Ramside Hall Hotel and Golf Club, County Durham’s leading 36-hole golf resort, has strengthened its golf operations team with the appointment of Trainee PGA Professionals James Harper and Kieran Ayre.
The appointments are part of a £15m development underway at the four star Durham hotel and golf resort designed to transform Ramside Hall Hotel and Golf Club into one of the leading golf, leisure and spa destinations in Northern England.
In September, parent company Ramside Estates Ltd opened the 18-hole Cathedral Course – the newest championship golf course to open in the UK – and construction is underway on a health club, spa, swimming pool and 47 new hotel bedrooms, scheduled to open in Spring 2015.
Helen Roseberry, director of golf at Ramside Hall Hotel and Golf Club, said: “These are exciting times at Ramside. The new Cathedral Course has been brilliantly received by our membership and the North East golfing public and there is a real buzz surrounding the courses and club that we intend to build upon.
James and Kieran are two excellent appointments for Ramside Golf Club and represent our commitment to providing the finest golf coaching, club repair and custom fitting services to our members and visitors.”
PGA EuroPro Tour player James Harper is a graduate engineer (Teesside University) and Golf Smith Advanced club fitter and will specialise in custom fitting, club repair and coaching at Ramside.
James, originally from Hartlepool Co. Durham, has established an indoor coaching studio featuring a SAM (Science and Motion) laboratory for putting coaching, stroke and posture analysis and custom fitting putters.
He also uses Mizuno Swing DNA technology to match a golfer’s swing with the ideal shaft options in irons and woods. He also offers frequency matching, shaft pureing, loft and lie checks, re-gripping and re-shafting.
“I’m delighted to be joining Ramside Golf Club at such an exciting moment in the club’s history. The intelligent investment in a new championship course, renovated driving range and coaching staff has built on an already outstanding reputation for quality and puts Ramside among the best places to learn, play and enjoy golf in Northern England,” said James Harper.
Kieran Ayre, from Sunderland, joins his Ramside Golf Club as a PGA Trainee Professional. The 19-year-old represented Durham County Golf Union at boys and youth level and has been a member at Ramside Golf Club since the age of 11.
Most recently, Kieran spent a year in Abu Dhabi working at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, operated by Troon Golf, the world’s largest golf management company. On returning to the UK he worked as a golf services assistant at DeVere Slaley Hall in Northumberland.
Both Kieran and James will assist Ramside Golf Club Head Professional Kevin Jackson on the teaching staff, providing swing. short game and playing lessons as well as junior coaching at Ramside Rookies – a fun and gentle introduction to golf for young children.
Ramside Hall Hotel and Golf Club www.ramsidehallhotel.co.uk/golf