The Blackwell Grange Golf Club
Coordinates: 54°30′36″N 1°34′30″W / 54.510°N 1.575°W The Blackwell Grange Golf Club is a golf club situated in the Blackwell area of Darlington, County Durham, in the North East of England. It shares its name with the nearby Blackwell Grange Hotel, since many of the course holes lie square to the hotel. The club also includes a large clubhouse and a small golf shop. The course has a neighbouring course called Stressholme Golf Club.
History
The clubhouse was originally the British Pavilion in Brussels[1] which was then extended to form the current clubhouse. The course was established in the twentieth century and is unique, as it contains two masts, disguised as trees by the side of the fourth fairway.[2]
Course structure
The par for the course is 68, containing seven par 3s, eight par 4s and two par 5s. The longest hole on the course is the 13th, which is 547 yards long, measured from the competition white tees. The shortest hole is the par 3 third, which is 142 yards in length. After the fourth, the player must cross a relatively busy road to get to the remaining holes. Again, after the seventh hole the player must walk along a small path to get to the 8th tee, before returning to the other side to get to the 12th tee. The player crosses the initial busy road after the 16th, to get to the 17th tee.
The course contains relatively wide fairways, though flanked by trees on either side, and bunkers surrounding all of the greens. Three ponds are found on the course, two on the second and one on the fifteenth. The course is quite unique in the way it slopes, giving many holes blind tee shots and approach shots, though most of the holes are straight, with only a few dog-leg holes. Inaccurate drives are punished severely, as there are out of bounds not far off of the fairway on numerous holes.
References
- ↑ "Blackwell Grange Golf Club - Darlington". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 2008-01-13. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
- ↑ The Northern Echo, Mixed welcome for club's fake tree