Jeremy Ellwood visits Wychwood Park Hotel and Golf Club near Crewe in Cheshire to take on the challenge of its 21st century golf course
Wychwood Park Hotel and Golf Club Stay and Play Review
On course
Par 72, 6,374 yards
The 21st century newcomer near Crewe is a big golf course laid out over 200 acres of rolling Cheshire countryside, so make sure you choose the right tees for maximum enjoyment. The 1st serves up a generous drive, but then a more testing lay-up and tricky approach to a green boasting a central crest.
The golf course at Wychwood Park is laid out over 200 acres of rolling Cheshire countryside
The long par-4 4th can be a real brute into the wind, with the 6th and 7th both good holes heading out. The former is a par 3 playing downhill over a marshy area, while the latter is a sprawling par 5 with a split fairway and a linksy-feeling green.
The 9th at Wychwood Park is a strong par 4 playing back up to the clubhouse
The inward half requires you to negotiate a tree in the middle of the 10th fairway and a large pond on the pretty par-3 17th, which can stretch to 216 yards off the tips. The par-5 12th is perhaps the standout hole visually, especially off the elevated back tee. Both nines finish strongly, with the par-5 18th a birdie chance if you can safely negotiate two more trees in the middle of the fairway.
There are two trees to avoid in the fairway on Wychwood Park’s closing hole
Off course
The Wychwood Park Hotel has a spacious feel and has just completed phase one of a £3 million improvement and refurbishment programme to its bedrooms, bar, restaurant and public areas. The good-sized bedrooms offer plenty of light and excellent facilities, with all 110 of them now boasting brightly coloured interiors and contemporary styling.
Wychwood Park Hotel has undergone a £3 million refurbishment in 2019
That contemporary feel extends to the restaurant too, where the excellent menu includes delights such as pheasant supreme or monkfish wrapped in Parma ham. Bar Vista is then a relaxed and very roomy place for a drink, as is the Claret Jug in the golf clubhouse looking out over the 9th and 18th greens.
One of the hotel’s 110 newly refurbished bedrooms
Wychwood Park Hotel also opened its new fitness suite in September 2019 to provide a small range of fitness and training equipment to hotel guests on a complimentary basis 24 hours a day. This compact suite features a rowing machine, exercise bike, treadmill, cross trainer, weights and an adjustable weight bench.
The hotel is undertaking the final stages of its multi-million pound refurbishment project in late 2019, with a view to unveiling the finished article before the end of the year.
The over-riding feeling at Wychwood Park Hotel is one of space.
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