Alston Moor Golf Club is a small and friendly golf course in the middle of the North Pennies, an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It’s the highest golf course in England at a height of 1476 feet (450m) above sea level.
Alston is a small town in Cumbria, England, with a little more than 1000 residents, it’s not exactly a place you’re going to drop into. Drive an hour east, you’ll reach Sunderland & Newcastle. That places it 120 miles North of Manchester.
I was visiting my dad, who plays here a few times a week when the weather permits. With a single net to warm up in, it was more about moving your body than ball striking, using a set of used clubs my dad had in the garage. They weren’t exactly fit for my swing, but I still got the head covers on. It was only 8 Celcius & windy, so keeping warm was the best warm-up we could get.
Alston Moor Golf Course Overview
The course can be played as a 9-hole or 18 holes, with 10 greens & 18 tee boxes, with the 17th being the only hole solely on the back 9. With walk-on prices from £15 and using an honesty box, can golf be any more accessible?
From the first tee to the 3rd green, there is a drop of around 50m. And the 6th hole is 40m back uphill. You’ll be walking this course and feeling it for a few days, so calling this hilly is being kind.
All of the greenskeepers are volunteers & members at Alston Moor. The job they do keeping it in the shape it presents in is incredible. The course is surrounded by stone walls and paddocks, it’s quite interesting how a sheep can put you off your swing.
How Does the Course Play?
Standing on the first tee of any course is nervewracking, but there was a sense of calm here, as you head towards the green, seeing the rolling hills, and livestock in the fields. There was such beauty and spirit.
Hole 1 plays pretty straight as a downhill par 4, with OB left & a stream on the right. The fairway is skirted by thick rough, so it’s best to keep it down the middle. With the raised tee box you can launch it down there to leave you a short iron or wedge into the green.
The 2nd hole is exceptional, anything left is OB and into the farmer’s field. The green is some 150m away down the steep hill. Send it too far right and you’re into a stream. I still get flashbacks to standing on that tee box. Your swing thoughts are off the charts, so our advice would be to take a deep breath.
The 3rd is where you can take out the driver and go for the Tiger line. A shorter par 4 at 290 yards (265m), it doglegs right and downhill. But if you are short or right, you end up in a World of trouble, basically a mini forest. The fairway slopes heavily from left to right, you can catch a break to get some roll which will leave you a nice wedge in. Don’t go long on your approach, a stone wall and a flock of sheep will be there to judge you.
As the course flattens out, the 4th greets you with a more gentle bend to the left. The wide fairway does open up quite a bit so you can get a good angle into this green. However, the green is guarded by that stream once again towards the front left. Placement is key on this hole.
The flat Par 3 5th presents a different challenge, our tee was cut on the left. Hidden behind three large pine trees. This teases you to either draw it or hit the high cut. Either way, take enough club to this one.
The 6th hole, in my humble opinion, is hands down the toughest challenge on the course. It’s the hole that still haunts my dreams. This par 5 spans a daunting 491 yards and a constant uphill battle. Your tee shot crosses the 4th fairway and your drive needs to be long, at least 200m to stay up at the beginning of the ascent. As for your second shot, there’s not much to target except for a lone stick in the fairway, if you’ve managed to make it that far. Pulling your clubs up that hill was as much as a test as the course.
Moving onto the 7th, a short par 3 at 131 yards, this is a welcome flat relief for your legs. Quite the contrast as you’re hit with another Par 5, the 8th hole is 486 yards with wide fairways. The hole itself isn’t a major challenge, but positioning off the tee is crucial, with a stack of trees right and trees straight if you go long. This is still quite the challenge, just not as much for your legs.
Finishing with hole 9, a par 3 at 177 yards. This is not a simple hole, hitting over a gulley, this bowl green means you need to hit it and stick it, otherwise, you might roll a off and have a flop to get back on.
Why You Should Play Alston Moor Golf Club?
This was a tough course to play. It plays vastly different from the dry Australian courses, with thicker rough, undulation and more just prove such a test. This is a hidden gem, well Peter Finch thought so.
As golfers, sometimes I feel we sit in our comfort zone, we play our regular courses, and we get set in our ways. We lose that sense of adventure to try the new and become obsessed with the score. When someone asks you “How was Alston Moor golf course?” your first response won’t be what you shot. You’ll talk about the walk up the 6th hole, trying to take the Tiger line on the 3rd, the honesty box at the entry, and the sheep in the field.
How else can you capture the essence of golf without going back to the routes? No fancy clubhouse, no practice putting green, just you, nature and the ball. This course gives you so much more than a score it gives you a true experience of golf.
