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The layout of this golf course is truly poor. On several occasions the tees required us to hit directly over other tees and greens, and the routes from green to tee had us walking back on ourselves and into oncoming players from all over the course.
Especially bad was the par 4 12th - the tees are directly behind the previous par 3 green, and the tee requires you to hit directly back towards the 11th tees, with a public foot path running right behind the tees and all the way along the right of the hole.
Another issue is the yardage markers - they are simply not at the right yardages. On at least 3 holes, the 100 yard markers were placed well over 110 yards from the middle of the greens - as tested against various rangefinders.
The course was kept in fine condition, however the layout really made for a less enjoyable round.
Can’t honestly say we’ll be back, but the woman running the bar was very friendly and we at least enjoyed the drinks.

The course, as far as my group could tell, hasn’t really been improved since it was the municipal Stressholme course. The fairways weren’t cut well, and yet there was mown grass left everywhere. This meant the greens were covered in cut grass, being tracked onto them by every golfer’s shoes.
There are so many near-identical 330-380 yard par 4s, it proves a rather forgettable course, and we probably just won’t be coming back unless it’s a deal for £20 or less - there are far better and more interesting courses in the North East, and often for less than Blackwell’s overpriced full price.

The course is a good length, although in damp conditions it plays very long. At times it’s an odd layout with greens and tees in each other’s way, and there was some standing water around some of the greens.
The bar staff were friendly enough, although the pro didn’t seem the most welcoming.

The staff were rude, instructing us to book through their website instead of here through GolfNow. Incentivise us to do so with deals and better prices, don’t just give me an order.
The groundsmen are a joke - following us hole after hole, sitting in the middle of the fairways while we were stood on the tee boxes, and even driving over the wet greens leaving tyre tracks!
The course itself is dull and forgettable. The signage is poor and the tee boxes are often muddy and uneven. There are next to no yardage markers of any kind, and due to all of these reasons, we had a bad and boring round.
The lack of clubhouse is also a real detractor.

We won’t be back, and we’ll encourage our various societies and groups to look elsewhere. Not good enough.

We loved this course - it’s a good mixture of easier and more challenging holes, making the most of the landscape to be a memorable and interesting course.

The staff were very friendly in the clubhouse.

Our only issue was with the constant dog walkers wandering aimlessly across fairways - at one point a dog off its lead actually picked up my ball from the fairway and marked it with its teeth. The owner didn’t seem the least interested, and I really hate to see dog walkers abusing their privileges and endangering themselves and their animals.
Keep them off the course if they can’t be trusted to keep to the edges and keep their dogs on leads.
We would consider bringing our society to this course, but not while there are dogs roaming free on the course.

We’ve played Barney a few times in the last couple of years, and we’ve always found it relatively challenging but well kept and a joy to play. The abundance of little streams and becks throughout makes for a good challenge if you’re long off the tee, and the bunkers can be nasty traps.
The layout at times can be difficult to grasp - without a map on the scorecard, finding our way from 5th to 6th was a real difficulty and the signage isn’t the best. Really could do with a map on the scorecard, especially as quite a few tee shots are blind and I think it would really improve our experience.

We’ve played Richmond a few times in the past few years, and it’s one of my favourite courses. It’s well kept, the greens are challenging and not easy to read. I like that there are several blind or shorter tee shots too - not every par 4 is a driver, and it requires some real thought at times.

My only comment would be the lack of yardage markers. Why not install coloured posts at the edge of fairways? Currently there is just an often easily-missed yellow 150 marker disc in the ground, and some 200 and 100 yard markers, more easily visible than the current 150 markers, would be a good and helpful addition. At times it can be difficult to gauge distance and the course could do with more markers.

The course is great, quite long - ideal for bigger hitters - and in good condition. It had rained overnight, but there are artificial grass paths where necessary and generally the course and greens were in very good condition. The layout, however, is rather strange at times. Specifically, the 14th tee shoots straight over the 13th green, meaning play on 13th must stop short of the green while the group in front attempts to drive over their green. In our case, this meant standing waiting to play our approach shots, while the group in front hit three drives and two provisionals, then slowly walk on, while two groups behind us had caught us up. After that, play was slow and stunted for the remaining 5 holes, and surely could have been avoided altogether had the old 14th tee on the right side of the 13th fairway - just grow or build something to protect the tee box, and solve the serious issue of backlog on the last quarter of everyone’s rounds!

The first hole, with absolutely no protection from the driving range running parallel, was an interesting sight... And after the second we were utterly lost. Despite the staff’s promise of ‘loads of signage’ there is absolutely no direction between holes 2 and 3. Considering the third hole was at least a 400 yard walk down a track and under a railway bridge, this was quite simply ridiculous.
The score card had no map, again a stupid and lazy decision by the club, and we ended up letting a group play through just so we had someone to follow!

The course itself is nice enough, although rarely does one feel that they’re on the coast - besides one hole showcasing the view of the headland, there is little to no attempt to incorporate the great scenery. Compared to somewhere nice further north such as Warkworth, this course suffers from a distinct lack of imagination and creative setting.

The staff in the clubhouse were pleasant, although it was difficult to attract their attention even in a virtually empty bar, and after speaking to other golfers, this club’s pricing scale - essentially gouging a single player and rewarding a four ball - illustrates a clear contempt for non-members.

No doubt we’ll be back; once you know your way around, the course itself is well kept and all three of us shot 30+ points, but I hope that the club use this unfortunate second lockdown to improve the signage and general attention to detail. Could be much better than it is.

Second time playing here in the past year, and we’ve still yet to play it in decent weather! The course is well kept, no mown grass left, greens play very well and it’s challenging enough to reward both big hitters and good percentage golfers.

One downside was a two-ball behind who teed off far too early and were on our heels for the first 12 - we had a 4 in front, no worth in letting them through - before seemingly giving up due to the light rain. The tee box for the 14th is in a poor location on a busy day since the line is directly over the 13th green... Not sure why it’s been moved from right of the 13th fairway. And while walking down the 14th fairway after hitting drives, one wayward pitch from the two behind narrowly missed me, with no call of fore. We were glad to see them give up and go in.
We saw them in the clubhouse from the 18th green and decided against a drink in the bar - clearly some members need reminding they don’t own the course.

Besides that, we had a good round, shot some low scores and enjoyed our time. And for £17 each through GolfNow, it was great value too.

We’ll be back soon.