Bertie hits a hat-trick with a trio of course reviews for us this month…

Out of the courses we have played on the Northumbria coast Bamburgh Castle has the most impressive clubhouse by quite some distance, however dogs are not allowed.

It is also the expensive at £70 each. The Northumbria way goes through the course so it would be difficult to ban dogs from the course. It’s a very good course with excellent greens and has the real feel of a well established serious links course.

There are stunning views of Bamburgh castle as you would expect as well as lovely beaches on the other side of the course. On a clear day you can see Lindisfarne or Holy Island. This is an undulating course so there are a lot of shots from difficult lies on sloping fairways. One hole is a tricky blind shot onto a green you cannot see which for a first-time visitor was quite an experience. We lost one but found one (It was mine we couldn’t find!).

Bamburgh Castle a beautiful course that is really challenging and having Bertie with us was not a problem.

This is the top end of our golfing experience and we would not have a bad word said about it but its not a personal favourite just because there are other courses so similar for much less money. However, I do agree with the clubs policy of having a very reasonable annual memberships fee (half of what I pay in Lancashire) and charging the tourist as much as possible.

Bertie takes us “home” today for a look at her family course, Dunstanburgh…

This is not a fair review, this is unashamedly the Brown family’s favourite golf course.

Dunstanburgh is a links course that after the the first takes you up a stiff climb to the second. You then play another five holes including an incredibly tricky par 3 onto an elevated green to a drive off the cliff and back to the beach side course. This gives you a stunning view of the course, the beach and the ruined castle on top of a volcanic rock cliff. The castle is so remote those wishing to visit it have to walk over a mile along the Northumbria Way to get to it.

There is a signature par 3 over a ravine onto an isolated green only accessible via a path directly under the castle. Before we played golf i remember being on the castle walls watching golfers play this hole.

The value for money here is exceptional, for £130 we got 2 rounds of golf, 3 bacon sandwiches and a brew and a hot lunch afterwards of pizza or burgers and chips, plus a buggy. Dunstanburgh is often listed in golf magazine articles about undiscovered golf courses and recently a number of high-profile golf influencers have done videos about the course. In our opinion if you can only play one course on the Northumbria coast make this one, and a couple we met on the course were playing it for the second time that week.

We have played it at least three times and i was surprised when i realised i had not reviewed it previously.

Now we are lucky in that we have a non-golfer with us and Katie and Bertie disappeared off the course for run on the beach.

The clubhouse is reasonably-sized and Bertie is not allowed in but there are numerous tables and a large veranda outside. This is also a stopping point for ramblers so its a very busy clubhouse offering lots of choices from the catering department.

Dunstanburgh is so good they have a waiting list for members, not many golf courses and say that these days!

On our way out of the car park just teeing it up was a golfer and his sheepdog.

Keep swinging dog golfers and put this on your bucket list but just don’t tell anyone else about it!!!!

Dog Golf’s most active rover correspondent, Bertie, has been hitting the fairways again sharing her experiences for us all…

We spend a week in Northumbria every year now and Seahouses is the last 18 hole course we have played on this stretch of the coast from Alnmouth to Bamburgh (Reviews for Bamburg and Dunstanburgh Castle to follow).

The course is partly links and parkland and was founded in 1913 and they have a couple of signature par 3 holes which include shots over water.

Dogs are very welcome and the website has a lovely logo describing the club as dog friendly, dogs are aloowed in the clubhouse but not the restaurant. There several footpaths crossing the course to the beach so there is a lot of dog walkers crossing the course and we were not the only golfers with a dog.

Its a good course and they have a dynamic pricing system starting at £35 for peak tee times to £20 for late afternoon. They were advertising winter membership of £140, an absolute bargain!!

Everyone was really friendly and we met members out on the course who were not phased at Berties presence. Bertie has got his golf legs now, he wants to be out an about for the first 4 or 5 holes then he jumps in the buggy and occassionly jogs alongside the buggy, but mostly sits on your knee!!

There are great views overlooking the sandy beach and there were kestrals patrolling the rough.

If you play golf, have a dog and want to do both together Seahouses is the perfect starter course for you.

Our latest guest post from Bertie (and his persons Steve and Mrs. Brown) not only provides another pooch perspective on par play, but also highlights the imperative to “keep asking”. While Dog Golf UK tries to keep its database up-to-date, my experience has been that policies change from time to time. Usually this shift has been the unfortunate case of being informed that a course doesn’t welcome dogs after all despite someone telling me previously that they did (I document all my calls to clubs who tell me they allow dogs). In the case of today’s Sedbergh, the report is a fortunate addition to the database. When I had contacted Sedburgh previously, they said that dogs were not allowed,. But when Bertie did a round and I double checked, they were hesitant but in the end said that people did bring their dogs on the low periods of Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Thanks to Bertie for not just another review, but also another course for people to check out:

Another weekend away with friends who have a place at Barnard Castle, and we needed a course we could play and have lunch. We settled on Sedbergh and what a gem of a course. Nine holes (18 tees) and it is immaculate.

Some very tricky holes, with drives over river gorges, water features and some tricky undulating ground. This is a course that no one will take apart.

Its £15 for 9 holes and having a dog is not a problem. The owner is on site and very welcoming, his son is the greenskeeper. There is a fabulous clubhouse, more of that later.

The first hole is tricky with hole protected by bunkers, unseen, the second a drive across the river onto a green. Then a short walk takes you to the third well over 500 yards and you can see a Victorian iron railway bridge behind the green. It is a very picturesque course.

You have great views of the Yorkshire dale. Another par 5 has the green protected by a ring of water. Eventually we arrive at the 9th. A green you feel you can reach. On our visit there were two societies starting off on our return.

Dogs are not allowed in the clubhouse but they serve one of the best steak and ale pies this northern lad has ever had on the verandah. Mrs. Browns’ fish pie was also excellent.

What of Bertie our Tibetan Terrier, after all this is about golfing with dogs. I think Bertie has decided that golf balls are not worth chasing. He allows us to play our shots, and whereas once he had to have his own ball he isn’t interested now. We do use a lead to tie him up when teeing off and putting wherever possible. We have a long lead and he now trots happily alongside us, we do stand on the lead if we need to do so. He still won’t sit and look at the camera for the killer photo!

The big problem I have is not controlling a dog while playing, but the fact Mrs. Brown is obviously already a better golfer than me and the gap is only getting wider!

And other delightful account from the roving northern Dog Golf correspondent team of Bertie and Steve:

Having visited the highest and oldest nine hole golf courses on this holiday we then played Alnwick Castle. This would be easier for controlling Bertie as we were joined by the youngest daughter. On arrival went in to pay, told the lady the secretary had said we could bring a dog, she didn’t bat an eyelid “no problem”.

Now Alnwick Castle is a real 18 hole course, and it is a club that is on the up. I understand the Duke of Northumberland owns the land. While we were there work had started on a new club house and there will also be a number of expensive properties built on the outer edge of the course.

It is £15 a round and a small charge for trolleys and the current clubhouse is next to one and eighteen so nine if furthest from the clubhouse, this will change as the new clubhouse is right in the middle of the course.

The day we went there was a seniors competition on and none of these even noticed the dog. Mrs B parred a short par 3, well done her. Couple of seniors saw her drive the ball straight onto the green and then me shank it wide left onto their tee. They were still waiting to play as we arrived and the old fellas just gave me that pitying look as i was clearly being outclassed. One whispered “My wife does that when i play with her as well”!

The course opens up into an open parkland course with good views of the surrounding countryside. There are some steep climbs but overall it was in excellent condition. There were lots of ground staff knocking about and they all waved and said hello as wed passed with Bertie.

On returning to the clubhouse for a drink the bar staff insisted that Bertie be served first taking a bowl of water out to him before we could even order ours!

It is a good course and the addition of a new clubhouse will really enhance the experience, we speculated about buying one of the houses should our lottery numbers come in.

Bertie (and Steve) provides another first-hand report on a Northumberland course while Grace relaxes in the backyard for a well-deserved break and a bit of recuperation:

Alnmouth Village Golf Club is the reason why we took up golf. When Bertie was a puppy we stayed in Alnmouth and Bertie loved the beach so much we have been back a few times. There is a magnificent nine hole course between the village and the beach, it really is stunning. We always said it would be great to play the course hence we started golf lessons and this was the first time we would actually play the course instead of just walking the dog on it!

We played twice, once just us and then with another couple who came to stay for a couple of days, they have a Jack Russell. Alnmouth must be the most dog friendly place in Britain, dogs are welcome everywhere.

The clubhouse has lots of picnic tables and dogs are welcome inside as well. They do the whole range from bacon butties to Sunday lunch. It’s incredibly friendly and £15 for nine holes. Trolleys, just help yourself and put them back afterwards.

The course is flat apart from one hole, the sixth. You drive up onto the plateau onto another fairway with a short iron shot onto the most elevated green, it’s a short sharp incline and its a blind shot requiring you to ring the bell for the next group to play.

The next tee gives you amazing panoramic views of the course and Northumbrian shore. It’s a quite satisfying tee shot as you see your ball fall downwards onto the fairway below. It’s a typical links course and if your ball disappears into the rough don’t bother looking for it!!!

Members are so used to dogs, as we played and crossed other parties they would wave ask if we were on holiday and pass on tips for the next hole. On one occasion we were just walking Bertie on the path alongside the course watching others play. Bertie spotted a ball on the fairway and ran to retrieve it with two mortified owners running after him. The four ball just fell about laughing while the owner of the ball just complained that Bertie could have dropped it nearer the hole.

Alnmouth Village Golf Club is England’s oldest nine hole course and remains an enduring course to play you are ever anywhere near.

I am sad to report that Grace might just be entering dog golfing retirement as she is suffering from a lame right-rear leg making it very difficult to walk. The debilitation has slowed her down and is combined with some other indications that she is simply becoming a very old girl (14 years old in a few weeks). I am happy to report that one of Dog Golf UK’s supporters, Bertie (and his person, Steve Brown, unofficial “northern correspondent”) has stepped up to share a number of guest posts from their recent Northumbria golf tour. Thanks Bertie (and Steve)!

Alston Moor Golf Club – The highest golf course in England. Bertie, our Tibetan terrier is two and a half years old. Having a dog changes a lot of what you and where you go on holiday. We have now gone to the same Northumbria cottage three times since we got Bertie. During that time we have also started playing golf, so whereas the three hour drive from Lancashire to the cottage would have been broken up with a quick stroll along Hadrians Wall we now look for golf courses!

So Alston Moor Golf Club fitted that description perfectly. It is a remote course with wonderful views of the North Pennine moors. I had emailed the club secretary who made it clear Bertie would be welcome. It was £15, which is outstanding value.

On arrival we were welcomed by the secretary and as the weather was bad we had the golf course to ourselves. The course has ten greens, nine holes with eighteen tees. The course was in really good condition with some tricky holes. The course also had two defibrillators, it is a steep climb back towards the clubhouse! The clubhouse was closed while we were there so plan to not have access to standard facilities.

We saw deer just yards from the course and bertie had a great time.

What did we learn about dog golfing? If you hook him up to the trolley he pulls it over. And, we need a second lead to attach him to benches etc while we tee off. Eventually we gave in and gave him his own golf ball.

Alston Moor will definitely be visited again on our journeys north.