Golfing in the UK

I just got back from the UK where a colleague and I spent 5 days playing golf on 4 different courses. In that our plans changed and we arrived a day earlier than expected, our hotel was fully booked so they recommended their sister property, Tylney Hall in Rotherwick, Hook, Hampshire. The hotel was magnificent! Tylney Hall is part of the Elite Hotels Group, which also owns the Ashdown Park Hotel and Country Club, the Grand Hotel Eastbourne and the Luton Hoo Hotel Golf & Spa. Having been to the United Kingdom more than I care to mention, if you’re not particularly interested in the hustle and bustle of central London, you’ve got to stay in the countryside. It takes one back to a time when Lord’s ruled the lands and knights galloped along on the horses. I could literally spend hours everyday just driving from village to village admiring all the true English culture.

The golfing in East Sussex and the surrounding areas is unbeatable. We played Tylney Park Golf Club, which was in my opinion the best one of the four we played; Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club, which I didn’t really enjoy because it wasn’t really well cared for; Sweetwoods Park (we liked it so much we played it 2 days in a row); and East Sussex National. At East Sussex National the have a more modern hotel facility and the 2 golf courses are stunning, yet challenging. The next time we are in the UK we’ll probably stay here and try to tame these courses. I lost the more balls here in 1 round than I did all week at the other courses.

I have to make special mention of a cool little place that we made our daily stop, Chequers Inn Hotel in Forest Row. We fell in love with this place and the staff. Not only is it a quaint little hotel and pub, but the gang at Chequers Inn are great. The owner, Claudio an Italian immigrant from Rome came to England years ago chasing a lady. I guess he loved it as much as he loved her, because he made it his home. We spent hours sitting on a bar stool, drinking a pint of his finest Birra Morretti and talking about everything from food to politics. The whole staff were just great! One of the major draws to Chequers Inn is the food. The pizza and steaks are to die for. If you’re looking for a fun place to stay or dine in East Sussex, you owe it to yourself to try Chequers Inn Hotel.

If you love golf, the beautiful English countryside, good food and a nice pint of cider, then book yourself a stay at any of these amazing venues. Have fun, hit straight and safe travels.