Whitburn Golf Club to host top tournament after six-figure facelift

Whitburn Golf Club is a fairway towards going green.

The club has installed solar power on the clubhouse and is examining wind as a further means to cuts its bills.

And the final stages of work to replant wild flowers and gorse is under way as part of a major overhaul of the course.

Now members are celebrating news that they will host a major North East tournament after the six-figure course refit scored a hole-in-one with organisers.

The club, which overlooks Marsden Bay, will stage this year’s Durham County Seniors Championship over the weekend of June 26-27, 2024.

The event will showcase the course at its best after the completion of renovation work financed by a six-figure interest-free loan from a club member and a £14,000 donation from the FairWays Foundation for the replanting of heather and gorse bushes and native wild flowers on the course.

The final phase of the work - improvements to the last five holes - is close to completion.

Club officials and volunteers led by head greenkeeper Eddie Cuthbert have worked for almost two years with golf course contractor Charlie Greasley to implement course architect Jonathan Gaunt’s comprehensive redevelopment plan.

Both men have been frequent visitors to the club and have also agreed to advise on the environmental enhancement of the course with the planting of the heather/gorse and wild flowers.

The new plants will add the final touches to a major project which has included renovation of the majority of bunkers, new tees, re-alignment of some fairways and the return of the course to 6,000-plus yards which will be a decent test for the Seniors Championship.

Club treasurer and director Mark Newton said: "This grant assists us to maintain our attractiveness to both members and visitors alike, which is the mainstay of our survival, particularly in the current economic climate of higher inflation and high energy costs.

"We have embraced solar power on our clubhouse and would like to further investigate wind power to achieve our aim of carbon zero and nil energy costs into the future."