Bamburgh Castle is the third golf course in the settlement, after a couple of attempts around Redbarn Links. It was formally opened by Lord Armstrong on August 18th 1904, Armstrong having been the person who invested and promoted the laying of a purpose built course. A report in the same year states "the course is on a high breezy headland, from which a view can be had to the north of Holy Island, with the Scottish hills beyond. To the west the bold outline of the Cheviots, south the great embattled pile of Bamburgh Castle, and to the east the wide sea, with the Farne Islands in the foreground."

Armstrong also donated the clubhouse after leasing the land from William Cruddas - the director of the Elswick Works and was High Sheriff of Northumberland by this time. From the outset the course was 18 holes with natural features with all the hazards already featuring for an exciting course though the greens were specially laid out. The length of the round was about 3 miles, with the holes named "Ravine, Second Hole, Long Hole, Valley Hole, Black Rock, Sixth Hole, Out of Bounds, Swamp Hole, Island Hole, Shada Hole, Shed Hole, Fox Cover, The Gap, The Basin, Castle View, Sixteenth Hole, Hare Law and House Hole". The course was designed by George Rochester of Alnmouth, accommodating the natural featured as noted.

Much of the ambition for this club was part of a wider programme by Armstrong to promote Bamburgh as a health resort and a real destination for those seeking sea air and gentle leisure pursuits.

The course leased two further fields in 1907 to expand and enlarge the course. It was however again fully reorganised after industrial workings during the First World War, with this layout remaining to this day.