The hotel noticeboard welcomes the gallant South

After much searching the North selected the De Vere Oulton Hall hotel as the venue for the 2005 event. The hotel itself is a spectacular Grade II listed building set in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside just a few miles south of Leeds. It survives as an impressive reminder of the once considerable power & prestige of the north – symbolism that was surely not lost on team South as they arrived on Thursday evening.

The southerners were readily welcomed by friendly and helpful staff and spent the evening over planning, dinner & drinks, the last of which was infiltrated by a member of the northern group, apparently intent on sabotage. If this was the scheme, then it was smoothly foiled by South captain, Bob Batch, who insisted on an early night, and led by example.

Thursday evening, a sombre Batch welcomes Team South

The hotel provided an excellent venue for the entire weekend’s event and proved a great choice by the North. It had been claimed that none of the northern team had actually played the venue, at least not in living memory, although the evident familiarity of some with the arrangement of the holes tended to belie this.

The golfing facilities at Oulton Hall consist of 3 nines which circumscribe the hotel but are not, at the present anyway, maintained by De Vere. This last fact perhaps accounts for the slightly poor condition of greens and fairways which was commented on by some of the better golfers, though was by no means an impediment to the majority.

The spectacular Oulton Hall

Each nine had its own character and held its own challenges for the players. Memorable holes and features included the long walk across the car parks from 3rd to 4th; the extraordinary wind up on the hill at the exposed 13th & 14th, rapidly followed by the intriguing dog leg and gully-set green of the par 4 15th. No doubt each player will take away their own favourites and nemeses but overall the course certainly provided a fitting arena for the renewal of Ryder Cup Challenge enmities.