Cunliffe, 42, moves from Sedlescombe GC, in East Sussex, where he had held the post of senior PGA professional for four years. He was also coach at the Sedlescombe-based James Andrew Golf School, voted the UK’s leading residential golf school by Golf Today.
Cunliffe – a native of the north-west – began his golf career at Ormskirk GC, in Lancashire, joining as an assistant professional and rising to the position of head coach. During his time at the club he created the popular and successful Tick Tock academy.
Following his move to Sussex, Cunliffe became a proficient and qualified club-maker and fitter among the team of qualified PGA professionals at the golf school. A specialist in intensive group coaching for all abilities, his focus on ladies and junior coaching has been fruitful in recruiting new members and players alike.
He is looking forward to immersing himself in the busy golf club at Dunston Hall and getting to know the members.
He said: “I am passionate about both coaching and growing the game of golf and I feel I will be in an ideal place here at Dunston Hall to embrace both those ambitions. There is a very active membership here and I am keen to meet everybody as quickly as possible and to determine how I can help them improve. ”
Dunston Hall’s director of golf, Tom Turner, added: “James is a very welcome addition to our team at Dunston Hall. His dynamism and enthusiasm is palpable as soon as you meet him and we are sure the members – and hotel guests and visitors – will welcome his positive and friendly approach to everything he does.”
Part of the multi-award-winning QHotels group, Dunston Hall’s Elizabethan-style mansion, dating from 1859, has been lovingly restored to all its former glory as a four-star hotel. Built against 150 acres of stunning wooded Norfolk parkland, the setting is just as unique as its history.
The golf course is a 6,275-yard, par-71, USGA-rated layout which contours around the estate, with magnificent parkland fairways dotted with trees and strategically placed bunkers. And, in 2016, Dunston Hall completed a £500,000 expansion of its health club facilities.
The multi-award-winning, four-star QHotels group offers championship-standard courses in 10 unique resort locations including Slaley Hall – voted ‘Best Golf Hotel/Resort in the North of England’ for the third successive year in the 2017 Today’s Golfer Travel Awards and host of 18 European Tour and European Seniors Tour events – Belton Woods, Oulton Hall, Mottram Hall, and Forest Pines Hotel and Golf Resort.
Dunston Hall www.qhotels.co.uk/our-locations/dunston-hall