CONTRACTORS moved in this week to start setting out the first new golf course in Teesdale for more than 100 years.

The proposed nine-hole course is being laid out on pasture land round Headlam Hall Hotel with the aid of a farm diversification grant.

The hotel's managing director, John Robinson, who owns the farmland, said the 1,900-yard course, due to open next spring, would feature several water hazards. The venture will also include the setting up of a driving range and practice ground, planned with the help of a golf professional.

The course will be open to the public, who will be able to pay for individual rounds, but there will be special deals for players staying at the hotel.

Mr Robinson, who is a member of Blackwell Golf Club in Darlington, has a handicap of 21. But with a handicap of 14, his wife, Anne, has been hitting a lot of balls on the pasture land to establish the layout of the course. Although the hole average will be par three, there will be four par four holes, making a testing challenge for the average golfer.

Mr Robinson told how it had been a difficult time for farming, so the family was keen to put the land to another use.

Complaint over recount defeat

A CANDIDATE defeated by one vote in the Richmondshire local elections after his request for a second recount was refused has contacted the Electoral Commission. Conservative Iain McDougall was pipped by Independent Tom Burrows in the Richmond East ward, where four candidates contested two seats on May 1.

The initial count concluded that Mr Burrows had polled 410 votes and Mr McDougall 409, putting him in third place. Both agreed to a recount, which indicated 409 votes for Mr Burrows and 408 for Mr McDougall.

Mr McDougall called for a further recount after Harry Tabiner, district council chief executive and presiding officer at the count, adjudicated in favour of Mr Burrows. But this was rejected.