Woodham Golf & Country Club

Woodham opened in 1981 on 229 acres of County Durham parkland, laid out by James Hamilton Stutt. It was formerly known as Rushyford Golf Club and sits on Burnhill Way at Newton Aycliffe.

The eighteen holes measure 6,688 yards to a par 73, though some cards give par 72 over 6,671 yards.

What it asks of you

A par 73 is unusual, and it means an extra par 5 somewhere in the round. That changes the shape of a scorecard: there are more genuine birdie chances than on a par 72, and correspondingly less forgiveness on the holes in between.

Hamilton Stutt worked on generous acreage here, 229 acres for eighteen holes, and used it. The corridors are wide by the standards of English parkland and the trouble is mostly ahead of you rather than beside you.

This is a 1980s course rather than a golden-age one, and it does not pretend otherwise. What it offers is length, space and a reasonable green fee within reach of the whole north east.

What players say about it

Woodham takes visitors and is a fixture of the County Durham course guides. The points below summarise what recurs. These are other people’s opinions, not ours: we have not played the course, and we name and quote no one.

What comes up in its favor

• It is repeatedly described as one of the better laid-out courses in the north east of England.
• Value is cited constantly, with green fees well below the region’s better-known clubs.
• The space between holes is welcome for players who dislike crowded parkland.
• The clubhouse food comes up often, which for a golf club is worth recording.
• Conditioning is generally reported as good for the price.

What comes up against

• It is a 1980s parkland course and does not have the character of an older layout.
• County Durham winters leave it wet.
• Sources disagree on the card, which does not help a first-time visitor.
• Newton Aycliffe is not a destination, and the course is played by locals rather than travellers.

Getting there and when to go

The club is on Burnhill Way at Newton Aycliffe in County Durham, twenty minutes from Darlington and about forty from Durham.

The season is year-round, but May to September gives the firmest ground. Tee times are booked in advance.

Green fees

Rates are set by the club. See the club’s own site.

How this page was made

The factual frame comes from public sources: OpenStreetMap for the location, encyclopaedic entries and the club’s own information for the 1981 opening, the acreage, the former name and the Hamilton Stutt design, and public course records for par and yardage. Sources disagree on the card, so we give both figures rather than choose one. The opinion section summarises public reviews read in September 2026; we report recurring themes rather than individual voices, and we reproduce no quotations.

We have not played this course, and this page is no substitute for a round. The club has not paid for this page, has not seen it before publication and has no say over its content. If you know the course and something here is wrong or out of date, write to us and we will correct it.