Royal Blackheath - Kent - England

Brilliant Course in great condition.

A lot of work has gone into updating the course and it’s starting to pay off. Definitely a course to play from mid-spring to mid-autumn (and not in the depths of winter as one reviewer below did) as this is when the grasses are up, providing more definition for the course, and the turf firmer. The course isn’t long, but the rough, ditches, and small greens are the defences. About as good a test as you’ll find so close to central London.

My son took me on an emotional trip down memory lane at RBGC today. I was a junior member from 1969 to 1972 and have not played the course for 48 years. I wanted to play 36 holes but there is no day rate. Disappointing. The round rate is steep for a parkland course and the feeling was that visitors were surplus to requirements. The course was very quiet and the weather wet. I cannot say we received a warm welcome but there was nothing untoward. Top marks to the four members playing a Texas scramble who immediately let us through on the sixth and were very friendly. My son and I were very impressed by the course. Holes 2, 3,4, 5, 8,11,12, 16,17 and 18 are all good and there are no bad holes. The greens were immaculate. I was stunned by the brilliant new bunkering. Every tee shot seemed to have threatening bunkers. The trees were beautiful. There were none of the scraggy self sets which grow on the heathland courses I play. There was a new (to me) short game area. It was clear that a lot of effort had gone into making the most of what is available. This course would probably rank 4 or 5 in Nottinghamshire where I live now - similar in standard to say Wollaton. My son, brought up playing at Hollinwell, was very impressed. It is difficult to be objective as the course carries so many memories for me but i would love to go back next time I visit my son.

Royal Blackheath starts off fairly well. Teeing off by the clubhouse is nice, it’s surprisingly open, the greens ran very well for the time of year, some diagonal bunkers look good and test early tee shots. It ended up feeling rather uninspiring though.

If you strip away the history, the clubhouse & the conditioning (which you’d expect for such a high green fee), it’s a rather mediocre set of holes. Whilst pretty ‘true’ the greens weren’t particularly interesting, some holes felt like you’d played them before and some holes like you were just playing the adjacent hole in reverse. There’s only so much you can do with a mostly flat, rectangular piece of land but unfortunately that makes it one of the less intriguing 18s in the area.

It’s also the least friendly of the royal clubs I’ve visited, and the frequent commuter trains going along the bottom perimeter detract from the experience. That’s not the club’s fault but I never felt I was playing anywhere special, so I’m glad I didn’t pay the nearly three-figure amount they charge in summer.

I liked the finish. 16’s a short hole with the best green at Blackheath, 17 has the deepest bunkers on the course then 18’s a reachable par 4, over a hedge and finishes yards from the clubhouse. It doesn’t justify the green fee though, if you are local there are better options within a 15 minute drive. If you’re visiting London and want a one-off game then a trip to Surrey’s worth the extra effort.

Royal Blackheath is quite a grand club. It’s also a decent golf course, to my mind with a better back nine than front nine. A little unusually the course is essentially rectangular, with a bit of a bulge to the north east corner. It’s also quite open, particularly on the 16 holes to the south of the clubhouse. Consequently the course has to work out how to make holes difficult.

It does this by the use of ditches, by the use of bunkers (which are universally good) and, in a few places by the use of water. It doesn’t do it by length, and when compared to a couple of course recently played in the West of London it certainly doesn’t do it with lightning quick greens. Indeed I was perhaps least impressed with the greens, though after a very bobbly first they did tend to run true.

I liked the back nice more because it had holes which required genuine thought, off the tee and for the second shot. This was especially the case with 10 and 11 and then 17. But 17 caused me grief. It’s a broadly straight hole, though favouring a draw off the tee. But a fade or a straight shot does not automatically end up off the fairway. So why, why, do I get faced, on a 390 yard hole and after a drive of maybe 220 yards, with an impossible second shot? I was on the fairway. I could not go up and over the large bunker 140 yards away as the nice Scots pine was overhanging the fairway making the lofted shot too high risk. Trying to hit a low skimmer under the tree would mean finding the bunker. It’s not called the fair way for nothing. If I’d been on the first or second cuts then fine. But I wasn’t.

Royal Blackheath, Englands oldest club is one of the closest golf clubs to central London. The course has nearly completed a 5 year plan to remove trees, renovate the bunkering and move the 1st green. The first hole which is now a par 5 is a nice opener teeing off right outside the grand old clubhouse. Holes 2 - 4 are strong holes…the 2nd is a really nice uphill left to right par 4 to a raised green with a false front. Holes 5 - 8 are decent but 9 is the standout hole for me on the front 9. The hole which rises slightly uphill has a bunker protecting the left side of the fairway before the fairway rises up over a ridge onto a second level. The green again is set above the player with a false front protecting the slightly miss hit shot and this clever green runs away from the player. The back nine starts with a straightaway par 4 which has a pond situated in the middle of the fairway. Holes 11 - 14 are nice enough before you hit 15 which has a very nice green setting protected by bunkers left and right. Hole 16 is a slightly odd hole the green is not in keeping with any others on the course which is shame as more could have been made of the pond situated to the left of the green. Hole 17 is a brute, uphill around 440 yards over a well crafted bunker complex to a green that slopes severely from left to right. The 18th a short drivable par 4 is nice way to finish the round but be careful with the approach shot as the clubhouse is literally 15ft from the back of the green. I have been playing RB for many years and I like the changes which overall have improved the aesthetics and the playability of the course.

Played a few times this summer and although not the hardest course in the world it was beautifully looked after and a lovely place to play golf at the weekend. However played today and discovered they have cut down loads of beautiful old trees all around the course, making it completely defenceless. Just because older members don't like going in the trees what gives them the right chop down old trees. Apparently they are spending £5 million on a five year plan. How about leave the trees and stick in great bunkers and some wonderful water holes!!!!!!

Having played RBGC on many occasions in club matches over the years I was a little surprised as to some of the comments on the site. I recently (May 2014) organised an event here for 66 category 1 and 2 players and they were all thoroughly impressed with the course and condition. The greens for the time of year were superb, running very true and quick enough for the tricky pin positions! The course itself is relatively short by today’s standards and only a Par 70 but to give you some idea the CSS’s for our event were 73 and 73 reductions only proving that a course does not have to be overly long to be tough. There are some tough par 4’s notably the 1st and 17th which require accurate tee shots and approaches to small tricky greens and the 2 Par 5’s, although short, require some thought. The Par 3’s are a little uninspiring but overall the course is a delight to play and I would recommend anyone in the area pays it a visit. I am lucky enough to play all over the UK at some of the top ranked courses and I think a few courses have a high ranking on name alone – RBGC is a unique place to go and play golf. Once there, you would not believe you are in London only a few miles from the centre of the capital. The clubhouse is very grand and the only downside for us was the attitude of some of the members of staff. We did find them a little “gruff” to say the least but not enough to ruin our day.

All golfers, especially those in the south of England should visit. Records tell us this is the oldest club (not course) in the country and at the top of the clubhouse there is a wonderful museum which is home to all sorts of memorabilia dating back 400 years or so to hopefully verify the claim. The clubhouse is a stunner, a beautiful building with many rooms that have so much history and tales of yester-year. The course as it is today has only ninety years of history after the move from ‘the heath’ to Eltham, something to do with the opening of the A2 road into London. The course cannot be called one of the greats but it is certainly enjoyable but if I am honest there are a lot of holes that can be seen on parkland courses all around the country. The 3rd hole is a strong par-4 at around 420 yards with a hedge across the fairway and probably the best hole on the front nine. The back nine probably just edges the front in terms of being stronger but I am sorry to mention the 16th; a 150 yard par-3 with a massive green and that is about it, where is the trouble? The last two holes are the best on the course by far, the 17th is uphill, with a slight left turn and 420 yards long add in a bank 20 yards short of the green and a par is a tough ask. The closing hole is only 265 yards long and offers an obvious birdie chance, watch out for another hedge and bunkers 60 yards short of the green though. For the experience, this was a 5-ball opinion for me – but for the course, an average 3-ball.

I played the course in March 2010. It is a nice course from the city centre of London. The course is in quite good shape and the first three holes are very solid long par 4's. The course has no spectacular holes, but it good value for money and worth a visit when you want to play a quick round in London. Hole 17 is probably the most spectacular hole from my perspective. It is a long uphill par 4 with a massive mound 50 yards in front of the green. The club house is very nice and the own club museum is worth a visit. The greens were quite ok, but I have to keep in mind that it was March.