Royal New Kent Golf Club

I was back in town for the holidays and after seeing the reviews for my old favorite course I had to go give it a try. We had a group of 8 and were the first ones off for the day. We were warmly welcomed when we checked in and were told a bit about the renovations. The course was in superb shape for the time of year. I had heard how great the greens were and they were just as good as everyone had described. I played this course so many times growing up but the shape it’s in now makes it play completely different, a true links course with plenty of rollout and required strategy from tee to green. The course itself isn’t overly difficult with its wide fairways and large greens, just play it smart and cut your losses if you find yourself in trouble. I really enjoyed getting to play this course again and can’t wait to give it another go next time I’m in town.

RoyalNewKent’s new Bermuda greens are the best around and have only enhanced the playing experience of the course. This track is the toughest test of golf in the area as it has been for over 20+ years. Definitely bring your “A” game to take on this course.

This has always been one of my favorite layouts. A friend and I watched it being built and couldn't wait to play it. That was a long time ago and it's been through a lot of owners and the course conditions have gone from great to absolutely horrible but I'm happy to say back it's back to great again. Wonderful fairways, very fast greens and pretty good bunker conditions although I was only in one. Can't say enough good things about this course and the new greens... just beautiful. Money well spent, don't pass up a chance to play this course!

Royal New Kent was one of my favorite courses before it closed in 2017. This was the first time I played it since it reopened in 2019. The new owners installed new Champion Bermuda Greens which are amazing. The course was in great shape which is especially surprising for December 5.

This course is one of designer Mike Stranz’s best. I could play here everyday and never get tired of this great course.

We played on a chilly and wet day. Fairways, greens and hazards were in pristine condition as compared to what I imagine about Ireland golf.

Hole number one looks like the first hole at Shadow Ridge in Palm Springs. Number two is similar to #15 at Princeville in Kauai, Hawaii. The overall layout reminds me of Pelican Hills in Newport Beach, CA. However, this course stands alone as a sheer golfing experience.

I've been playing at Royal New Kent since May, and it's a challenging, yet playable treat.

The fairway are wide and receiving, and typically run out, too. Many of the approaches are blind shots to multi-leveled greens, which run fast.

However, while it is a challenging course, it's also a delight to play no matter if you're a scratch or 20 handicap. Visually it is stunning, and the staff is more than welcoming.

The Richmond area is extremely fortunate that Mike Strantz' course has come back to life .

The late Mike Strantz designed this course to emulate an Irish course such as Portrush. I can't speak for how well it compares to the real thing, but I have always loved this course. After closing for an extended period for complete renovation, the course reopened in 2019 and I did not see any significant changes from the Strantz original, although I would have expected some. This is a typical Strantz design, what I call larger than life. Many holes appear to have little to no landing zone off the tee, only to discover there are wide landing areas. Lots of eye candy that can make you feel this is an impossible test. It actually is a course you can score one, IF you hit it reasonably straight off the tee. There is some rough that can eat your ball up, but most (not all) holes give you room to spray the ball a bit. There are tons of bunkers, many that are large and pitched, so you need to avoid those. However, the greens are huge, and the one noticeable change from the original is the conversion to bermuda greens (it looks like Champion bermuda). The putted beautifully when I played earlier this week, despite getting to that time of year in Virginia when the chilly nights are no friend to that kind of grass. This is a course you either love or hate. I love it, because of the visual interest created in every hole, the requirement to hit all of the clubs in your bag and different types of shots, and the fact that you are rewarded for good shots. It is also a course that requires some thought and care on positioning off the tee, on the green and in reading the greens. Other than my feeling that teh 8th hole should be blown up and redesigned, my main criticism of this course is more from a financial perspective. I think they could remove a ton of bunkers, or cut down the size of some, as well as the size of the greens to save in maintenance costs, yet still maintain the spirit of the original design. As example, the left 1/3 of the 11th green is unusable as a pin position, because the slope is too severe for a ball to stay in place. Perhaps they could lower their rates if they downsized some of that stuff.

I recommend this course to any golfer who is experienced, enjoys the challenge of the game, and is a 20 or better. This is not a course for beginners, in my opinion, regardless of what tee you play. I would also recommend playing it twice if this is a buddies trip to the area. Unless you have a good app with detailed course layout, your first tour around this course will include a few well struck shots that find real trouble, those "man, if I had known that was there" type of reactions.

All in all, a great experience and a must play if you are in the area.

I am not a regular golfer, but I had a very enjoyable day on the course.

Greens and bunkers are in excellent condition, especially considering the dry weather we have experienced this summer.

The course layout is very interesting with choices for golfers of all skills and abilities.

I highly recommend this course for a superior golf experience.

Mike Strantz was lost far too soon, as there are only a handful of original courses with his name on them. A few years ago RNK was shuttered and left to die. Thankfully, a group of new investors bought the club, put in a bunch of money and brought the course back to life. It finally reopened earlier this year (2019) with the entire course having been regrassed and bunkers restored and refilled.

Overall the course is excellent and unlike most anything you'll find - especially in VA. Nearby Stonehouse is similarly on the mend, but not quite back up to snuff as it was really left fallow for a while. But I digress.

RNK's front 9 is epic. The holes, land movement, routing, greens...everything is spectacular. Then, you make the turn and you are quickly knocked down from your euphoria. The back nine struggles from holes that seem disjointed from the design of the front, holes are shoehorned into middling housing developments, and the transition between a few greens to tees are a couple minutes long in a cart -- in other words, not great. There are a few holes on the back that are nearly the same level of genius, but they aren't strung together like they are on the front. I have to assume this was a product of the time the course was built and the terrible thinking that people wanted their backyard to be a golf course.

I would almost go so far to suggest that they reverse the nines so that the course ends on a high note vs. potential disappointment. Regardless, the course is worth experiencing. The greens were new, hard, and running quite fast.

Special shout out to the construction crew and supers that got the course back into great playing shape.

Take a few extra minutes to see the original drawings from Strantz in the hallway of the clubhouse. True works of art.

Great golf test perfect golf conditions and speedy a must play

If you want a real golf test with perfect conditions and with speedy greens you got it, a must play course

I've played many great courses -- including all of the venues on the Open Championship Rota in Britain and half of Tom Doak's "Gourmet Choices" from his Confidential Guide -- and Royal New Kent, in my opinion, is a must. The late great Mike Strantz was no cookie cutter golf architect: Almost all of the holes are unique in character and imagination. Don't miss an opportunity to experience it for yourself. If that doesn't come easily for your, then make the effort!