Gold is a standard that means something quite different at Rockliffe Hall.
Spare a thought for any poor soul that takes on the County Durham course off the back tees, for they are in for quite a walk.
It’s not a shabby length off the whites – weighing in at 6,848 yards – but, when you go gold, it might be worth stumping up the cash and putting your tired feet up in a golf buggy.
For here, you’ll need to open your shoulders and swing with every fibre of your being.
Six hundred yard par 5s might be in vogue on the PGA Tour but they are still rare on British courses.
Not at Rockliffe Hall. They have three of them, the longest measuring a drive battering 664-yards from the gold markers.
All in all, it adds up to a whopping 7,879-yard course – a test that’s sure to leave even the fittest struggling for breath. Talk about a good walk spoiled.
The shortest par 4 is 399 yards. The par 3 5th, a mere stripling at 181 yards, offers a rare respite. If you can call it that.
Situated in an exposed spot that can be at the mercy of the elements, this course can play like it’s much more than 8,000 yards.
So kudos to Argentine European Senior Tour player Cesar Monasterio, who swept to his maiden victory on the circuit thanks to the help of a jaw-dropping 63 in his second round in 2014.
Big hitters
It’s tiring just thinking about Rockliffe Hall but even this mighty examination has its rivals.
One hole at Styrrup Hall, in Doncaster, accounts for a tenth of the course’s total yardage.
The par 5 Jousters Gallop, the 3rd hole, measures an eye watering 712-yards off the back tee. Yes, you read that right. 700-plus yards.
We wouldn’t get there in five shots.
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But even that can be beaten.
When the European Challenge Tour went to the Penati Golf Resort, in Slovakia, the players had to take on a 783-yard par 6 – the longest hole any professional had ever tackled in competition.
And visitors to Gunsan Country Club, in South Korea, can put their game up against a hole that measures 1,097 yards from the tiger tees. That’s almost two thirds of a mile.
They are all merely tiny gardens, though, when it comes to the world’s longest course.
Nullabar Links takes golfers four days to complete – and you’ll absolutely need a car to get a round in.
Stretching across two Australian states, from Ceduna in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, it measures around 850 miles.
That’s almost the total distance of traversing from Land’s End to John o’ Groats…
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