Hole 10

Hole 10

Sponsored By: Blamire Printers

Having climbed up to the tee you now see St Brandon's Church which has been a place of worship for over 900 years, a fact celebrated in the Club's annual Brancepeth 900 Competition. In the corner of the Church graveyard is Lord Boyne's tomb. Also buried in the graveyard are members of the "Shafto" family and Tom Kirtley who served on the greens staff for over 50 years. The ghost of Bobby Shafto's girlfriend is said to appear during the day on the battlements of the castle, waiting for him to return from the sea.

Whilst waiting to tee off on the back nine holes spare a thought for the numerous plague victims reputed to be buried outside the graveyard wall on the golf course. Plague victims were considered unclean therefore could not be buried in consecrated ground. They were often buried under the cover of darkness and as close to the Church as possible.

Just behind the tee there is a tunnel which was found recently. A number of local archaeologists have visited the site but so far have been unable to identify its purpose. The main part of the tunnel is constructed in natural stone. Some handmade bricks have been used around the entrance and these have been dated to around the end of the 1700's-early 1800's.

Leaving the tee and proceeding down the path to the bridge over Stockley Beck a series of stone steps can be seen on the left. These were built to assist in the counting of migratory fish. Just downstream there is a large deep stone walled pool which was used to "hold" fish for the table at the Castle - the idea of selecting a meal from a tank in a fish restaurant is apparently not new!

Although not as challenging as the 9th, mainly because the green is more receptive to the tee shot, the 10th is still an excellent par 3.