Factfile
Name: Bedale Golf Club
Address: Leyburn Road, Bedale, North Yorkshire, DL8 1EZ
Tel: 01677 422 451 Fax: 011677 422 443
Web: Bedale Golf Club Email: Bedale
How to get there: From the A1 at Leeming Bar, take the A684 into Bedale market place. Continue on the A684 towards Leyburn. The clubhouse is situated on the left, just past the parish church, on the outskirts of the town.
Green fees: Adult visitors, weekday round £26, full day £32, weekend round £36. Junior half adult price. 2 for 1: weekday £13, weekend £18. Membership: Available (no entry fee, annual subscription £545).
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North Yorkshire boasts some truly inspiring and varied golf courses. From the majestic cliff-hugging coastal tracks at Hunley Hall and Whitby to the treacherous links at Cleveland and the heathland at Ganton, the county really does offer great variety at every turn. But the lovely Dales setting of Bedale Golf Club has to be one of the nicest places to play - it's something of an undiscovered gem for one thing, and it offers two challenges in one, for another. On the one hand, Bedale is a truly stunning natural parkland course, sitting beautifully in the former grounds of Bedale Hall with its mature old trees, rambling streams and fine, rolling undulations. On the other, its highest point has moorland character exposed to prevailing winds, with bog and the odd gorse bush to contend with. The lay-out is so seductive that it was chosen as the location for a golf match that was featured on the ITV show Heartbeat, more often based on the rugged North York Moors of course. Bedale is also regularly used for prestigious local amateur tournaments. And then there's the recently refurbished and extended clubhouse, which offers top-notch bar and restaurant facilities and up-to-the-minute locker rooms. Club pro Tony Johnson has a well-stocked shop and a first-class teaching operation. It all adds up to a pretty exciting package that should appeal to just about any category of golfer. North Yorkshire Sport were certainly impressed as they made Bedale the North Yorkshire Sports Club of the Year for 2005 while the club also gained the coveted Junior Golf Mark last year, ensuring its programme for youngsters is right up to scratch. The course Founded in 1894, Bedale is situated in an enviable location on the edge of Wensleydale in the gateway to the Dales. The location affords some lovely views of some of the most idyllic and inspiring countryside in the UK. Originally a nine-hole course, the club moved twice locally before returning to their original home in 1967, offering 18 holes. Things get started with an apparently pretty straightforward 260-yard (off yellow) par 4 that offers a decent, confidence-building birdie. But, like many things on this tricky and thought-provoking lay-out, it's not that simple. In favourable conditions, big hitters can go for the green from the tee of course, but it's well guarded by bunkers and reached through a very narrow corridor of large trees. It is better to lay-up short of the pond and then find an accurate approach shot. The second is a 483-yard par 5 that looks like a banana and doglegs right at halfway. Good straight hitting is the key here with another narrow approach through trees and some strategically-placed bunkers. The third is a testing 394-yard par 4 that has a narrow tee shot. It doglegs right too and the green is guarded by a ditch to the front, out of bounds to the right, a tree and a drop away on the left. Careful shot selection required. The fourth and fifth are both par 4s (of 407 and 342 yards respectively) with doglegs left. The fourth is long and narrow all the way with trees providing the main hurdle while the fifth has a stream running in front of a green that has bunkers all around. There's another par 4 at six, though only of 316 yards. Trees and bunkers make it less easy than it appears though and most will be pleased to make a par at this hole. There's another par 5 at seven, this time of 484 yards. Here, the course moves into a separate area of land that runs immediately next to the first section and is fairly similar in its parkland character. There's out of bounds and thick trees all the way along the right, which slopes away somewhat alarmingly, more strategically-placed bunkers on the fairway and to both sides of the green. The eighth is a real test - a big par 4 that comes in at 429 off the yellow tees, it's feature is another narrow tee-shot, though if you can get one past the clump of trees around the 220-mark, you should be able to get one up pretty close to the green. The front nine are completed by a tricky little par 3 of just 158 yards. The green is protected by a fierce battery of bunkers that will snap up anything short - and anything just off the back of the green or to either side is likely to go out of bounds. Beware! The back nine kicks off with a long, straight, very narrow 521-yard par 5. There are trees all over the place, including the middle of the fairway!. The 11th takes you into the third area of the course - the moorland section, which was bought as a 30-acre site back in 1989 and woven into the existing lay-out by golf architects Hawtrees. They've done a pretty good job too, the only drawback being the fairly long walk from 15 to 16, but it only serves to concentrate the mind for the final three holes that drop back into the first parkland section. But back to the 11th, a 346-yard par 4 that features a dramatic 90 degree dogleg right. Admittedly, it is short enough to try and drive over the corner but there's a pretty thick area of trees waiting to gobble up your ball if you land short and you also have to fly the out of bounds. The green itself is well protected on the front and right by three bunkers. The 12th is a tight little par 3 of 154 yards that is up on the highest part of the course and susceptible to strong cross winds towards the out of bounds. The 13th is another tricky proposition with out of bounds and a bog to the right, which everything conveniently slopes towards. The wind is normally coming towards you, so it's an added test to find the green guarded by three mean-looking sand traps. The last of the moorland holes is a perfectly straight, though undulating, par 4 that comes in at 376 yards off the yellow tees. Hit it nice and straight and then all you have to do to bag your par is negotiate a well bunkered green. The 15th takes you back into the parkland section - and hopefully away from the wind. A 351-yard par 4, it is designed around a narrow fairway, hugged by out of bounds to the right. It's called the Reveller after a racehorse that is supposedly buried beneath the tee. The 16th is the last of the par threes, the final hole in the second section of the course and the shortest hole of the whole lay-out to boot, coming in at just 143 yards. Anything right or back-right nd you'll be out of bounds, anything short and you'll probably catch sand but there's plenty of room back-left to play with. The 17th is a 345-yard par 4 that needs some straight hitting to start with before an accurate approach shot to a devilishly well guarded green that is surrounded by big trees pretty much all around its entrance. The last is a nice sweeping hole to end with. You can see all of its 374 yards from the tee and very inviting it looks too. Watch out for the bunkers around the 200 to 220-yard mark and the out of bounds that hugs the left side of the green, and you could finish in style. At 6,610 off the white tees it's a fair par 72 test that offers the odd prospect of a birdie. But do be careful, some of its invitations, charming as they seem, have hidden perils. Remarkably, the course is seldom closed as it drains naturally well and the dedicated green staff perform wonders in more extreme conditions. The real attraction is in the distinct double nature of the course, with the moorland and parkland sections blending together very nicely. There's no better place to round things off than in the first-floor bar, which benefits from some nice picture windows that overlook both the opening and final holes, as well as a lovely, large terrace that rewards you with sweeping views of the lower parkland section and beyond to Wensleydale. | 
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