Does 12-hole Golf Justify All The Recent Hype? I Visited Mad Swans In The South Downs To Find Out More

The golf
Par 47, 4,030 yards (12 holes)

Let me start by saying that 12-hole golf is far from being a new thing. Many of you will know that The Open Championship, golf’s most venerable tournament, was played on the 12-hole links at Prestwick for its first dozen stagings from 1860 to 1872.

And one of the earliest golf courses I played was the 12-hole layout at Shiskine on the Isle of Arran on my first ever golfing holiday back in 1984.

I didn’t think much about the 12-hole element of it at the time as I’d played so few courses just two years into my golfing ‘career’ that it was all a bit new to me.

Now, 42 years later, I find myself writing about my latest 12-hole golfing experience at Mad Swans in the South Downs and pondering whether or not 12-hole golf is about to become a ‘thing’.

It stands on the site of the former Blacknest Golf & Country Club, which originally opened in 1994.

Now, under the Mad Swans franchise – which also owns Mad Swans in the Mendips at the former Farrington Park golf course – the place has been transformed from an 18-hole layout into a 12-hole course, with accommodation in both eco cabins and lodge rooms.

Mad Swans is seeking to create a different vibe around golf, so there is also ‘Putt Patch’ mini-golf (also 12 holes!), a Toptracer driving range christened the ‘Swing Barn’, a padel court, a pickleball court, e-Bike hire and two very informal and tastefully designed eateries.

It had only been open seven weeks on the date of my late July Sunday/Monday visit, but the place was absolutely rammed, with the family side of the clientele really in evidence, especially on the Putt Patch mini golf but also out on the main golf course.

Mad Swans in the Mendips opened last October and two more sites have already been acquired in the south and south-west of England, with the timescale around their development still uncertain.

But a few other places outside the Mad Swans brand also now have 12 holes, among them Chiddingfold in Surrey, Basset Down in Wiltshire, and Eastwood, not far from Glasgow, whose new name of Eastwood Twelve adds further emphasis to that slightly unusual hole count.

As for Mad Swans in the South Downs, a number of the 12 holes follow the previous fairway corridors while others plough different furrows.

Some holes are a real challenge with water a regular foe, most strikingly on the par 3s at the 3rd and 5th. A back-left pin on the 3rd is not to be messed with, while the 5th has a semi-island green. Water comes into play on more than half the 12 holes at Mad Swans in the South Downs .

You can open your shoulders on the two par 5s and maybe the tempting, short par-4 12th, where trying to drive the green will end in watery tears if you tweak it left.

The accommodation

There are two options: the twin or double rooms upstairs in the main lodge building where I stayed; and several eco cabins where Elliott and his partner stayed.

My lodge room was spacious and comfortable with an excellent shower, and I'll leave Elliott to describe the cabins: “They've been well designed with modern bathrooms and wash facilities, plenty of room for storing bags and cases, and comfortable, high-quality beds. A highlight is certainly the projector and huge pull-down screen for a movie night, while you can sit back on deckchairs outside and take in the country air.”

Dining is informal and excellent in either the Potting Shed, where we dined, or Hangout pizzeria. Both were buzzing on the Sunday afternoon we were there.

Best deal

Golf, stay and play packages start from £225 (£112.50 per person) to include a night's stay in a cabin, a 12-hole round of golf and a range session in the Swing Barn.

Padel costs £33 an hour off-peak and £40 peak (90-minute rates also available) and pickleball £15 an hour off-peak and £30 peak with 90-minute rates again available. The Putt Patch putting course is £12 for adults and £6 for children.

(Prices correct at time of publication in October 2026)