Draped over a rural landscape of streams, lakes and forest, the fairways at Sweetwoods Park Golf Club lie in the shadow of the old church spire in the village of Cowden.
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Draped over a rural landscape of streams, lakes and forest, the fairways at Sweetwoods Park Golf Club lie in the shadow of the old church spire in the village of Cowden.
Sweetwoods Park
Back in the early 1990s, at a time when new golf developments were all the rage, farmer Peter Strand, made the decision to convert his 230-acre property on the Sussex-Kent border into an 18-hole golf course. Forming a partnership with another farmer, Michael Hewson, they constructed the 18-layout without any formal architectural assistance, establishing the Sweetwoods Park Golf Club.
Early in the new millennium, businessman Martin Long - who made his fortune by founding then selling a couple of big insurance companies - took control of the operation, pledging to upgrade the layout if necessary. Indeed, the owner has been quoted as saying: “the course is an area of the club I believe deserves ongoing investment and constant improvements; I always strive to find the finishing touches to make your experience more memorable.”
Feature holes at Sweetwoods Park include short par fours at the 280-yard 6th and 297-yard 16th, back-to-back par fives at the 13th and 14th, and a terrific closing hole where tee shots must avoid a large tree in the centre of the fairway before an approach can be played to the two-tiered home green.