Sandiway - Cheshire - England

We played last week after over an inch of overnight rain, you'd never had known. What a great course. There are 18 very different holes, with some real gems - especially the back 9 with views over the Petty pool. Greens are excellent, all the par 3's are very strong, you can see why a par 70 and an SS of 72. We had a really nice welcoming clubhouse and serve excellent food. The welcome from the pro shop is second to none. Superb practice facilities, it's well worth a visit either a green fee with friends or an open. It's the sort of course you'll never forget, it's that good and you'll return time after time. I asked about membership and am thinking about putting my name on the waiting list, I feel it's is that good and worth the wait!

A round at Sandiway, on a glorious spring afternoon, completed my playing of all the recognised top inland golf courses in Cheshire.

And this one pushes my personal favourite, Delamere Forest, very close to topping the list. There are so many good things to say about Sandiway but I’ll start by saying why it didn’t quite displace its near neighbour as my number one choice in its county.

Firstly the greens just didn’t float my boat. The condition of the putting surfaces was excellent but there simply wasn’t enough movement in them for me. Of course there were slopes, many subtle, and some were titled but overall they were far too flat for my personal taste. The actual locations of the greens, however, are simply sensational. Maybe bold contouring would be overkill but it’s something I would have liked to have seen, at least to a certain extent, and this would perhaps have tipped the balance.

I truly love the openness and the almost linksy feel to the front nine at Delamere. Despite sharing similar brilliantly undulating terrain, Sandiway is more tree-lined and plays much narrower, at times it is overly tight for me. However, there’s no denying this mature woodland course is an absolute joy to play and walking the fairways, in almost seclusion at times, is exhilarating and will be preferred by many.

Anyway, enough comparisons! This review is about Sandiway and there are so many highlights I could be writing for a long time if I were to give a hole-by-hole account. In fact there were only two shots in the entire round that I didn’t really care for; the tee-shot at the par three 11th, a hole that seems out of kilter with the rest of the course, and the drive at the 14th (and no I didn’t slice it out of bounds before you ask!). Those minor irks aside Sandiway is superb.

Ed is the founder of Golf Empire – click the link to read his full review.

Awesome heathland course. Fabulous condition in March after what was a rubbish winter. Greens are rapid and amongst the best ive played on. Tough though, some long par 4s which play even longer than the card says due to the elevation. This course and Delamere are hard to seperate, but are without doubt in a league above any others in the region.

Absolutely fantastic course. From the moment you step on the elevated 1st tee you know you are in for a treat. Heathland style with gorse and plenty of trees, the way the course is laid out through the forest and extremely clever use of elevation changes makes Sandiway not only a superb course.. But a challenging and fair one too. The overall conditioning of the course was second to none, some of the best tees I've ever hit off along with the perfect fairways. The greens run very true and at a decent pace (9.8) on the stimp. As for favourite holes the stretch from 9 thru to 13 is as good as you'll find around most of England with the huge lake providing a great backdrop and setting for the long par 3 11th. Overall Sandiway really is a hidden gem and a course Id recommend to anyone, you won't be disappointed!

Played here 23rd may on a very blustery day.Condition of course very good indeed and greens probably the best I have played on this year. Scoring difficult due to very windy conditions but not impossible as you do get some shelter from the majecstic woodlands.There are many very good holes but the spell from the 10th to the 12th is probably the best. The 10th is a brutal par 4, the 11th an extremely long downhill par 3 and the 12th a long par 4 that demands a very good second shot. The view from the 3rd tee is also very special.The finish is a little quirky, with the 17th being a short, but very tight par 4 and the 18th a mid iron par 3 but with OOB just right of the grrenAll in all a lovely course albeit we thought the green fee of £65 a little steep.Now for the bad bit - if you look at their website they boast about the 'most welcoming golf club of the year award'. We arrived after a 150 mile drive and went straight to the locker room to change into our golfing gear. Unfortuantely, we received a volley of abuse from 1 member who objected to us walking into the locker rooom wearing jeans. If this is the most welcoming club in the country I hate to think what the least welcoming is like and this takes the edge of the overall rating.

Not even the best course in Sandiway , for that go the mile down the road to Delamere Forest. Cannot understand the hype _ possibly because of all the corporate do's there ! It's a nice course but not a great course .

I totally agree with the last review, I have mixed feelings about Sandiway, as it is a good course but seems to be a little over hyped, with no one mentioning the deafening traffic noise on the first tee for instance, certainly present on my visit. For more tranquil surroundings you could head to Delamere, Wilmslow or Prestbury. Worth a visit if youre in the area but go with an open mind.

Having recently played Sandiway (June 2010) after reading all these glowing reviews, I have to say I was disappointed. This course seems to have received too many 6-ball reviews and is perhaps too high in the rankings IMO. The greens were not running true when I played and they were too slow. It may be a welcoming club which has a nice pedigree but Sandiway is a good course not an excellent one. Delamere is a league or two ahead of Sandiway. Don’t get me wrong, Sandiway is worth playing but it falls short in my book of being a classic.

J.W Excellent course, most of the holes are long enough to test off the whites. Greens are normally pretty good, and the tees and fairways are well maintained. For those that say it is better than Delamere Forest then they're wrong. The current cheshire card top 7 courses in descending order are:- 1. Hoylake 2. Wallasey 3. Delamere 4. Prestbury 5. Sandiway 6. Stockport 7. Wilmslow

Played on 3rd June and as always everything at Sandiway was near perfect. Fairways were running particularly fast given the recent dry spell and the course was exhibiting tinges of brown which again is testament to the very dry conditions. Only complaint was that greens were a touch on the slow side, but otherwise very true. The debate around best course in Cheshire has already been aired - both Sandiway and Delamere are fantastic courses in their own right but in many ways very different. To score well at Sandiway you need to be a very good driver of the ball - many tree lined fairways and it is not especially short. Delamere is a bit more open but in general the greens are tighter and it places a premium on ball striking. You would happily play both courses all year round (and they both play well all year round) but if I am going to make a choice then Sandiway just edges it. The bank 9 is probably more difficult - 10 and 12 are really strong par fours and it is difficult to understand how the 10th is not SI1! The finish is also very interesting - a shortish par 5, a short but very tight par 4 and then a par 3 which needs a mid to long iron off the back tees with OB tight to the right of the geen - a course that holds your interest right to the end. Book yourself a short break in Cheshire and arrange to play both courses - great value for money and very friendly places to play golf.