Rockliffe Hall review

Graeme Bailey and Mark Kendall head to the North East to check out Rockliffe Hall's oustanding new golfing facility.

Skysports.com checks out Rockliffe Hall's oustanding new golfing facility

Rockliffe Hall has certainly thrown down the gauntlet, challenging not just courses in the North East but around the country. The new course, situated in the Tees Valley near Darlington, is a masterpiece. Located at Hurworth and on the same complex as Middlesbrough Football Club's training HQ, Rockliffe has been over two years in the making. At 7,879 yards off its 'Gold Tees', Rockliffe is the longest golf course in Europe and, with the overall development costing upwards of £50million, it is also one of the most expensive ever built. The fact Rockliffe has been allowed to mature is a major plus point, indeed if you had not been told only the array of baby trees in the already shockingly tough whispy grass would give it away. When you arrive at Rockliffe you are greeted by the friendly golf team who take your clubs from you to clean as you park up a few hundred yards away. You could be forgiven for thinking this kind of touch is reserved to carry favour with media visitors, especially those known to be reviewing the course. However, that is not the case with Golf Director Ian Knight explaining that this perk is reserved for everybody. "The service is something we feel is a special touch, and will be available for everyone, be it members, hotel guests or day visitors." Knight proceeds to show us round the distinctly tasteful club house, complete with grass roof which serves to hide the structure almost completely until you actually approach it. Everything is completed to a phenomenally high specification and yet it is not over-stated, it has just a stylish, elegant yet laid-back feel that seems to sum up the whole club. It really sells itself. As we are shown around the academy just a few hundred yards away, the experience Rockliffe is about to offer begins to hit home. We are shown around the beautifully appointed range - complete with fully prepared grass tee area - together with one of the most hi-tech teaching bay surely available in the country; numerous cameras, computers, digital screens and a retractable cover to ensure it is useable in the winter. But one thing missing from the range is the inevitable token machine. Why? Well it's another part of the Rockliffe experience, the range is free. Members can come and hit 1,000 balls a day if they so please, whilst guests and day members can do the same before they tee off. Too good to be true? You might think so and we certainly were as we arrived back at the club house via a good long gaze at the daunting-looking 18th. And strangely enough that was about all we could see as, even though we were an hour into our stay, we had yet to encounter another golfer. But this is another part of the Rockliffe scheme - as sales manager Jonny Mould explained.

An experience

"The whole experience of Rockliffe is just that, we want it to be an experience. So that means no hanging around on tees waiting and taking hours upon hours to get around, that is why members will be limited - initially to around 300. "We want people to come and play, simple as that - we have a magnificent facility and that is what we want them to enjoy." Interesting thought, we all raised an eyebrow at the limitation, but the appeal of coming to play on a Saturday or Sunday in the peak of summer and not waiting for a tee is surely worth its weight in gold. Talking of membership, we could not avoid the question - how much for the right to play Rockliffe? Well membership is around £2,000, which might sound a lot, but as pointed out to us it equates to £20 per round if you were to play twice a week.

But that won't be possible I hear you say! Think again. "We will not be having any winter tees or winter greens," confirmed Knight. "The course has been designed in such a way that, with all the drainage work, we will not be bringing them in making the course playable all year around." So to the main event and we are transported round to the first tee box in gleaming new buggies. A short debate ensues as to which of the five tee areas to use, predictably Gold and Black are summarily dismissed, and in the end conservatism wins the day as yellows are selected ahead of the whites. In hopeful mood we ponder whether the course record could be under threat given the course is only a matter of days old - but alas the neighbouring football community had seen to it that the best score would not be under threat with Middlesbrough midfielder Gary O'Neil already having posted a superb 69 off the yellows. The first hole is nice-looking opener. Down the left is the ninth fairway intersected by a mini-forest of very well matured trees, something the course designers have used throughout and a feature that would certainly come into play in the hours ahead. On the right stretches the 18th fairway, but with some treacherous long rough providing a formidable boundary from the first. The whole course, as we find out to our peril, is bordered by long wispy grass, reminiscent of any Championship links. With relatively successful tee-shots launched, it's into the buggies and down the fairway where we come across the first distance markers. Now Rockliffe has no 150 markers, no 200 markers - so what do we do? Well you use one of the near 50 sprinkler heads on every fairway. Each head has its own individual yardage on it so no matter where you end, provided it's on the cut stuff, you are never more than 10 feet away from an exact yardage.

Invaluable touch

A simple yet invaluable touch... not that it does much good as two of our four approaches find the superbly cut greenside bunkers. Half the party think the bunkers look wonderful, a veritable work of art, the other half have to try and play out of them! First hole, bunkers included, is negotiated and we halve in five.After an appealing par three second, the next is a par-five that only the long, brave or foolish will go for in two given a well-placed lake guarding the green and yet we almost witness history as our own Mr Kendall comes within millimetres of his first ever eagle - still the birdie-four is good enough to secure the hole. On so on to the fourth - the stroke index one and not too dissimilar to the Hazeltine's signature 16th. You are asked to drive over water, which continues to your right, and avoid the rough to the left to find the narrow fairway. A spectacular and daunting-looking hole, a decent drive actually presents an easier challenge than anticipated from the tee, indeed in many ways we feel the decision to make this the stroke index one is a mere way of luring you in to thinking that the course has already shown its teeth... in fact it hasn't even grinned at you! Next up is what will surely become Rockliffe's landmark hole - the island hole. Perhaps coming a little early in the round, it is as daunting a tee-shot as you could imagine. There is not much to say about the island hole really, well nothing that you can't imagine. It is a green in the middle of a big lake, and you need to hit it! Simple, well it was for one of our party, Adam, who hit the target, but not for the rest and a mixture of water and sand were to follow! As we progressed through the front nine the true extent of the course's complexity becomes evident, the design is outstanding as your rarely come across the other holes - your eye never drawn away from the hole you are playing... which is helpful as stray balls are quickly swallowed up. But it's a course that allows you to play, you can even be aggressive from time to time but that is part of the charm, it lures you in.

Signature hole

If the island hole is the signature hole, then the seventh is not far behind - one of the most imposing, par-fives I have ever come across, 664 yards of the back tees. Bunkers litter the landing area before another shot of 250 to 300 yards to a small green with a huge roll off area to the front left. A seven, which half our group achieve, is no mean feat! The ninth is soon upon us and it's a nice way to end the outward-half, snaking its way back up to the pristine 5-star hotel. The view is an imposing one, reminiscent even of the new Turnberry hotel over looking the 2009 Open Championship venue. The hole is negotiated well enough and we take a nice lead through to the back-nine. As we approach the 11th I make an ill-advised comment to Mark along the lines of how great it is that I have yet to lose a ball... predictably enough 30 seconds later, splash! The golfing gods decide to knock this writer down a peg or two... and on what a hole to do so! A big dog leg left, with a huge lake on the left that dances around your mind as you prepare to tee off. It is long enough that if you do opt for an iron lay-up, more than 200 yards still awaits you - a great hole, and even though I saw water, one of the best on the course without a doubt. We wind our way out to the further reaches of the course, but you never feel detached and we soon arrive at the 15th, a truly frightening par-three... as if the island wasn't! Measuring some 170 yards off the yellows, straight into the wind, with water right and a plethora of sand on the left. It is an achievement that one of our four finds the green with a par ensuing. The par actually means our pairs matchplay continues up the 16th and along another testing par-five which is halved. The 17th, a wonderful-looking hole with a pond, not too far from resembling a lagoon, down the left stretching almost all of the way to the green whilst the fairway, all the time creeping towards the water, is again guarded by thick rough and bunkers to the right. The entire party emerge with credit, but a half in par sees us lose 2 and 1 - a decent effort, but it would have been nice to take it down the last.

Easy on the eye

Easy on the eye, the 18th is dominated by two huge chestnut trees which guard the corner and an easy entrance to the fairway. The hole is testing enough as it is, but a few years down the line it will become a gem of a closing hole when further foliage has had the chance to mature. Our group finishes with a bunch of fives... scores that is, not a melee over the £20 prize-pot on the final green. Once again the Rockliffe staff are on hand to greet us and take our bags back round to the front as we make our way the spikes bar (only in name!) and then the terrace. Again, doubts as to whether this is standard practice are allayed as, about half-an-hour later with score calculations still being argued, we see another party finish and greeted in similar manner. And so ended a stunning day. Indeed perhaps the most telling thing to say is that we found no need for embellishment, no need to smooth over rough corners. Rockliffe Hall is quite simply a five-star hotel resort, with a five-star plus golf course. For more information on Rockliffe Hall - please visit their website http://www.rockliffehall.com - or please contact Golf Sales manager Jonny Mould - jonny@rockliffehall.com