Kingswood Golf & Country Club - Surrey - England

A society day gave me the opportunity to revisit a course I haven’t played for almost 10 years in Kingswood Golf & Country Club. It was a course I couldn’t remember and awful lot about, so it felt like a new experience for me.

The club has so many positive attributes going for it: James Braid (Tick) Parkland Course (Tick) 6,900 Yards (Tick) Elevation changes (Tick) stunning Views (Tick) Surrounded by multimillion pound properties (Tick) however Kingswood is an enigma of a golf course, as it divided opinions greatly within the 16 strong group that assembled on a Mild April Day.

With a few week’s reflection, I am beginning to realise why I couldn’t remember an awful lot about the course. If you were to ask me which holes stood out, then unfortunately, I would struggle to remember any. That isn’t because the course was poor, in fact for most parts its well maintained and there’s plenty of variety, but more that it doesn’t captivate me in the way other courses in a very close proximity do and I left feeling that the course could and should be so much more than it is.

The course is well laid out, strong bunkering and good green complexes. All holes are treelined and this acts as one of the course’s key defences. Miss the fairway and Pars will need to be rescued. The 13th hole (SI 2) I would list as the signature hole when looking back through the card as the green is framed by a very picturesque backdrop of rolling surrey hills.

I’ll leave this review on a positive. The service our group received at Kingswood was superb and they couldn’t have been more accommodating. The food is excellent, the clubhouse is nice and it’s a perfect set up for societies.

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I played in a society day here at the beginning of July and found it to be a really great course. It was in great condition, the greens ran really true and Food and hospitality were spot on. I think its a great society day course because, although a really good challenge, it can be quite forgiving if you drift offline, which makes for a more enjoyable day for us more Average golfers! Hope to play here again soon!

Kingswood is a good parkland course in very good condition in this, at least in the South of England, damp summer. It rewards being straight and particularly rewards staying out of the bunkers.

Indeed bunkers and trees are the main hazards, and the bunkers are well maintained and very pretty. I do wonder quite how many trees were there when the course was built; quite a few are relatively young and serve to line the fairways. A few others, such as the pair on the 5th, stand guard to protect lines off the tee.

It wasn’t a course for the ground game, indeed many of the green side and fairway bunkers were surrounded by thick grass, a positive in terms of balls staying out of bunkers, a “negative” in terms of requiring really good chipping from close to the green.

Myself I tend to like courses with a bit of quirk, and Kingswood did not offer much quirk, at least as far as the course was concerned. There was quirk with the stroke indecies. Many courses view the par 5s as “harder”; not Kingswood. Off whites 494 yards: SI 13. 506 yards SI 15 and 511 yards uphill, SI 14. Quite a nice change from assuming a short hole is an easy hole.

We played Kingswood yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed the round. The course was in great condition and looked fresh after the previous days downfall after such a dry spell. The views afforded across the Surrey countryside as you embark on the back 9 are worth the trip alone. Overall a great course that tests your approach to it and great club house to boot.

Kingswood was designed in the 1920’s by James Braid and had further work undertaken in 2008 by Howard Swan to lengthen the course so that they could host bigger tournaments. The course is very tight in places and requires good course management to produce a decent score. The long hitter or those who are wild from the tee will not do well here. Driving the ball well is pivotal as many of the holes move either left to right or right to left so it is easy to run out of room. That being said there are 4 par 5’s, all reachable in two so compiling a good score revolves around playing these well. Kingswood has some good holes such as the second a long downhill par 4 that swings from right to left before leaving an uphill approach to a sloping green. The 7th is a nice short par three set slightly above the player and is surrounded by bunkers. 13 is a tough downhill par 4 that dog legs severely from right to left before leaving a mid iron approach to a green that runs away from the player. The finishing hole again sweeps from right to left although it is easy to run through this dogleg so you must draw the ball from the tee. The green situated directly outside the clubhouse is slightly raised well protected by bunkers. Kingswood is unlucky in the fact that it is located in Surrey and has such strong competition but it provides a less expensive option than most in the area.

Played the course yesterday after they had had to close the front nine on the Friday due to heavy rain. To the greenkeepers' credit, you wouldn't have noticed the difference between the front and back nine, and whilst a little wet still in the run-offs by the greens, the fairways held up well. There was just the one temporary green, which was a shame, but given the amount of water they're fighting, not totally surprising.The front nine opens with a relatively easy par 4 with a nice, welcoming fairway. From there, though there are some really clever holes, with a few standouts: the second, a nice dogleg left to an elevated green; the third and the seventh are fun par 3s and the eighth is a very good par four. The main feature of the course is that you have to hit the fairways in the right spot, and one of the signs of a good course is that, if you do miss the fairway, you don't lose your ball, but can't get to the green. Kingswood excels here, and it's a real thinking man's course. The back nine is probably not quite as good as the front, but there were some standouts, with the first par three another lovely hole, beautifully framed by the surrounding trees. After that, we hit the best par 5 of the lot, which forces two very good shots to get near the green. The 12th rewards a clever tee shot to lay up, but offers the risk-reward for the big hitters as you can cut the corner. The 15th was probably our favourite hole, with the trees cutting off the corner forcing you to play right with your tee shot, before you hit a brilliant green with all sorts of clever slopes and borrows. The closing hole is a good one as well, with the raised green in front of the clubhouse a nice way to end. Overall, I really enjoyed my day, but found the front nine just shaded the back. The par 3s and 4s are a real highlight, but I can't say I found the par 5s a particular challenge - probably due to just missing the bunkers in the lay up areas. You do really have to think before every shot though and plot your way around. It's a shame that it had rained so much, as the greens weren't playing to their best. I would have liked to see a few more greens like the 15th, which forced us to make two very good putts for pars. The major highlight though is the design - the rough isn't horrific, but the clever placement of the trees and bunkers mean that if you don't hit the ball in the right places, an up and down is very difficult.For a twilight fee of £25 on a Saturday though, it's excellent value, and you won't find much better in and around the M25. A great course, and very friendly.

The course is in fantastic condition. I played it for the first time last year and I regularly play in the afternoon's at weekends - it really is a steal @ £45 compared to other courses that are this good!Bunkers are well positioned but are a little dry, must be the weather. Mind you I shouldn't go in them I suppose.Definitely recommend!

Kingswood is not a Surry course that naturally features on Top 100 lists but the best courses in county approach is interesting for those (like me) that can’t always shell out the stratospheric green fees at the higher ranked heathland courses in Surry. I’ve been lucky enough to play Kingswood on and off for a few years as I live just up the road in Croydon and it has improved significantly since the remodel. I like the P3’s here and there are also some lengthy P4’s. Given its location inside the M25, this is a quiet course where you could actually feel you are in the country. I like it a lot and will go back there again next year.