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Close House was the official venue of the British Masters Golf Tournament in 2017, sponsored by Sky Sports. The event was hosted by attached tour professional, Lee Westwood.

Opened in 2011, the Championship 'Colt' course is set in almost 200 acres of countryside. Designed by Scott Macpherson and named after English Golf Architect, Harry Colt, the European Tour venue was voted one of the top 100 courses in the UK just one year after opening, and is the only course in North East to hold that accolade.
Close House Golf Course: Link

Lee Westwood has helped the team at Close House to improve the features of the Scott Macpherson designed Colt golf courses, adding new tees and bunkers.

Close House was built in 1779 for the private use of the Bewicke family on the site of an earlier monastic house. The mansion and estate were sold in 1953 and bought for the sum of £13,190 by James Rutherford and Sons who sold it on to Kings College, later the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, in 1960 who had it refurbished in 1994 for £1,000,000.

The University sold the whole Estate to local business man Graham Wylie in 2004 and it reopened as a hotel and golf venue in 2005. Link

In March 2014 it was reported that former computing millionaire, Graham Wylie, announced plans to convert Close House Hotel into a private home for his family. He is said to have invested an estimated £50m since buying it from Newcastle University 10 years ago. Link
Link

There is a brief history here Link
Description of house: Link Archive Link
Description of gardens: Link