BRIEF HISTORY
The Susken Shield was established in 1984 at the instigation of George Alderman, the then captain of Woodlands Manor Golf Club. There were to be six participating clubs, each of which would be based in the counties of Kent & Sussex. The original participating clubs were Woodlands Manor, Hawkhurst, Cranbrook, Dale Hill, Lamberhurst and Wrotham Heath.
The purpose of establishing this competition was to provide each of the six participating clubs the opportunity to play competitive golf during the quieter winter period and to maintain a level of social contact between the clubs.
At the end of the winter of 2000/1, three of the original clubs namely Dale Hill, Lamberhurst, and Wrotham Heath decided to withdraw from the competition. It was agreed by the remaining clubs, that replacement clubs should be sought, at least one of which should be based in Sussex.
Subsequently, Dale Hill, Sweetwoods Park, and Holtye were recruited in time for the 2002/3 season. Parkwood then joined the league and with seven clubs this resulted in three home and three away fixtures per season.
At a meeting held at Hemsted Forest on the 27th October 2002 the rules were agreed.
Sweetwoods Park left the league after the 2014/2015 competition.
In 2018/19 we lost the involvement of several clubs and the competition did not take place in 2019/20.
This much enjoyed event was rekindled by members from Dale Hill, Hever, Holtye, Sweetwoods and Westerham in the summer of 2020 and the SusKen League was restarted in 2020/21 to be abandoned for the 2020/21 season due to Covid-19. The social and competitive style closely followed the original values set out by George Alderman back in 1984.
The matches for 2021/22 completed with Hever Castle winning the SusKen shield in their first year of entering.
2022/23 Chartham Park joined the SusKen league.
2023/24 Westerham Golf Club left the SusKen league. The players enjoyed being part of the league but it was a club decision not to carry on.