Although I’ve been fortunate enough to visit many golf hotels across the spectrum in the UK, and play several of the best golf courses in Cheshire, Carden Park near Chester and the Welsh border, which famously boasts a Jack Nicklaus course, had somehow never come on my radar. That all changed with a two-night visit this in autumn 2024 to play the Cheshire and Nicklaus courses and experience its very high-end spa.
The entrance drive must be one of the longest in the UK as you weave through the Nicklaus course before arriving at the very impressive hotel, where I got to stay in one of the courtyard suites. The two courses are set alongside each other, but have a very different feel, with the Cheshire playing over more rolling terrain and the Nicklaus over largely flatter ground, save for the 1st and 18th holes which play down from and back up to the clubhouse.
