But, ah, the ninth, a narrow swathe cut through a forest of mature, towering pines. Deceptively decorated by rhododendrons, it has evil lying in its middle and at its end.
Colin Montgomerie, Europe's 2010 Ryder Cup captain, holds one of De Vere Slaley Hall's records. Tim Taylor, who writes on golf for The Journal, Sunday Sun, and Evening Chronicle, looks back at that and re-awakens some other memories of top golfers playing at Slaley.
Sam Oliver, Slaley Hall's golf operations manager, is steeped in the sport and, as a youngster, used to sit glued to the TV at Masters time, marvelling at the skills of the golfing greats.
A former club champion of Stocksfield and Slaley, the 32-year-old Oliver played golf for England Schoolboys, won the 2004 PGA North East North West Matchplay Championship and is a former Tynedale Sportsman of the Year. He was genuinely excited when, as a 21-year-old, he started a career at Slaley Hall, the only golf club in the north of England to have been short-listed to stage the Ryder Cup since 1979.
Shortly after arriving there as an assistant pro, Oliver, who now writes a golf tips column for the Evening Chronicle every Friday, was thrilled as he watched Colin Montgomerie flirt with danger at The Sleeping Giant. This is the name given to The Hunting Course's signature hole, the 453-yard ninth, the last of a stretch of three successive par-fours that any of the celebrated field assembled this week will be content to negotiate without dropping a shot.
But, ah, the ninth, a narrow swathe cut through a forest of mature, towering pines. Deceptively decorated by rhododendrons, it has evil lying in its middle and at its end. A narrow brook, snaking its way down both sides of the fairway, lies waiting to swallow a tee shot that is, even just slightly, hooked or sliced.
And assuming the drive is despatched down the middle or just right of centre, going for the green with the second shot is a no-no unless you are an in-form single-figure handicapper or better.
This is because the green is: small; not so much undulating as more a roller coaster; and elevated 60 feet up from where you are likely to play your approach shot.
Even when Montgomerie was in his pomp, he almost came to grief there in 1997 before winning the Compaq European Grand Prix thanks to an 18-under-par 270.
That was the lowest total recorded in any of the six European Tour events contested at Slaley Hall under various names around the turn of the century. Moreover, his final round of 65 equalled the course record until the Australian Richard Green took sole possession of it with a 63.
In posting his 65, which left defending champion Retief Goosen trailing the Scot by eight shots, Monty birdied seven of the last 11 holes but needed the help of Lady Luck when taking on The Sleeping Giant.
As Oliver recalls: "He was only one-under for the round at that stage when he pulled his tee shot, but avoided the brook thanks to his ball bouncing sideways off the railway sleepers at the back of the water. It was a big slice of luck and although Monty missed the green, he got down in two with a chip and a putt and saved his par. That sparked him off. He got six birdies on the less troublesome back nine and came home in 30."
Apart from Monty and The Goose, who won Slaley's first European Tour event in 1996, the Northumberland Challenge, Lee Westwood was another big name winner. Indeed, his ball-striking with his irons was arguably the most impressive ever seen there.
Justin Rose also had good cause to celebrate at Slaley Hall - not for winning a tournament but making his long-awaited first professional cut there. It was his 22nd attempt and he had so many people to tell afterwards that his ear had to be almost surgically removed from his mobile.
At that time Rose may have been living off the memories of his tie as an amateur for fourth place in the 1998 Open at Royal Birkdale. But he had a presence at Slaley, a natural way of empathising with and entertaining the large galleries that followed him, which suggested he would eventually find his place in the sun, as he did when he won the 2007 European Tour Order of Merit.
Just as Rose emerged from the shadows, so had Slaley the first time the main European Tour staged a tournament at the course. Slaley got its break when the Jersey Open was cancelled and somehow managed to put the whole shooting match together in 16 weeks.
However, golf events like that and the Seniors, which has brought four Ryder Cup captains to Slaley in Bernard Gallacher, Mark James, Sam Torrance and Ian Woosnam, had been in short supply in more recent years. All of which left a big gap in the region's sporting fixture list until the Seniors returned to Slaley last year.
When you are a resident in God's Country, you know it is second to none for places to live in, to work in, and to enjoy.
This is a region that loves its golf. As the chief executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce, James Ramsbotham, put it last year, writing in The Journal: "While the return of the PGA Seniors Championship is good news for the players' bank accounts, it is also pretty special for the region. Not only do sporting events attract considerable revenue, they also shine, through Sky TV, an international spotlight on some of the greatest assets that we possess. When you are a resident in God's Country, you know it is second to none for places to live in, to work in, and to enjoy."
The North East people are pretty special, too. Steve Cram, in charge of Slaley's greenkeeping staff, played football against Alan Shearer as a youngster and he once built a personal nine-hole golf course for Graham Wylie, the successful businessman who founded Sage and was, at one time, Tyneside's only billionaire.
Cram, meanwhile, is golf's first celebrity greenkeeper and a man whose name brings a hushed awe whenever it is mentioned at greenkeepers' golf days.
Now the golf courses and estates manager at Slaley, Cram was so worried about the continual downpours in the week leading up to last year's Seniors, he was getting out of bed six times a night to check if there was any more rain, which at the time there usually was.
This was while he was putting put in a 65-hour, seven-day week on the course. It was only because of Cram and his equally magnificent staff that last year's long awaited Seniors beat the weather and went ahead, concluding in a record-equalling play-off.
Which begs the question: would any greenkeeping staff from London or thereabouts have cared so much about the show going on and battled so long and hard against the elements? Do us a favour, me old china!
21 June, 2010 | By Tim Taylor, The Journal