Kings Hill - Kent - England

I’ve played here 3 times now, and today was probably the last time!

A lovely clubhouse and good looking facility including a grass driving range, but it’s all downhill from there I’m afraid. I’ve never played this course in anything but poor condition, and it’s also a fairly forgettable layout. I normally remember every hole of every course I play, and there were multiple holes which I forgot even existed!

2 is a good strong par 4, 7 is a nice short par 4 with a green framed by a nice wall feature, 12 is a great par 4 - the rest of the course is just so so forgettable, and for £60 it’s just not worth the money, and the greens and fairways were just dreadful today - and I’ve never seen them better than mediocre in general.

Kings Hill is located right in the heart of Kent and has the feel of a US style residential course with houses, businesses and other amenities surrounding it. The club has excellent facilities with a decent range, short game area and clubhouse. On the whole the course at Kings Hill is interesting enough with decent elevation changes, a mix of short and long holes, risk/reward holes and dogleg tee shots to keep the player thinking. There are a few fun holes such as the 3rd a downhill par 4 where you can either layup to the top of the hill or attempt to drive the green….the green is two tiered but cleverly the tier falls away from the player. Hole 8 is another drivable par 4 with a very narrow entrance to a long undulating green…miss right or left and par is very difficult. Hole 10 is a double dog leg par 5 to another interesting green which has many ledges and slopes. The 15th another short par 4 plays between two bunkers and banks of heather….if you can thread the tee shot through the gap the payer can reach the green which again is very undulating. I have always felt with Kings Hill it could be so much better, the greens are interesting and there are a number of fun holes. The issue is that it gets incredibly bouncy and the bunkers are terrible…anything running in will end up against a lip and if the ball flies straight in it will more often than not plug. One of the plus points is that it rarely floods so is playable all year round. There are many better courses in Kent but with some investment in conditioning and in particular the bunkers Kings Hill should be nearer the Top 15.