jason McNamara

Re:Brancepeth Castle
« Reply #9 on: October 04, 2007, 03:51:23 PM »
Quote from: Mark Pearce on October 04, 2007, 10:04:34 AM
In the North East (County Durham and Northumberland) my top 5, without giving it too much thought, would be something like:

Seaton Carew
Goswick
Northumberland
Brancepeth
Tyneside

Hexham's delightful but variable.  Bamburgh Castle is beautiful but the golf's not quite strong enough to make top 5.  

Mark,

What's the rest of the top 10?  Bishop Auckland, South Moor, Alnmouth?

Thanks for the pictures, Jonny.
« Last Edit: October 04, 2007, 03:52:58 PM by Jason McNamara »
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Mark Pearce

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Re:Brancepeth Castle
« Reply #10 on: October 04, 2007, 04:55:58 PM »
Jason,

I've never played Bishop Auckland or South Shields, so I'll discount those even though they may be very worthy entrants.

I'd have Dunstanburgh Castle in the running and Bamburgh's setting would get it up there.  The Priestman at Slaley and the Hunting might come into the running though I look at both as wasted opportunities.  As might City of Newcastle and Hexham.

Linden Hall has some lovely holes but some really long walks and conditioning is a real issue.
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In June I will be riding the first three stages of this year's Tour de France route for charity.  630km (394 miles) in three days, with 7800m (25,600 feet) of climbing for the William Wates Memorial Trust (https://rideleloop.org/the-charity/) which supports underprivileged young people.

Mark Bourgeois

Re:Brancepeth Castle
« Reply #11 on: October 12, 2007, 08:16:53 PM »
Quote from: jonny D on October 04, 2007, 04:29:25 AM


#8 green




These two photos have stayed with me for a week.  Notice the level of the green relative to the ground near the trees.  Colt removed the ground that "wasn't golf."  It's like a fine sculpture, isn't it?
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Jonathan Davison

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Re:Brancepeth Castle New
« Reply #12 on: October 13, 2007, 09:30:27 AM »
Mark
Just think this shaping was done without a D6 or a digger.
A lot of Colt's green are real mellow but the surrounding areas are really exciting and challenging.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2016, 02:12:56 PM by Jonathan Davison »
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Forrest Richardson

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Re:Brancepeth Castle
« Reply #13 on: October 13, 2007, 03:51:50 PM »
I recall playing there many years ago. It was very fun.
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— Forrest Richardson, Golf Course Architect/ASGCA
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