Factfile
Name: Tyneside Golf Club
Address: Westfield Lane, Ryton, NE40 3QE
Tel: 0191 413 2177 or 0191 413 1600 Pro: 0191 413 2742
Fax: 0191 413 2742
How to get there: Tyneside is seven miles west of Newcastle, off the A695. Head for Ryton and Old Ryton Village and the course is at the far end of the village and signposted. Green fees: £30 a round. Visitors booking advisable and must contact in advance to play at weekends. Societies and group contact the secretary or professional for rates and bookings in in advance.
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Tyneside is one of the Tyne Valley's real gems. Tucked away close to Old Ryton Village, it is truly a wonderful course set in beautiful surroundings with picturesque views. It's also a very good test of golf with natural hazards and carefully placed bunkers but it also has forgivingly wide fairways on many holes. With a par of 70 measuring only 6,009 yards off the white tees, it's by no means a killer on the legs, but there are some climbs to negotiate here and there. An indication of the quality of the course is the number of quality golfers the club produces and it's no surprise they figure regularly as winners of their local league and county competitions. It's not an easy start with the par four opening hole requiring an accurate and long drive to avoid the bunker on the left but that's the line you need to take with trees all down the right hand side. Too far left and you'll have a tough shot in. It's tough enough anyway with many requiring a mid-iron to a well bunkered green with trouble behind it. The second at 446 yards and a par four is reckoned to be the toughest hole on the course. Our of bounds down the left plus a pond which you can't see from the tee will make most favour the right hand side of the fairway and then it's a blind shot to the green which is tucked into the corner with out of bounds still threatening. There's a bit of relief at the next, a 371 yard par four, but you do have to get the drive up and over the hill to get a sight of the green. However, it is a chance of give the tee shot a bit of a biff. The second should be no more than a mid to short iron but it's a tricky green and you do not want to be too long here. The fourth is a very good par four with no reward for cutting the ball away to the right where all the trouble is but a good drive will see you standing over the second down to the green over the swale. The fifth, at 389 yards, is another good par four. Again, the premium is on the drive with out of bounds on the left and trees on the right. A good shot would be right of centre leaving another mid iron to a big green. A feature of Tyneside is the par threes and at 195 yards the sixth is a real cracker. It really does need a long accurate iron or even a little wood to the two-tier green and with out of bounds all the way along the left and more trouble behind the green, you have to get the club selection right ... it's usually more than you think! The seventh is a great par five at 519 yards with a drive over the brow of the hill and then the chance to get up in two if you take it on, but with a massive valley/swale in front of the green, it might be better to lay up and then play a delicate pitch up to the raised green. The eighth at 333 yards is one of the easier par fours on the course but it's a question of getting the drive into the right place, avoiding the trees on the right and the tangled rough and slope to the left. Do that and it's a wedge into the green. Then it's on to another cracking par three of just 148 yards, but it's played from a raised tee across the valley to a green tucked into the side of the hill ... an excellent short hole. The 10th is the second of the par fives at 486 yards and the problem for some here will be to carry the ditch crossing the fairway, but is a a spectacular drive from the raised tee to the fairway below and the second is a difficult shot uphill to a green where you can't see the bottom of the flag. It might be on in two for the big hitters but they will need to be very accurate with the second as everything falls away to the left of the green. The 11th at 355 yards may not seem to be a difficult par four but it can be if you miss the fairway, It's the second shot that will test with the ditch running across and to the right of the green which is tucked away again. It's a bit of a climb up the tee for the 170 yard 12th but it's worth it for the view alone and this is a good par three where club selection and accuracy is vital. The second may be the stroke one hole and reckoned to be the toughest, but many will opt for the 13th, popularly known as the coffin hole, as the real test of Tyneside. Whether it's called the coffin hole because of the shape of it's long narrow fairway and green or because it's been the death of many a good card, is a matter of conjecture, suffice to say it is a real tester. It may well not be a driver off the tee, despite it being 408 yards, because of the narrowness of the fairway with trees on the left and a slope covered with deep rough on the right. A long iron or fairway wood might be best and then it's a question of getting the club selection right again for the green which is built into the side of the hill and anything left will not make it and may not be seen again! The 14th and 15th comes as something of a relief after that, but both need good drives at 302 yards at the 14th over the brow of the hill, but it is a birdie chance while the 15th at 271 yards can be driven, but beware of finishing above the hole because the slope of the green is severe. The 16th is a delightful par three of 117 yards with the tee sheltered by trees and the green ringed by bunkers and the final two holes give Tyneside a really good finish. At 17 the drive has to be long and favour the left hand side of the fairway but avoiding some massive trees and at 379 yards it's a tricky par four. The 18th at 384 yards involves a bit of a blind drive downhill and you have to be straight to set up the chance of making the green. The facilities in the clubhouse are of the highest order with an excellent lounge and bar area and dining room. The club have launched a big drive to recruit more lady members and have enlisted the help of their new professional Geoff Dixon. The ladies also have their own reserved tee times and competitions on Sundays and also mid-week while Tyneside ladies play in the Durham County Leagues and have won the Anderson Shield for the past three years. Further information can be obtained from Geoff or from the club secretary. | 
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