Several sites for a golf course in Crowborough had previously been investigated but in June 1895 at a meeting at the Red Cross Inn (the Crowborough Cross) it was decided that the site on the south-west slope of the common known as the waste of the Manor of Alchornes was best suited. Firstly, the 7th Earl De La Warr was approached to obtain access to the common. He readily agreed to a 25 year lease at five shillings a year. Next, a turreted property called ‘Chiflik’ on the corner of Beacon Road and Southview Road was rented as the Clubhouse.