The first three holes are over 400 yards long and are rated the hardest start to any golf course in County Durham. The fourth is a dogleg, which is well guarded with bunkers. Fifth hole has a wide fairway but demands an accurate 2nd shot to hit a green that slopes away from the player. The sixth hole, the first of 4 par three holes is a daunting prospect for a high handicap player its 175 yards requiring a carry of 100 yards to avoid a ravine. The seventh hole has a line of trees across the fairway 200 yards from the tee, these are to be negotiated to approach to the green. The trees again come into the reckoning when playing the eighth hole, but being only 150 yards away, players can easily hit over. The ninth hole is the second par three hole and rounds off the first nine. The 10th hole, a par 5, has an interesting backdrop of a castle built by Colonel Burdon, a local Coal Mine owner, in the early part of the century. The 11th hole is a short par three. The 12th and 13th holes are long par 4's, a feature of the 13th is the hollow on the left of the fairway, which is the site of an air crash during the Second World War (1942). Club Captains, accompanied by the local vicar, still visit the spot on Remembrance Day, marking the spot with a wooden cross. The last 6 holes present a tough finish, not least the 15th a 464-yard hole with trees aligning the fairway.