Golf courses in Cheshire

What the golf is like

Cheshire's golf is inland and, on the whole, sheltered: only Disley, part moorland by the club's own description, is marked as an exposed course in our Cheshire directory, unlike most of the Merseyside and Fylde coast. Delamere Forest is the exception in feel if not in shelter, a heathland course (inland golf on sandy, free-draining ground among heather and pine), the closest thing Cheshire has to a links without the sea alongside it. Three of the county's courses, Carden Park, Portal and The Mere, are resorts with a hotel attached and, in Carden Park's and Portal's case, more than one course to play. The rest, around Chester, Macclesfield and Warrington, are parkland: a calmer game through trees and open grass.

Getting there

The M56 crosses the county east to west, linking Chester to Manchester Airport and on to Manchester itself. The M6 runs north to south along the eastern edge, with the A556 connecting the two near Northwich, past Delamere Forest and Vale Royal Abbey. Chester itself sits on the A55, which continues into North Wales.

By train, Delamere station sits right by Delamere Forest, on the Mid-Cheshire line between Chester and Manchester; the same line calls at Northwich, about 3.2 miles from Vale Royal Abbey, and Knutsford, about 2.4 miles from The Mere. Macclesfield station is about 2.1 miles from Prestbury, Wilmslow station about 2.8 miles from Wilmslow Golf Club (whose clubhouse is actually in Mobberley, not Wilmslow itself), and Warrington Bank Quay about 2.4 miles from Warrington Golf Club.

Manchester Airport is the closer of the two big regional airports for the eastern half of the county: about 3.6 miles from Wilmslow and 5.6 miles from The Mere, though further out towards Delamere Forest and Eaton it's Liverpool John Lennon Airport that's nearer, at around 10 to 11 miles.

When to go

Being sheltered and inland, Cheshire's parkland and heathland courses don't get the wind that shapes a round on the coast, but clay-based parkland ground can still turn heavy and slow after a wet spell; the sandier ground at Delamere Forest generally copes better. The resort courses, with a hotel on site, are set up for a stay rather than a single round, which suits a trip built around more than one round of golf.

For beginners

A parkland round through trees, without a links course's wind and open sightlines, tends to be a more forgiving place to learn than the coast. Eaton has a practice ground on site, our directory's only marked practice facility among Cheshire's courses, useful before you play if you want to warm up first. Most of the county's clubs, like most private clubs anywhere, book visitors through their own website or by phone rather than a turn-up-and-play system; a couple, including Eaton itself, ask you to enquire directly rather than book online.

A few of the courses

Delamere Forest is ranked 54th in the NCG Top 100s for England, and its own postcode shares Station Road with the station next door. Carden Park, near Chester, has two 18-hole courses: the Cheshire, and the Nicklaus, where water comes into play on several holes, including split fairways at the 7th and 15th. The Mere, at Knutsford, plays to a par of 71, with the Mere and Little Mere lakes in play on the opening holes and the closing par 5. Portal, at Tarporley, is the biggest of the three resorts by holes: an 18-hole Championship course, an 18-hole Premier course and a 9-hole course called the Arderne.

Inland from those, Prestbury is ranked 73rd in the NCG Top 100s for England, and Wilmslow has the Mobberley Brook running through the opening hole and three of its par 3s. Vale Royal Abbey has water features of its own, including a par 4 with a water-fronted green, and Eaton has ponds and streams through the course. Warrington is one of several parkland courses around the town in our directory, with Birchwood, Alder Root and Leigh nearby.