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
801 Reviews (801)
5 Stars
564
4 Stars
174
3 Stars
43
2 Stars
12
1 Stars
8
Conditions
4.3
Value
4.3
Layout
4.8
Friendliness
4.5
Pace
4.2
Amenities
4.0
87.9%
Recommend this course
745 out of 801 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.4
7 Reviews (7)
5 Stars
5
4 Stars
0
3 Stars
2
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
4.0
Value
3.7
Layout
4.6
Pace
2.7
Amenities
4.0
StaffFriendliness
4.3
71.4%
Recommend this course
5 out of 7 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.6
56 Reviews (56)
5 Stars
40
4 Stars
9
3 Stars
7
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
4.3
Value
4.3
Layout
4.7
Pace
4.1
Amenities
3.9
StaffFriendliness
4.4
85.7%
Recommend this course
48 out of 56 reviews
Read Reviews

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

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Reviews

4.5
801 Reviews (801)

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 10
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Poor
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 8
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Played On
Reviews 29
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 13
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0

Favorite toughest course around

Greens were just punched in the last 5 days. Still rolled pretty good but a lil bumpy

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

very challenging scenic course

Fantastic lay-out . Didn’t know ir being informed greens were aerated. Disappointed !Expected course and greens to be better shape since I looked very much forward to play this and drove 2 hours. Staff excellent and very friendly. Great practice facility and goid pricing on range balls

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

the NEW Royal New Kent

Played here about 10 yrs ago.....it was amazing...

Always love Strantz golf courses.

It closed for about 3 yrs,but has now re-opened....and it is IMMACULATE !!!!

It was a joy to play today !!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Default User Avatar
Commented on 07/25/2021

Thank you for the five star review. We brought back two of Strantz's small team of shapers, that built our course in 96 and worked on all seven of his courses he built from scratch, to help with the renovation and put it back to the way it was originally. Its a unique design that never gets boring.

Default User Avatar
Commented on 07/14/2021

Thank you for the great review! Actually, the course was closed for around 15 months which included seven months of renovation by the new owners. Mike Strantz designed and built a beautiful place. Its great to see people enjoy the challenge, uniqueness and the beauty.

Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Excellent Course

I became a huge fan of Mike Strantz after playing Tobacco Road and have made it a bucket list item to play as many of his courses as possible. Royal New Kent lived up to expectations and made for a fantastic final day of our Williamsburg Golf Trip.

Would say the course is a more forgiving, watered-down Tobacco Road (in a good way). Much less polarizing and fun to play the first time around without sacrificing what makes a Strantz course unique. Course conditions were maybe a half step below Tabacco Road, but don’t let that push you away from playing this course. It was still my favorite course of the week (including both horseshoe courses).

Side note: we played the day after tropical storm Elsa came through and 3 days after they aerated the greens. We had about as “worst case” of a scenario as far as conditions are concerned but still found the course in great shape. Greens were very playable and we were back in the fairway with the cart by the time we made the turn. I would love to give the course another go when she is firing on all cylinders, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play since Williamsburg isn’t on our normal golf trip rotation.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 07/14/2021

Thank you for the nice review! Mike Strantz only designed seven courses from scratch and RNK is, like his other courses, very unique and never boring. We had two of Strantz's team that built all seven courses back to do the renovation which was wonderful for them and us. The shaping on the course is a piece of artwork. Hope you can make it back soon.

Played On
Reviews 129
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Top 250 Contributor
Previously Played

Beautiful!!

It never changes, that Royal New Kent is the best course in this area, but one of the grounds maintenance guys needs to find some common sense!! I had pulled my cart off the cart path because I saw his tractor coming, but it was so slow, I ended up pulling off before he got to me. He actually scolded me for being off the path by the tee!!! I told him not to be ridiculous, but it was still annoying!!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Oh My!!

A visual feast. Entertaining, fun, tough. My favorite course. Always a challenge, but so much fun!!

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Oh my!!!

Always a visual feast. Beat me up as usual, but boy what fun. My altime favorite course.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Hot weather
Used cart

Great course

Course was in pretty good condition. Quite a good challenge. Pretty wide layout on most holes, so if you miss the fairway you're in for a tough recovery. Greens were fast and rolled nicely, and hitting the right tier of the greens was essential for scoring. Also, missing the raised greens on the approach shot typically made for a tricky up and down. Only complaint was that I was told I could go out early since they were pretty wide open as they had a shotgun tournament going on, but then the starter had me wait to go out behind a group of 4 that was playing extremely slow, around 3.5 hours on the front 9.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Fair
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing

Amazing Layout

This course is a true gem. I will definitely play it again.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 11
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Wet weather
Used cart

Mike Strantz Gem

Mike Strantz is by far my favorite course designer and this course is one of the reason's why. Royal New Kent is such a breath of fresh air situated in a somewhat remote part of Virginia.

The course is modeled after an Irish Links and although I have never played golf in Ireland, I can certainly say it's far different than every other course I've ever played in Virginia.

Huge mounds and humps grace every massive fairway (although some don't look massive from the tee) and wild green complexes make for an outstanding round... as long as you are prepared.

I can understand why some golfers feel Strantz is a little tricked up or not real golf, but I absolutely love it. Some of my favorite holes include the par 3 3rd, which has at least 10 different tee boxes and a semi blind approach (if the pin is in the front) where you have pretty much no choice but to hit the green. 5 is my favorite hole on the course and features massive mounds and bunkers splitting the fairway. On the back, 18 has a dramatic approach to a green surrounded with water.

We got a little unlucky with the weather, as they had received 4 inches of rain the previous two days, but I would love to play the course when it is firm and fast. One of my favorite in Virginia.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Fair
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Used cart

It used to be better

Along with Stonehouse, Royal New Kent is not what it once was and it's too bad. Golf is not as popular as it once was and intricate courses without play just can't be maintained to the old standards.

Conditions Fair
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Fair
Amenities Average
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 29
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Played On
Reviews 2
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Tough course

Great course and very difficult. Course of play was too slow. First time I ever had a 6 hour round.

Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Poor
Amenities Poor
Played On
Reviews 35
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Average
Pace Fair
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 35
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Fair
Amenities Good
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