ABOUT CHICHESTER GOLF CLUB
Take the B2145 south of Chichester towards Selsey and if you’re vigilant you’ll spot the discreet entrance o Chichester Golf Club between two large hedgerows. As you head down the small Tarmac road the landscape opens up dramatically, but ignore the large timber building on your right - unless you want some serious practice or a lesson - because this isn’t the clubhouse but the large and well-equipped golf academy. The road winds past this facility and on through the complex for half a mile or so with golf holes either side of you. It’s a huge site and the tardis-like effect of the entrance drive continues until you reach the large Sussex stone clubhouse that sits bang in the middle of two high quality 18-hole courses.

The broad and expansive landscape is indicative of the prevailing attitudes here. Visitors are welcome and the relaxed ambience of the club is nothing short of refreshing – even in these relatively liberated times for golf clubs. Chichester Golf Club is open to all visitors on a simple pay-and-play basis, with no membership required. For beginners, this means it’s easy to try your hand at golf. For regular players, there’s two eighteen hole courses complemented by a nine hole par-3 course, which together with a driving range and video teaching academy, make it arguably the most complete golf complex in this part of the country. The Tower Course provides an ideal challenge for any golfer.

At 6,175 yards the course isn’t the longest and comes with forgiving fairways, but it still isn’t a pushover. The deceptive coastal breeze will always make this course a challenge and has a good balance of holes which make for a more forgiving alternative to the Cathedral. However, there are still plenty of challenges from the picture postcard third to the dog-leg seventh. Water comes more in to play on the back nine with sixteen and seventeen running alongside the Braemere Rife.

The Cathedral Course is 10 shots harder according to the members and it’s easy to see why. It’s a errific and tricky layout with large shallow bunkers and water hazards lurking around every corner. The course record of 65 is held by the former club champion and Sussex County player, Peter Duke, which was achieved through a magnificent 29 on the back nine.
The front nine boasts the 608-yard 5th hole which will challenge the best golfer. This is sandwiched between two formidable par threes over water. The back nine is more subtle with two par fives reachable in two for the more adventurous and the short but deceptive 15th, framed with 300 Portland stones, and surrounded by sand.

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