The marvellous course at Houghton-le-Spring is well known locally for providing a testing round of golf irrespective of your golfing ability. The Championship length downland course is made all the more demanding for its natural slopes which require a fair amount of thought from the tees on each of this par 72 course's eighteen holes.

Your club knowledge will be tested significantly by the long par 4s and par 5s - the course itself measure just under 6500 yards - and sometimes it is better for your overall score to play some of the par fours as fives. You will also be required to choose your irons carefully as the approaches to many of the greens are very well guarded.