Hole 10 "Road Hole"

Chester-le-street's version of the famous hole but without its own road bunker and, ironically, the only bunkerless hole of the round; yet, like its name-sake, praised and criticised in equal measure. The first of two holes on return to the Park, it climbs from river level, the steepest part of the hill coming in the seventy or eighty yards immediately in front of the elevated green. Before that, a good drive needs to be far enough along the valley but not over far nor over left to avoid the thick area of dense out of bounds woodland that falls away to the Beck. From the centre of the fairway the hole turns sharp right, beyond a dominant group of conifers. The approach up the hill ought to be straight-forward enough but not for anything pulled left. For the longest hitters, though, the temptation to aim directly at the green carries risks: of snarling in the park trees up the right, of approaching the green sideways, more so when the pin is sited on the small lower tier. But at least they are confident of carrying the road; an old cart track, wending its way to the castle, yet still capable of causing problems for shorter hits stuck among the trees.