Ramside Hall GC appoints two trainee PGA pros

Ramside Hall Hotel and Golf Club in County Durham has strengthened its golf operations team with the appointment of trainee PGA professionals James Harper and Kieran Ayre. Both Kieran and James will assist Ramside Golf Club head professional Kevin Jackson on the teaching staff. The appointments are part of a £15 million development underway at the Durham hotel and 36-hole golf resort designed to transform the venue into one of the leading golf, leisure and spa destinations in northern England.

PGA EuroPro Tour player James Harper is a graduate engineer (Teesside University) and Golf Smith Advanced club fitter. He will specialise in custom fitting, club repair and coaching at Ramside. 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.

In September, parent company Ramside Estates Ltd opened the 18-hole Cathedral Course 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.” More at: www.ramsidehallhotel.co.uk/golf

Pictured from left: Kieran Ayre and James Harper