Royal New Kent GC: #5
View from the 5th tee at Royal New Kent Golf Club
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Rating Index Rating
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4.5
813 Reviews (813)
5 Stars
567
4 Stars
180
3 Stars
46
2 Stars
12
1 Stars
8
Conditions
4.2
Value
4.3
Layout
4.8
Friendliness
4.6
Pace
4.2
Amenities
4.1
89.2%
Recommend this course
757 out of 813 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.1
15 Reviews (15)
5 Stars
5
4 Stars
6
3 Stars
4
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
3.5
Value
3.9
Layout
4.9
Pace
4.3
Amenities
4.1
StaffFriendliness
4.7
100.0%
Recommend this course
15 out of 15 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.5
49 Reviews (49)
5 Stars
32
4 Stars
10
3 Stars
7
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
4.2
Value
4.3
Layout
4.8
Pace
4.3
Amenities
4.1
StaffFriendliness
4.5
91.8%
Recommend this course
45 out of 49 reviews
Read Reviews
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AI summaries based on real golfer reviews
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Course Highlights
Royal New Kent's Mike Strantz-designed layout earns top marks for its dramatic blind shots, forced carries, and picturesque, Ireland-like scenery. Fairways, greens, and course conditions consistently impress, and friendly staff help deliver strong overall value.

About

Holes 18
Type Semi-Private
Style Links
Par 72
Length 7440 yards
Slope 154
Rating 76.8

Formerly known as The Tradition Golf Club At Royal New Kent

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Royal New Kent Golf Club
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Course Details

Year Built 1996
Greens Champion Bermuda Grass
Golf Season Year round
Architect Mike Strantz (1996)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes - included in green fees
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Golf School/Academy Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Credit Cards Accepted VISA, MasterCard, Amex Welcomed
Metal Spikes Allowed No

Food & Beverage

Bar, Grill, Restaurant

Available Facilities

Clubhouse, Conference Facilities, Banquet Facilities

Accolades

The Best Way To Book Is With GolfPass+ Annual
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$120 in monthly tee time promo codes
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12 rounds of waived fees
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Reviews

4.5
813 Reviews (813)

What Golfers Are Saying

The 19th Hole is Great For:
19th Hole Scenic Views 9
Drinks 7
Course Challenges Include:
Elevation Changes 20
Undulating Greens 20
Forced Carries 19
This course/club is great for:
Advanced Golfers 24
A Bucket list/Top 100 Pick 16
Wildlife/ Scenic Views 14
This Course's Location is:
Worth the Drive 22

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

Reviewer Photos

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Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 11
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Tough and challenging times

One of the most beautiful and inspiring rounds of golf you can have will definitely be playing here in the future

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 18
Handicap 5-9
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Most interesting course I’ve played

Glad we were paired with some locals!! Course is an absolute blast to play with many blind shots along the way. Tee boxes, fairways, and greens all in good shape. You better know your club distances to play this course successfully. The best pieces of advice from the starter, “don’t use any balls that you are real sentimental about, and if the first voice in your head says you probably can carry a shot…listen to the second voice in your head.” Pick your spots carefully to try to improve your score.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Excellent links course

A little on the pricey side but course was in great condition and well maintained

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 5
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played

Birthday round!

Played here for the second time ever. Great deal on GolfNow. What can I say? Conditions were absolutely stellar, from start to finish, especially when compared to the issues a lot of rva courses are experiencing on the greens. Love the layout, it really helped having a yardage book, and using one of the new gps equipped carts. So many blind shots, but if you’re aware of the right angles and landing areas, the course can play much more forgiving than it appears. If you’re not, you can run through sleeves of balls because while the rough may not always be penal, the scrub/hazards throughout the course are impossible to find balls in. Definitely a course that makes you want to come back, because viewing many of the holes in reverse really changes your perspective.

They didn’t have a bev cart on the course, and I didn’t see many, if any water stations which is my only serious critique.

The front 9 has great continuity, and flows nicely from hole to hole. The back 9 plays around more residential areas, and there’s an odd quirk of going over to #12 for a wild par 3, before coming back over to rejoin the flow of the course.

Idk the history of the course as to how that happened but it’s there.

Such a unique course that incorporates some target golf into a links dominant layout. I love the use of waste bunkers as well as traditional bunkers. The variety of greens, the boomerang par 5, the aforementioned #12 that can play as much as 3 different clubs for a par 3, the list goes on and on.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Wish I knew

I was a single playing for my 2nd time at this course. The 1st time was actually a wedding party scramble the morning of the wedding about 4 years ago. I would highly recommend not playing by yourself and play with somebody who knows the course. There are alot of blind shots.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 9
Handicap Don't know
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

royal kent outing

largest course I have ever seen. had a blast trying to hit landing zones. the entire course was in great shape. club sandwich was really good. plan on driving the 80 miles to it a few times more to enjoy golfing away from everything

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 53
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Must play

Absolutely Amazing condition right now. I will go out on a limb and say the best greens i have ever played. Keep it up

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 146
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Top 1000 Contributor
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played

One of the best courses on the Planet

You simply have to play this golf course …. My favorite Strantz course, stunning scenery, every hole is an architectural masterpiece from the ‘horseshoe’ par 5 2nd hole right through to the tough but exciting 18th …. I have been blessed to play many of the worlds best courses but this one is number 2 on my list behind Spyglass and perhaps equal to Sunningdale in the UK …. Don’t be put off by the reviews that say the course is too tough …. The is a tee box for everyone …. Don’t worry about your score and cone play one of the worlds best courses …. Oh and by the way it’s only $75 to play 18 holes !!!!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing

Great fun course

If you want something different and not something you can always play. This was a fun, yet very challenging round.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Played On
Reviews 50
Handicap 5-9
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

A Must Play

This was my first time playing Royal New Kent after hearing about it for the past few years. I had the third tee time of the day and was playing as a single behind a foursome and a twosome. The foursome let me play through on the par-3 third hole, and the twosome a few holes later. After that, I had the course to myself.

Of the Mike Strantz courses I’ve played—Tobacco Road and Tot Hill Farm—Royal New Kent is by far my favorite layout. Nearly every tee shot felt like a photo opportunity. Each hole was visually stunning and unlike anything I’d experienced before.

My only issue was the course condition. While the greens were in good shape and the course overall was solid, it could use some cleanup around the edges. Some bunkers had weeds growing in them, and the fairways were a bit too long—more like a first cut than tightly mown fairways. That meant drives had little to no rollout, which was a letdown on the longer holes where every yard counts.

Despite that, I would absolutely recommend playing here. It’s one of the most spectacular pieces of golf property I’ve ever seen. If you're in the area and have the chance to play it, don’t pass it up.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Tough Course - Not Very Enjoyable

First time playing this course, as an average golfer and someone who doesn’t hit the ball long, I usually play from white tees (or equivalent). The white tee yardage measures roughly 6,200 total yards at this course. The next choice drops to 4,900 yards. Many of the holes have forced carries off the tee and limited bailout areas when approaching the green - that’s a challenging combination. Quite a few holes are spread very far apart- I can’t imagine how much concrete had to be poured for the oaths and it seems the course infrastructure might be outpacing resources for maintenance. If you’re an above-average golfer, I’d recommend playing it. For others, I’d recommend other more enjoyable courses in the area.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Fair
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 11
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Royal New Kent

Awesome course, very challenging and well kept. Cart path to fairway transitions need improvement it was very rough thats the only critique everything else was top notch. Pro shop staff were very nice. Restaurant staff was awful passed on food and drinks there, some drama between bartender and chef. nothing a patron needed to see or hear. Cart girl was very nice and made the rounds quickly. Can’t wait to go back.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 21
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 21
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
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