Ramside Hall Hotel and Golf Club

Played the Ramside twice now,the first time was holes 1 to 18 which are the Bishops course and the Princes course . Fantastic course and my group of three were well impressed , however my second round we started on the 10th then it was on to the Cathedral course . It felt like we were put out the way to let members play on the "nice" holes the 19th to the 23rd must be the forgotten holes it felt like we were playing Elemore.Still love the course though and would highly recommend easily 8 out of 10

The hotel and course were fantastic and supremely well run...everything went like clockwork and we were always at ease. The course was a good test and was in good condition considering the winter weather we had. I would recommend Ramside to anyone and would happily go back there.

I have played Ramside twice now, once on 13th May 09 on an invertation and again on 27th June 09 in an open competition and I have to say this is without doubt the finest golf club in the area. Excellent location just off the A1, but still very tranquil and scenic. The clubhouse is fantastic and the locker room could rival any of the top championship courses. The food in the clubhouse was very nice but slightly on the pricey side, and I would highly recommend the carvery in the hotel at £7.50, excellent value for money. Now to the course, and what a course! Starts off pretty tough, with two long par 4’s off the yellow tees (2nd is a par 5 off whites I think), then the scenery kicks in. Greens were the best I have putted on in the area and fairways were sublime. Each loop of nine are all memorable in their own rights, and I challenge anyone to find an 18th hole in the area like Ramside. You will definitely have to play at least a couple of times to shoot a really good score, but the course is fantastic for any standard of golfer and I will look forward to playing many more times in the future. VERY highly recommended.

Absolutely terrific I have to say. Ramside is a top class facility with both the hotel and clubhouse scoring top marks. The wlecome from staff and members was friendly, the food good (if a little pricey) but I suppose it is a hotel course. The course is in great condition, with lots of risk/reward holes. Probably a little to quirky for pro's but ideal for societies, Junior comps and a good enough test for single figure handicappers. Well worth a visit!

I played Ramside on Monday 17th September 2007. My overall impression is that it's a very visually atractive course with some fantastic views of the Durham countryside. The facilities are second to none, ample car parking, driving range & practice bunkers and putting green are excellent. The fairways were in very good condition, however, the bunkers were bordering on disgraceful. There was no consistency in the depth of sand from one to the next, after the first 5mm of sand they were rock hard. The greens were disapointingly slow, the previous time I played here in 2005 the greens were quick. I played in an Open, there was no starter nor was there a course warden. As a result the round took 4.75 hours, about an hour too long. This was poor organisation for visitors from all over the North East from a course that aspires to be a leading golf facility. Whilst the catering facilities were excellent they were overpriced e.g. 2 bacon buns and 2 coffees £9.80 about £4.80 too much. Would I go back? Yes of course I would hopefully to find less wind, more sand in the bunkers and faster greens.

Me and my dad, John Murray, played at Ramside and my dad has posted a review of our round. I am 9 and play off a handicap of 17 and love to play wherever and whenever I can. I didn't enjoy it at all. There were too many doglegs and quite a lot of ponds. I thought the greens were hard to putt on and the fairways were bare. When we got to the 12th we cut onto the 17th and missed out 5 holes because we were getting bored with all the doglegs. I disagree with Ray saying that there were not many dogleg holes 'cause all we seemed to play was one dogleg after another and I'm glad that we didn't play the 12th 13th 14th 15th and the 16th because we would still be there now on the 14th dogleg if it was which I think it would be and I would never play there again. Try Portpatrick if you want a really good course.

I posted a report after playing Ramside a couple of weeks ago and I have to say it's generated more emails to me than any other course I've commented on. Some have disagreed with my views, which of course is their right so to do, but the majority share my oplinion that this course is a disappointment and caters more for the 'corporate' golfer than the committed amateur. One correspondent, who tells me that he lives nearby, said he and his pals 'avoid this course like the plague' and the last time they visited they were following a group in buggies swigging lager as they played. Well, fortunately, the day I played I didn't come across such characters but I have to disagree with the comments posted by Ray Goldsmith recently. Ray chooses to be a member here (you pays your money, you takes your choice)so I'd expect him to defend his own course. But as someone who has played in excess of 25 different course across the UK in the last 12 months Ramside is right down there in the lower echelons. Perhaps, as Ray suggests, I did miss the feature holes by ducking 12 - 16, but I begrudge paying £20 for a few decent holes but have to endure the tedium and boredom of the others. Despite what Ray says there are too many dog-legs or 'bananas' (innovative term that)and the course lacks character. I've always reckoned that the acid test to define a good course is when 3 or 4 holes stick in your memory. At Ramside the only one I clearly recall is the 18th ( a shortish par 4, bunkers two thirds of the way down the left fairway, water to the right) and that's because we were nearly home and glad to be finished!!!. I do hope Ray continues to enjoy his rounds at Ramside - I'll spend my hard earned elsewhere.

Me and my dad, John Murray, played at Ramside and my dad has posted a review of our round. I am 9 and play off a handicap of 17 and love to play wherever and whenever I can. I didn't enjoy it at all. There were too many doglegs and quite a lot of ponds. I thought the greens were hard to putt on and the fairways were bare. When we got to the 12th we cut onto the 17th and missed out 5 holes because we were getting bored with all the doglegs. I disagree with Ray saying that there were not many dogleg holes 'cause all we seemed to play was one dogleg after another and I'm glad that we didn't play the 12th 13th 14th 15th and the 16th because we would still be there now on the 14th dogleg if it was which I think it would be and I would never play there again. Try Portpatrick if you want a really good course.

Me and my dad, John Murray, played at Ramside and my dad has posted a review of our round. I am 9 and play off a handicap of 17 and love to play wherever and whenever I can. I didn't enjoy it at all. There were too many doglegs and quite a lot of ponds. I thought the greens were hard to putt on and the fairways were bare. When we got to the 12th we cut onto the 17th and missed out 5 holes because we were getting bored with all the doglegs. I disagree with Ray saying that there were not many dogleg holes 'cause all we seemed to play was one dogleg after another and I'm glad that we didn't play the 12th 13th 14th 15th and the 16th because we would still be there now on the 14th dogleg if it was which I think it would be and I would never play there again. Try Portpatrick if you want a really good course.

I played as part of a 2 ball on the 27th March 2007 and I have to say found the course to be both in excellent condition and a good challenge. Yes, the greens were very "sandy" but for the time of year we played they were in descent condition. The fairways were well maintained and the rough was long but fair. My 1 complaint would be the markings in between holes were not very clear and we got lost travelling between the 9th and the 19th. The course I thought was well designed and each hole played differently from the previous one and for the bargain price of £20 I was more than happy. I would love to return during the summer and see how the course plays then but I feel the green fee's are a little on the expensive side so may wait until November and see if the club puts on any more special offers. Great day out and a fantasic course. Well worth a visit!!

As a member of the Ramside Hall Golf Club, I was surprised by the negative comments posted this week from a guest who played at Ramside recently. The "patchy" greens mentioned had been spiked & sanded in readiness for the new season & were looking good later in the week. As for barren fairways, he would have been unlucky to have found a bare lie on the fairway areas I hit on the same day? He comments on the course design & too many right hand doglegs. He would have found 5 doglegs on the holes he played & of those the 1st & 2nd are more banana like than dogleg. If he took on the 8th with it's dogleg & over the water,he's a brave man, as It's a test for many members. I,m sorry he didn't play 12 to 16, as he missed the stroke index one 14th (straight) & the 15th our par 3 feature hole over water which lives up to it's name of "Auld sneaky". Buggies incidentally were in use 2 days after your contributor played, so, unlucky he may have been? I do hope his comments on the course weren't flavoured by a baked potato & a flat battery! Regards Ray

Played Ramside recently with my son and I have to say we were really disappointed and have some issues with this course. Firstly, there were no buggies available because of the weather (it hadn't rained for days and the course was dry. We hired electric trolleys and my son's packed in on the 1st fairway and we had to have a replacement ferried out to us on a buggie !!!!. The course itself has lots of features but is somehow featureless and easily forgettable. I accept it's a fairly recently opened course but it's like playing on a vast field dotted with water and trees most of which are not yet mature. The Cathedral course (holes 19-27) was closed so we played the Princes and the Bishops. Lots of dog-leg right holes as though the course designer couldn't think what else to do. Not one hole really stood out. Lots of water features but positioned without making best use of them. The course wasn't in good condition - we've played on better maintained municiples to be honest. The greens were patchy and difficult to putt on. The fairways were patchy and barren in places. Some well positioned bunkers to catch wayward drives but how this course can claim to be one of the top ones in the area is beyond me. Not particularly cheap either. £20 green fee as a resident of the hotel which itself is comfortable but pricey (£8 for a filled baked potato). Anyway, by the 11th me and my son had had enough so we missed out the 12th-16th and made for home. Didn't visit the clubhouse but went for dinner in Durham instead. Wouldn't dream of playing here again and although I don't know the area I'm sure there are better course at better value in the vicinity. One to miss.

yeah good course but errhhhh 45 pounds a round of golf can anyone say thats fair dont get me wrong im a keen golfer and play of single figures but 45 pounds is crazy ,why shouyld i pay that when i can play slaley hall a tv course a championship course the ramside need to no what there surrounding villages are yeah pit villages ,but on a golfing eye nice course would say to difficult but nice course but 45 pounds dont make me laugh

played 18 holes 3rd sept 2003 i can honestly say this course is the best golf course I have played and I have played a lot of courses including gullane in Scotland.The fairways and greens were immaculate and the staff and fellow golfers so friendly,cant wait to go back.

An obviously young course, but very well laid out. Although many of the trees are still small, there is still plenty of potential trouble in the form of the established trees on the outside of the course and the numerous lakes scattered about. Plenty of well positioned bunkers and a proliferation of doglegs mean you have to think about your game. The greens were very good overall. My only criticism would be the lack of distance markers on any hole less than 400yds. Even then there were only 150yd markers (and why make them 2ft tall metal bollards in the centre of the fairway?) I will be back in a few years time.

Played 18 holes here on the Prince and Bishop 9's towards the end of March and must say that I was very impressed for such a young course. It is particularly well laid out, allowing for the longer hitting or lower handicap golfer to take risks, such as on the 8th, where a good drive can open up the green with a short iron if you take the risk or the higher handicap or shorter golfer can play the dogleg and still make a par. All in all, the course is in excellent condition and apart from a couple of temporary tees when we played it was fully open. The greens were in excellent condition and if you are not on your game then three putting will become an all too familiar feature of your scorecard. You cannot help but think that with the benefit of another ten or so years or growth that this will be a fantastic quality golf course, playing much tighter than it does at the moment due to the relative immaturity of the copses present. Even so, this is still a very challenging golf course which will punish the non-thinking golfer.

JUST PLAYED 27 HOLES HERE WHILST ON GOLF TRIP TO AREA. SOME OF COURSE CLOSED WHICH WAS A BIT DISAPOINTING BUT STILL WELL WORTH THE VISIT. ONE OR TWO REALLY TRICKY HOLES AND SOME NICE EASY ONES SUPERB CLUBHOUSE BUT NOT THE BEST OF FOOD