The rebirth of The Addington in recent years is a quite remarkable story with a classic, but almost dormant, golf course being given a new lease of life.

It opened in some style in the years between the two World Wars when it was a golfing playground fit only for ‘peers of the realm’, including King George VI who became its patron.

JF Abercromby was its distinguished architect and this golf course was his finest creation. He lived at the Addington from 1913, when worked started on the course, until his death in 1935.

The course remained largely unchanged from then until the early 21st Century and although adequately maintained became very overgrown and even scruffy as it slid down the rankings. I played here twice around 2010 and was unimpressed. My first return since was this week.

And what a change! The ambience is positive and highly refreshing as the Club has set about restoring the heathland course to its original design and former glory. This involves the removal of thousands of trees and the re-creation of wide open fairways, large undulating greens and superb holes. Work is still going on and may not end for a while yet, with the finishing touch hoped to be the building of a new clubhouse in the middle and highest point of the property, including magnificent skyline views of London.

The golf course starts with good and fairly flat holes, but from the 7th onwards the hilly terrain allows for a collection of breathtaking challenges to keep the golfer fully engaged for the rest of the round. I will mention three holes that remain so clearly in my memory, but this is not to decry the many others I could have selected.

9 is a formidable left dogleg with two carries, the first over a huge dip, the second over a chasm with its signature wooden bridge. Pure Addington! 13 is a world-class long straight par three from a high tee across lower ground to a beautiful slightly-raised green guarded by three bunkers. 16 is a quite magical downhill par five across rolling terrain, to a narrow green with a deep gully coming in from the right.

As stated above, The Addington is still a work-in-proress and I believe already merits the ‘very good’ rating of 4.5. It is quite possible that this mark will move higher when the work is complete. This allows me to look forward and have a good excuse to return.