The sale of Dale Hill should be completed in about six weeks.

Favourites to buy the two courses and swish hotel at Ticehurst are the owners of Chart Hills where Nick Faldo designed his first course in Europe.

Later, Ian Woosnam, his Ryder Cup team-mate, laid out a championship quality second course at Dale Hill.

I understand a strong attraction for Leaderboard Golf Ltd, the company formed by Paul and Jennifer Gibbons to run Chart Hills, is the luxury hotel at Dale Hill.

Chart Hills, only 20 minutes drive away at Biddenden, has no accommodation but having a hotel within a reasonable distance would be beneficial both to members and guests.

When Dale Hill went on the market a couple of months ago at £6.5m there were no shortage of inquiries and Leaderboard Golf lost little time in firming-up their interest.

Negotiations are still going on and the sale is being handled by a London firm and the asking price is regarded in property circles as a snip.

When East Sussex National went up for sale there was brief interest at Chart Hills but no more than that. Now, I believe the deal with Dale Hill is close to completion and that will suit all parties.

Alan Gaynor decided to sell Dale Hill as he now spends eight months of the year in South Africa. Members will want to be reassured about the future as the early years of Dale Hill's life were tinged with uncertainty.

The club and course was bought early in 1993 from the Receiver by Gaynor, a 59 year-old Jersey tax exile, and he soon commissioned the building of a second course by Woosnam.

In his first attempt at design, Woosie produced a beauty which was unveiled to warm acclaim in September, 1997. An incomparable setting high on the Weald made it an instant favourite, although at 6,512 yards, it soon gained a formidable reputation and is not for faint hearts.

When Gaynor moved in he acted when others had backed off. He spared no expense in upgrading Dale Hill before embarking on the new course and hailed it as a major golfing complex in Britain.

One of his first moves was to plant 2,000 trees in coppices and add seven rooms to the hotel which features a health club and large indoor pool. Nouvelle cuisine is a popular feature and there are 600 golf club members.

Originally opened in 1973, Dale Hill attracted reasonable business, but it was Gaynor who turned it into a choice venue for societies. On an equally high footing, Chart Hills has a course bearing the stamp of Faldo's ingenuity and it is not outside the realms of possibility that members of both clubs, when the sale has gone through, will benefit from a reciprocal membership arrangement.