Wychwood Park Hotel and Golf Club Stay and Play Review

Jeremy Ellwood visits Wychwood Park Hotel and Golf Club near Crewe in Cheshire to take on the challenge of its 21st century golf course

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.

Jeremy Ellwood
Contributing Editor

Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly. He is an expert on the Rules of Golf having qualified through an R&A course to become a golf referee. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 91 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified when it comes to assessing and comparing our premier golf courses. He has now played 1,000 golf courses worldwide in 35 countries, from the humblest of nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to the very grandest of international golf resorts. He reached the 1,000 mark on his 60th birthday in October 2023 on Vale do Lobo's Ocean course. Put him on a links course anywhere and he will be blissfully content.

Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf


Jeremy is currently playing...

Driver: Ping G425 LST 10.5˚ (draw setting), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 55 S shaft

3 wood: Ping G425 Max 15˚ (set to flat +1), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 65 S shaft

Hybrid: Ping G425 17˚, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 80 S shaft

Irons 3-PW: Ping i525, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 50˚ and 54˚, 12˚ bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Putter: Ping Fetch 2021 model, 33in shaft (set flat 2)

Ball: Varies but mostly now TaylorMade Tour Response