In 1919 the golf course and the rest of the Dunstanburgh estate was purchased by Mr (later Sir) Arthur Munro Sutherland from the Eyres trustees.

Sir Arthur was a businessman who had been born and brought up in Newcastle upon Tyne. He attended the Royal Grammar School and left at the age of sixteen to pursue a career in shipping. In 1892 at the age of twenty-five he purchased his first ship and he went on to form the Sutherland Steamship Company which became a successful shipping line. He had other business ventures and in 1920 purchased the Newcastle Chronicle chain of newspapers.

Shortly after his purchase of the golf course he announced that it was his intention to remodel the course “to secure the provision of nine holes unsurpassed by anything in the county”. The plan was to extend the course to 18 holes after the nine hole course had been “properly developed and brought to a state bordering on perfection”.

Visit of James Braid

As part of Sir Arthur’s ambitious plans he asked James Braid to plan a new layout for the course in 1920. The previous year Braid had been involved in remodelling the Northumberland Golf Club at Gosforth Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, and it is possible that this had given Sir Arthur the idea of employing Braid at Embleton.

Braid had a long career as one of Britain’s most successful golfers and golf course architects. He came to prominence when he first won the Open Championship in 1901. He went on to win another four times by 1910, becoming one of the elite of golf professionals, joining Vardon and Taylor to form “The Great Triumvirate” which dominated golf for the next fifteen years. He became a professional at Romford Golf Club in 1896 and soon afterwards started designing golf courses. In all he designed about 160 courses in Britain and abroad including Carnoustie Medal Course and the King’s and Queen’s Courses at Gleneagles.

He was able to work fast and efficiently because of his ability to interpret topographical maps combined with a photographic memory. Usually he took a single day to plan a course. He would walk around with stakes and a mallet. In his railway carriage on the way home he would use his photographic memory to draw up the plans of the course. He was always very aware of the scenic value of his courses and used the terrain to its best advantage. As a result very little earth was moved to create his designs.

We know that Braid visited Embleton links on Tuesday, 23 March 1920. In accordance with his usual modus operandi he spent the whole day pegging out the new tees and greens and planning the fairways and bunkers. An extract from the Alnwick and County Gazette of 27 March, 1920 indicates that Braid was accompanied by Sir Arthur’s eldest son, Munro Sutherland, and his agent Mr Noel Villiers. Also present was Colonel Fawcus of Dunstan Steads Farm who had been involved in the maintenance of the golf course in the early years prior to the purchase by Sir Arthur.

At the time of Braid’s visit Sir Arthur stated that he intended to remodel the nine hole course within a year and implement Braid’s design for the 18 holes within three or four years. In the event it was to take almost two decades for the work to be completed. Sir Arthur also indicated that he would form a club with a strong local committee and said “a handsome and cosy clubhouse will be erected on the links, the plans for this including sleeping rooms for visitors”. The club was not formed until almost three decades later, and the proposed new clubhouse was never built.

It is not clear why Sir Arthur’s initial enthusiasm for development of the golf course subsequently waned. There was certainly no shortage of funds - a few months after Braid’s visit Sir Arthur bought the Newcastle Chronicle publications for £800,000. It is possible that his increasing business commitments caused him to devote his energies elsewhere.

A clubhouse, which had seen service in the First World War as a Nissen hut, was erected in 1921. It has proved to be a sturdy structure and it remains today as the underpinnings of the present-day clubhouse.

Also in 1921 the first full-time greenkeeper was appointed. He was Mr William Povah - he and his wife lived in the new clubhouse. Mrs Povah later became noted for the splendid teas she provided golfers.

Mr Povah was the person initially responsible for remodelling the course to the design of James Braid. This remodelling took place in stages. A nine hole course was ready by 1922 and officially inaugurated by Sir Arthur and a group of friends. A member of Newcastle Quayside drove off the first ball and rewarded the caddy that retrieved it with a gold sovereign.

With the help of local labour - mainly fishermen working outside the fishing season - the course was gradually extended to twelve holes by about 1932 and fifteen by 1935. The golf course was maintained during this period by a horse-drawn six-foot wide cutter for the fairways and hand-pushed cutters for the greens and tees. This equipment was kept in the wooden shed at the end of the road from Dunstan Steads farm which is still standing at the present day.

Mr Povah retired about 1927 and Mr John Brown was employed as head greenkeeper. Mr Brown had two sons who assisted with maintenance of the course during the 1930s.