De Vere Slaley Hall Hotel, Golf Resort and Spa
Reviews for the Priestman course are listed on this page
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I've played this course a few times and have to say that it is truly a wonderful young course that will only get better with time. All the holes are challenging, though would be more so with the addition of some fairway bunkers as the tee shots don't test the player as much as they could, though club selection is vital.

The 2nd is an excellently designed dogleg par four, which heavily penalises anything that's not well left on the fairway.

The 4th is also an excellent par 5, with the large lake in front and to the left of the small green testing the golfer's nerve of hitting their long irons to the green for the chance for eagle. The same is true for the 10th, which is true par 5. From the yellow tees a 270-yard tee shot still leaves 251 yards to the green and a carry of 230 yards to cover a pond in front of the green. Those strong off the tee will make it in two but others will struggle and so laying up with a 7 or 8 iron will be the more likely option. The dogleg fourteenth is also smashing. A big drive with a strong draw (300 yards) could carry the small stream and leave a short sand / lob wedge. Otherwise it's play to the right of the fairway to leave the best possible shot at the elevated green.

The 16th, an uphill 464-yard par 5 plays more like 520 yards and again tests the golfer with dense forest along the right of the fairway and a stream at driving distance. The green is small and hidden from view for the second shot so laying up is the better option though you have to lay up within 80 yards to not be playing from a relatively steep uphill lie. What a corker!
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The course is a great test and even the best golfers will find it very challenging playing from the green tees (6951 yards) with a SSS of 73 and a par of 72. Both of Slaley's courses are worth playing and I would recommend anyone to spend a weekend at the hotel, let the wife visit the health and beauty spa while you play true championship courses that the European tour visits.
Daniel Brennan (djb67@cam.ac.uk) 01/01


Set in the shadows of the established Hunting course the Priestman offers much but ultimately fails to deliver. The course has been designed to be a little more playable for the weaker player and in that respect it succeeds, but it has been achieved by having a complete absence of fairway bunkers (nearly) which could have made the course ten times more interesting, presented a challenge to every class of golfer and given the course some definition.

The condition of the greens are absolutely first class and for this the greenkeepers must be applauded. I feel that if some alterations are made to this course it could potentially become one of the best in Northumberland.

It is not a good first hole, the large bunker twenty yards short of the green in the middle of the fairway is of no obstacle to the expert golfer and only aggravates the high handicapper. The 2nd is a good hole and the 3rd is arguably the best on the course, a par three, which just melts into the landscape. The 4th is the course's signature hole but is one of the worst holes I have ever played, the placement of the water hazard gives the golfer cheap thrills and demotes the hole greatly. There is then a string of good holes with the long 8th and links-like 9th being the pick of the bunch.
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The back nine has been touted as potentially part of the Ryder Cup course if Slaley get the 2009 vote. The 10th is a good par five, which is spoilt by having a blind water hazard just short of the green and the next is a delightful little par three. The next two holes are par fours and offer the golfer options but with a little tinkering could be made much better. The 14th is certainly the best hole on the front nine, you tee off over a small ravine onto a plateau before crossing another ravine up to the raised green: this is a very good hole. It is followed by a strong par three before a long walk to the gruelling 16th which has an amazing creek running across it which hasn't been taken full advantage of. The next two holes are OK but don't exactly inspire the golfer, the 18th being quite an interesting hole with an oddly angled green.

Overall this is not a bad effort for a new course and has the potential to be even better. 68%
A MacKenzie
Fox Mulder (alistermackenzie@hotmail.com)11/99