Hole 9

Sponsored By: Choice

This is the signature hole of Brancepeth Castle Golf Course and the area it occupies was part of the Castle gardens. Many of the numerous paths and walkways in those gardens are still visible today. In front of the tee and to the left is a magnificent cedar tree. This is "Cedrus Libani" ssp Atlantico Glauca otherwise known as the Cedar of Lebanon. It has been said that this particular tree was planted to commemorate a visit by old Queen Mary to Brancepeth Castle. 

This area contains an interesting collection of conifers and other trees including a Walnut tree which still produces nuts from time to time, a Cryptomeria Japonica and some fine Lime trees.

When the player has left the tee and started walking down the path towards the stream the paths that criss-cross this area can be clearly seen to the left. From the bridge, the steps that lead down to stepping stones across the beck can be clearly seen. The gateway from the Castle grounds into the gardens is also still visible amongst the shrubbery. The bridge crosses Stockley Beck from which not so long ago the golf course took its water. 

The old diesel powered pump unit which still stands as a reminder of the past is located just above the waterfall which can be seen from the bridge. Like the 2nd the green at the 9th was cut out of the hillside using hand tools only. The difference here is that the tee shot of about 200 yards is played along the length of a narrow green which slopes away from the tee. Having hit what is a very difficult target the player may be faced with a downhill putt on a green which in Summer is incredibly fast. It is a truly memorable hole about which Peter Alliss has said that if he could choose 18 holes around which to create a golf course, the 9th at Brancepeth would certainly be one of them. In an American golf magazine it was recently adjudged to be the hardest 9th hole in the world.