Wrotham Heath

Wrotham Heath Golf Club is a real mixture of a course. It sits on the sand belt which runs along the old A25 just outside Sevenoaks. It started as a nine-hole course but due to declining member numbers the club decided to invest in some available land which they gave to Donald Steel to place a golf course on. This was a wise choice as the land they bought was quite majestic, deeply wooded with chestnut, pine and oak and very undulating.

There is probably no other person more capable than Donald of making the best use of England’s natural heath and links land. The new holes are only just over 10 years old but you would have thought Colt laid them out some hundred years ago such is their natural feel. The course now mixes the new in with the old but mainly the new are in the early middle of the round and it is the predominant reason for visiting the course.

The course starts and ends its front nine in a field in front of the clubhouse. From the view of the first hole and the two other holes that share this field you will wonder why this has been nominated or indeed how they can seriously have the word Heath in their name. You will realise why though as the course starts to build on the second and then really comes alive on the third. What a hole this is, more reminiscent of The Addington than in fitting with the early view of this course, it is a par five with a narrow fairway and deep chestnut woods either side. You drive off over a deep hollow onto the narrow fairway, the second shot is then probably 200 yards before the fairway drops precipitously down to a green perched on a little rise at the bottom of the hill. In fairness you would probably play two good five irons and a seven iron and it is not necessarily a very fair hole but it is great fun to play.

The next four holes then wind their way through heather and woodland with blind drives and awkward doglegs. You finally have some respite at the turn as you return to the front field before it once again becomes a heathland course until you reach the 18th back in the field. Apart from the few holes in the front field accuracy is an absolute must, miss the fairways and you are in the woods, bracken or heather. It is worth saying the course is still in transition and there has been a tree clearance programme underway to give more space and a chance for the heather to grow. The heather at the moment is a sprinkling with only a few of the holes really having a lot of noticeable heather. However if they get it right and the heather returns it will be a beautiful course in many places. If they were brave enough to go for serious heather planting on the front field then they really would have a course which would jump up the rankings.

Only around the 13th and 16th where the fairways cross do you have a feeling that the course has been squeezed into its space (these are some of the other old holes). However some of the magnificent views, from the new nine and some of the old nine, make this a worthwhile trip for a reasonable green fee. Even if it is not a complete enough course to make it anywhere near the Top 100 it is a quirky and fun gem of a course with a warm welcome, I really enjoyed my day here and will enjoy returning some day soon.

Article by Carl Tushingham