YOU know you have truly arrived as a leading hotel and golf destination when Lee Westwood promotes your name on an international stage, when your list of celebrity members includes Ant and Dec... and when Alan Shearer helps out as a porter.

The name Close House on the cap of former world No 1 Westwood during the current 2013 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club will help the Northumberland hotel and golf resort catch the eye of a worldwide audience of hundreds of millions.

But the real coup of this relatively new star of its genre is to get former Newcastle and England star Shearer, now a key member of BBC’s football punditry team, to open its doors to guests as they arrive on rain-laden evenings.

"Thanks Alan,” I said with a familiarity earned from being a regular Match of the Day viewer, Magpies fan and fellow ex-centre forward.

“It’s my new job,” Shearer explained generously, holding the door wide.

“You’re doing it very well,”

my wife answered, having regained her composure, which she lost several moments later when I pointed out the couple of sesame seeds marring her best smile – but more of that later.

Close House Hotel and Golf, at Heddon-on-the-Wall, roughly seven miles from the centre of Newcastle, is the latest in a growing stable of high-class golf venues in the North-East based around a stately home.

As a golf resort, its pedigree is still in the early days of being fully established, though The Colt championship course, designed by Scott Macpherson, was ranked in the top 100 in England in its first year, and its reputation grows as the course matures.

As a teenager wielding golf clubs for the first time, and football boots for that matter, I honed my sporting skills at Close House, then Newcastle University’s principal sporting complex.

The changes 30-odd years later are, perhaps not surprisingly, astounding – not least the long and stately tree-lined drive through the 400-acre estate to the 18th century, 31-bedroom hotel which is the magnificent centrepiece of Close House.

Then there’s the ‘clubhouse’, built on the edge of what used to be the course’s 18th hole and no doubt dubbed the glorious 19th by members, a title encouraged by its No 19 restaurant.

The changing rooms I used for football 30 years ago have been transformed into the Courtyard, a separate complex from the main hotel and comprising 12 ultra-luxurious suites with marblecrafted en-suite bathrooms.

Each Courtyard room is named after a golf course designed by famous architect Harry Colt, after whom the championship course at Close House is named.

The hotel provides complimentary shuttle transfers to and from Newcastle Airport and, for those guests with the means, has its own helicopter pad. When golfers arrive, their clubs are chauffeured by buggy to the No 19; even cleaned, if desired.

Among those catering for golfers’ every whim is a team of PGA professionals – based at the course’s golf academy, a facility with floodlit driving range, short game practice area, tuition bays and suite which embraces the very latest software and equipment. Away from golf, a health spa is in the pipeline.

This feeling of being pampered extends to the resort’s two restaurants, where executive chef Simon Walsh has developed partnerships with local suppliers. His specialities reflect this, not least a starter of locally-foraged wild mushrooms on toasted sour dough and main course of slow-roasted belly of pork, both exquisitely presented.

And while golf may provide the inspiration for much of Close House, its most eyecatching feature is the Argent D’Or restaurant, a stunning tribute to a restaurant that featured in the Bond film Casino Royale and a perfect combination of elegance and extravagance.

So, back to the sesame seeds. Close House, as well as a stunning attraction in its own right, is an ideal base from which to explore Newcastle, the Tyne Valley countryside and the spectacular Northumberland coastline.

Points of interest are everywhere – not least along the Roman Wall. Among the lesser-known of these is the Garden Station, in Langleyon-Tyne, and it is something of a hidden gem. In spring and summer, the woodland garden, which has been created along the bed of a disused railway line, is a peaceful retreat to be admired during a walk or while sitting at tables on the platform, or in the cafe and museum housed in what was the waiting room.

The cafe, also a popular course venue, is open yearround, offering homecooked, locally-sourced food (notably, an excellent bacon, brie and cranberry panini in sesame seed-topped bread).

A perfect place to spend an afternoon.

Travel facts:

  • Bed and breakfast rates start at £150 per night for a Classic Room, and from £240 per night for a Courtyard Room. Prices are inclusive of VAT. There is a Winter Warmer offer available until the end of April, at closehouse.co.uk.
  • Close House Hotel is at Heddon on the Wall (NE15 0HT) and can also be contacted on 01661-852255.
  • Also: see thegardenstation.co.uk