The NCG Podcast: The golf course they’re ripping up and starting again
What a time to buy a golf club. The team who own Prince’s branched out and acquired Chart Hills late last year – the club best known for being Sir Nick Faldo’s first European design and infamous for its bunkers – and unveiled some big plans.
Then coronavirus struck and threw the entire industry into shutdown for almost two months.
But they have pressed on following the resumption as they aim to restore what they consider to be a sleeping giant.
The 250 acre property is being extensively redeveloped and improved, with work taking place on all 18 holes, along with a new driving range, refurbished clubhouse and upgraded practice facilities.
Leading the project is Chart Hills’ director of golf Ant Tarchetti. We talked to him about Covid-19, what’s going on at the Kent property and how he hopes the complex can finally fulfil its potential.
The NCG Podcast with Chart Hills director of golf Ant Tarchetti
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Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
