TRAVEL: Oulton Hall

Right, so here’s the dilemma.

You’ve got a couple of days off work and you have been invited to take part in a two-day golf event at a course that has hosted several professional events.

Or, you could make use of the two days to take your wife away for a romantic break at an upmarket hotel.

Alternatively, you could go for a city break at one of the UK’s liveliest and trendy destinations.

Well, I took the first option and headed for the golf course, but the bottom line is... I could have done all three. But, more of that later as I’m primarily here to write about the golf.

I joined the other five members of our party at the Oulton Hall hotel and golf complex, which is owned by QHotels golf resorts.

We were greeted in the luxurious clubhouse by Director of Golf Jon Pilkington, who introduced us to head greenkeeper Neil Smith and new head of the golf shop Dave Cox, a professional golfer in his own right.

Three distinct loops of nine holes make up the golf course, which is situated just three or four miles to the south east of Leeds.

By modern standards it is a medium length course with a choice of tee positions, thus creating challenges for all levels of golfer.

With 27 holes, the complex utilises a vast amount of space, meaning that Neil and his staff have had to battle manfully to keep the course operational during the long and punishing period of bad weather heading into spring.

That they succeeded is deserving of great credit and the pride in their work shines through when chatting to them.

We arrived two days before the weather finally changed for the better, but we need not have worried about the state of the course presented to us.

Yes there were a few muddy areas near the teeing areas and walk offs from the greens, but given the amount of water descended from above, they were inevitable.

The fairways were in remarkably good condition, bettered only by the standard of the greens, which were true and rolled far quicker than we had any right to expect.

A friend of mine had played the course the day before and warned me about the pace of the greens — it still did not stop me three-putting on more than one occasion.

Oulton Hall is a parkland course with plenty of trees on every hole, but the rough between them is usually pretty short so that, in the main, you will be punished by a wayward shot, but will soon find your ball and move on — an important aspect of hotel golf.

Having overcome the weather, if not the course, it was time to sample the delights of the 19th hole — and very nice and welcome they were!

We did not try the Claret Jug restaurant, due to being booked into the hotel’s excellent main restaurant in the evening, but the afore-mentioned friend dined after his round and described the food as “superb”.

Before heading for the hotel we were treated to an outstanding display from the club’s youngsters.

Teaching professional Tom Devine coaches 150 children every week in various groups and he introduced us to about half a dozen of them with an age range of seven to 13.

They amazed us with a series of trick/exhibition shots as they drew and faded the ball, hit it under and over obstacles, charming us all in the process and drawing applause from both visitors and parents alike.

Back to my other options at the start of this piece.

The 152-bedroom luxury hotel is set in beautiful grounds with fountains and ponds.

It also has a state of the art spa and leisure centre, so your other half could spend the morning being pampered and relaxing while you were out on the course.

Leeds as a city is booming these days, with excellent shopping and an absolute wealth of bars and restaurants to suit all tastes.

It’s certainly worth the ten-minute taxi ride into the centre to sample what’s on offer and find out for yourself why the city has become a magnet for so many weekend breakers.

So my advice is quite simple — go for the hat trick!