Mad Swans turns former golf club into pickleball retreat

Pickleball at Mad Swans is being sold as part of a stay, not a spare court. The former Blacknest Golf and Country Club in Alton reopened on June 1 as a South Downs retreat on the Surrey-Hampshire border, about five minutes from Farnham, with pickleball and padel courts folded into a 100-acre leisure site built around golf, food and overnight guests.

The redesign turns a once familiar golf property into something closer to a countryside campus. Mad Swans now offers a 12-hole golf course, a driving range, restaurants, event spaces and eco-cabin accommodation, a mix that puts the racket sports alongside dining and lodging rather than isolating them as a standalone add-on. The company says it is a “bold take on modern hospitality,” and the South Downs venue is its second golf site after a debut in the Mendip Hills.

That matters for amateur pickleball because it changes the use case. Players are not just booking a court, they are entering a venue that is meant to keep them on site longer, with more reasons to come back and bring mixed groups. The presence of both padel and pickleball suggests the operator is chasing the same crowd: active families, casual weekend visitors and social players who may be drawn first by the setting and only then by the sport.

The backbone of the redevelopment is substantial. Blacknest originally opened in 1993 as an 18-hole pay-and-play parkland course, and golf business coverage says the course was designed by Tom Mackenzie of Mackenzie & Ebert. Under Mad Swans, that original site has been reworked into a 12-hole layout, keeping golf at the center while broadening the appeal well beyond traditional tee times.

The timing also fits a wider participation story. Pickleball England describes the sport as fun, social and easy to learn, and a 2025 membership report showed its registered base had moved beyond 16,000 after 5,748 new players joined in the year. In the United States, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association said pickleball has been the fastest-growing sport for four straight years, with participation up 45.8% from 2023 and 311% over three years. Mad Swans is betting that growth now reaches beyond pure court clubs and into the leisure resorts that can turn a quick hit into a full day, or a weekend, on property.