Tree-lined fairways characterise the golf course at The Wildernesse Club so accuracy is the watchword when playing here, especially on a front nine containing seven tight par fours.
Overall rating
Tree-lined fairways characterise the golf course at The Wildernesse Club so accuracy is the watchword when playing here, especially on a front nine containing seven tight par fours.
Wildernesse Club
The Wildernesse Club is located near Sevenoaks in Kent and this is a stylish and quintessentially English golf club.
Golf had been played on the Wildernesse estate prior to the foundation of the club in 1890 and the layout has naturally evolved over the years. However, the early Wildernesse members would still recognise elements of today’s course, which has always played in a clockwise direction around Chance Wood.
Measuring more than 6,500 yards from the back tees, you might think that the Wildernesse Club, which celebrated its 125th year in 2015, is too short for the modern game, but you’d be wrong. Its modest yardage has proved to be sufficient challenge for a number of famous Wildernesse members, including Gerald Micklem and Peter Hedges (both former Walker Cup players), Sam King (who played in three Ryder Cups), and Richard Partridge, who won the both the Scottish and Irish Amateur Seniors Open Championship in 2015.
“This is a parkland course well-known for its natural beauty.” Wrote Peter Alliss in The Good Golf Guide. “It has many trees, which makes your long shots feel tighter than they really are. How often the appearance of a hole, rather than how it actually plays, affects the nerves of a golfer! There is relief from such feelings, however, on the 10th and 14th holes, which are more open.”
“In fact, the first nine holes and the last five are played around a 60-acre wood, and overall the yardage of Wildernesse is a good enough test to have been used by the R and A for regional qualifying for the Open for four years in the very recent past…”
“All in all, this is a well-balanced course with par for both nines being 36. There are several short to medium-length par 4s which may yield birdie opportunities, and three of the par 3s, in still air, are no more than mid-iron shots.”
Despite being listed as one of Britain and Ireland’s best 200 courses by Peter Alliss back in the mid 1980s, the Wildernesse Club has been in the “wilderness” in recent years, overlooked in golf course rankings. We are therefore delighted to once again shine a light on this Kentish gem, which jumped seven places to 6th position in our 2015 Kent Best In County rankings.