WHEN Mark Redpath officially launched his 12-month captaincy at Slaley Hall in April last year, he turned up on a Harley Davidson. Clearly, he was determined to take his beloved club on a hell of a ride.

Full of intentions, he has not disappointed. He is due to hand over the reins to Darren Laybourn in April, but has already had a year he will never forget leading one of the country’s most beautiful golf courses located through a dense pine forest in the heart of Northumberland.

“It’s been fantastic,” said Redpath, who first joined Slaley Hall 15 years ago. “Golf, generally speaking, has been going through a bit of a sticky patch but we have been blessed and it’s been a great year for me to be captain.

“Some clubs have struggled to retain membership numbers while our annual membership has gone up. We had more than a hundred people at the captain’s day, held a massive gala and presentation night when there were around 200 there.”

Redpath can take pride in the part he has played in that. Assisted by an “effective” team including club secretary Richard Mellor, treasurer Malcolm Walker and previous captain Doug Ellison, Slaley Hall remains well placed for an exciting future.

And the South Shields-born financial advisor, who now lives in one of the lodges on the estate after falling in love with the area, is extremely satisfied with the role he has had, along with those around him, taking the golf club’s success to a new level.

“When I arrived for my driving-in day on a Harley Davidson and did impressions of Miguel Angel Jimenez by driving round the course with a cigar, it was basically because I wanted to set the tone for a different kind of year,” said Redpath, who was asked by members if he would be interested in a second year as captain.

“I have put everything in to it. I even took two months off work just to prepare for our presentation night, which I produced a 15-minute video including clips of the year really and a speech from Colin Montgomerie. I wanted to make it special. Some of the members said it was like Sports Personality of the Year ... it was a great night!

“There have been great club nights and club days too which we have introduced. Those have been a huge success. We raised £18,000 for two charities – Tiny Lives and Children North-East – which took our overall fundraising total over the years to more than £250,000.”

While the impact of Redpath and his team has clearly reaped its own rewards, there is also no disguising that Slaley Hall, part of the QHotels portfolio, as a venue sells itself to golfers old and new.

“I wanted to see if I could get the golf club more engaged with the hotel – because they were two separate entities - and together with hotel manager Grant McKenzie we have done that,” said the 52-year-old.

“I’ve really enjoyed being captain. But being a captain of a golf club might not suit everyone, it’s a voluntary role at the end of the day so you have to bear that in mind. I have taken great pride in what has happened, seeing the annual membership go up seven-fold and we now have an overall membership of 900, plus everything else we have done.

“Slaley Hall is also just a fantastic place to play golf. I fell in love with it when I lived on the other side of the woods. The main attraction here is that there are two stunning championship golf courses to play and you can play pretty much whenever you like.”