Beckenham Place Park Golf Club

A lovely setting but the course is well past its sell by date. Typical English parkland course that must have been glorious in its hay day but sadly it has clearly been neglected in recent times. The bunkers are unkempt (not even any rakes to be seen), the fairways chewed up with divot marks, there are no yardage markers on the course at all (even a dab of yellow paint on the fairway at say 150 yards would be a help) and the greens would barely bother the stimp meter. I reckon my garden lawn is quicker. That said, there are some lovely holes in a great setting. Sitting out on the patio having a post match pint one can only wonder what it must have been like when the course was looked after. Instead there is a petition at the bar asking for signatures to prevent the course from closing. Clearly a indication of why the council don;t bother maintaining it. A huge shame as with some investment and tender loving care, it could be on a par with many other local courses.

I've played Beckenham a lot in the past 3 years. In spring and early summer, it's picturesque and lush. In autumn, the variety of trees provide a stunning display of colour. The course is usually in a condition commensurate with a high-traffic course that (rightly) welcomes beginners. There are more divot marks on the fairways than you will find at a Members Club and the greens vary, depending on the season and proximity to trees. Some get mushy in the winer after rain, others suffer from acorn or branch debris. Two or three holes have sections of Greens Under Repair most of the year. They are the bad points. The good points. It's good value. The 485 yard first is a tough start if you are looking to par and the second is shorter but still a challenge. A couple of easier holes allow you to find your swing without too much danger. This includes a par 3 4th which is a nice test of a 7, 8 or 9 iron. The 5th is said to be the toughest par 3 in the country. From recollection it's a 240 yard par 3 with a sloping green. You don't see too many of those around! The rest of the front nine are a mix of straight, uphill and a couple of longish ones to finish. The back nine begins with a 230 yard straight hole with a flat green. Thereafter, the course gets more challenging. I've had members of prestigious local clubs who were in my round tell me they thought the last four holes worthy of any members course in the area. The last four starts with a brutal par 4 where your tee shot must be well placed on the left if you are to miss a large tree which protects an elevated green. Then it gets better. Big vistas, enjoyable scoring shots and three elevated and sloping greens well protected by bunkers will challenge even very good players. In summary, don't expect lavish facilities or even creature comforts. Don't expect a beautifully manicured course with checkered greens (except for a few weeks in Spring). But you can expect a decent challenge with varied holes - long short, hilly, flat, doglegs, bunkered, straight. The people are friendly and welcoming. Their encouragement and tolerance gave me the confidence to keep going through the banana shots, the missed fairways and lost balls. We need to be grateful to courses like Beckenham. I, for one, am. I play at lots of courses now (Sundridge Park, Royal Blackheath, Shooters Hill) and still find Beckenham testing and enjoyable.

I learnt to play golf on this course in the early 1980's. In those days it was reasonably well kept and considering how busy it was held up pretty well. I last played it in 1999. I played it on 5 April. Although it felt like a walk down memory lane, I could not belive what a mess this has course become, presumably because of neglect. The tees were an absolute shambles - either bare mud, three inches of uncut grass or slabs of loose turf. They still had the original stone markers from years ago, some of which had no information on them and those that did did not reflect the information on the scorecard. The greens were shocking - I've seen better temporary greens. The bunkers had no rakes but that didn't really matter because they had no sand in them either! The fairways were generally OK apart from the approach to the 15th which should have been GUR as there was no grass on it at all. The cafe/bar was awful. Given the money that this course must take each month it's about time some of it was ploughed back in. A sad demise.

Played this course on Grand National Day 2010 and it was probably as packed as Aintree! Nice enough setting within Beckenham Park and it does have potential, especially the back 9 which is a nice little test of Golf. However, the greens are awful...I would rather putt on my back garden and £24 to play on what is in essence a park course is expensive. Also... beware the hacker!...there are loads of them all over the place. Wide boys with no idea of how the game should really be enjoyed. Shame really.

I wouldnt go too far out of your way to play this course. Rammed at peak times. Fairways are very close and a bit 'criss-crossey' at times which can be lethal with 4 ball hackers surrounding you on all sides. Most of the par 4's are driver/wedge. 5 or 6 nice golf holes here. Condition of the course has been OK but given the summer we are having it should be. If you are a high handicapper, local and can play mid week would be ideal for you to cut your teeth. This isnt really a true test of golf and i am normally well under my handicap even when playing average golf. Its an 'OK' course i suppose.

Just a note to say I played very early on a midweek morning Sep. 2008 and the green fee was £16. Very interesting course let down by the quality (or lack of) of the greens.

I played Beckenham Place Park today. The condition of the greens during this sunny July was consistently quick except for the wooded shade. One down side was the waterlogging that seemed to affect a couple of greens. Beckenham has a fairly forgiving front 9 and a more wooded back 9. It can get busy and so you pay your money and risk the dreaded 4 ball hackers. We had no trouble today. The course is only 7 miles from the centre of London and so expect anything to happen. We had armed police come up to us in a borrowed golf buggy and ask if we'd seen a "bloke with an afro" and then were buzzed by a helicopter as we putted. Having played this course a few times, nothing unusual about that. The course is now £16 for a weekday which seems a little too pricey compared to using 2 fore 1 elsewhere but the fairways were in good nick for such a busy municipal course and the lateral water hazard that crosses 5 or 6 holes will still worry your drive. One thing - there are no yardage markers on the course and a lot of the tee info boards are blank. Would it be too much trouble to erect some 150 marker posts on each hole?

Played here 3 weeks ago for the first time. It's a very good course for the money, and although a little bit on the short side in places, there are still some challenging holes. They also make a mean sausage sandwich! The clubhouse could do with some improvement though. I have only 1 major gripe. Whilst we were playing the 8th, 9th & 10th we saw two 2-balls arrive in their cars and walk onto the 8th tee without visiting the clubhouse to pay. The club needs to look at this by introducing a warden to check tickets on a regular basis.

iv'e played this course now 12 times this yr (2005) i think this is a a good course and is good value for money £15 for a 18 hole £10 for a nine, lots of work been done to the course over the last yr, greens are good also fairways are kept upto scratch, you have to be unlucky to get behinde total novices but if you do they will usaully let you play thru, bunkers are prodominatly to the side of the fairways so if you hit a good ball off the tee you see the rewards by not going nowhere near them, I think this course is great esspecially as its a coucil run course, im gonna be playing here a lot more this yr.

Played here last night. Only £7.50 for the round. Cannot complain about that. Fairways need a cut and greens a bit spongy. Apart from slow players who had to measure up every shot, it was a good night.

played the course today 12/04/04 this course is very well designed and picturesqe however the greens are kept in poor condition and i think it would be nice if the fairways were cut so that it would reward straight hitting. a round can also take four and a half hours and golfing etiquette is never followed if this course was better maintained it would be an absolute gem

Playing this course in the summer is a joy. It's quite a short course but well laid out and a good test. It can get busy in the summer, so I suggest that you arrive at, or just before, 9am, when you should be able to get away without any bother.

Found your site and thought it made agood read. Thought Id update you on the golf course and facilities. We have a new head Golf Professional, John Denham. He has been in residence for the past two years. Lewisham council is back in charge, and working in poartnership with DGM partnership for the day to day running of the course and clubhouse, as well as many capital improvements. The gents changing rooms are the most eagerly awaited addition to the clubhouse. Quite extensive work has been carried out on greens and fairways with an effort to aid with drainage problem which everyone is familiar with during the winter months. We also have a small fleet of golf buggies to assist those who may find it difficult to walk the entire course. Our greenfees are not really any higher than they were two years ago. Adults(18-59 incl) £13 w/days, £18.50 w/ends; seniors £6.50 w/days £15 w/ends only after 1pm there is no reduction for earlier times, juniors are the same w/days but only £10 at weekends. Advisable to book in advance. However, we take bookings only weekend and bank holiday mornings up to 1pm. We find it quiet enough at other times to operate with a casual roll up and play policy.

Havent played for a while, but for the money well worth a visit. In good weather course is very good, but if it rains the course does not drain well (especially the 7th). Little bird told me that the 5th hole is the longest Par 3 in the country. Final 3 holes are sadastic (17 or 18th could quite easily be a par 5) but absolute joy to lauch your tee shot off the 16th as you are hitting down into a fairly hefty dip from the tee box - almost makes you feel that you have the distance of John Daly!!

I have played the course several dozen times this past year (2001). The front nine is more open, holes run side by side with little rough, whereas the back nine holes are more characteristic and require better shot-making. This course is very good value for money (£12 weekdays) but is let down terribly by several factors: Inconsistent greens-some v.good, some terrible. Poor teeing grounds, most aren't even flat! on the par-3 4th I always tee off the mat because the ground is so poor. No discipline/etiquette on course, some golfers can be quite aggresive and threatening! a round can take upto 5 hours as just about anyone is allowed on the course, You can get caught behing a four ball of 10 year old beginners and i've even been stuck behind 5 and 6-balls!! Vandalism, over the summer holidays it isn't uncommon to find flags missing and greens vandalised. All this aside it is a good challenging course worth visiting.

I've had mixed experiences here. During the winter the course can be in poor condition and teeing off winter mats is not much fun. Played there a couple of weeks ago though (August) and had a fantastic day. The course was in excellent condition for a highly used public course and there's no doubt that it has lots of character. The view as you hit up the (ridiculously long)par-3 5th towards the stately-home looking clubhouse was fantastic. Definately worth a punt during the summer, although always busy.

I played this course on 11th August 2001. Very nice course with a very good mixture of holes, from the straight-forward to the really quite challenging! A word of caution, however, is that it can get very busy and this can cause a backlog, especially as there appears to be no formal tee-time system (which I would suggest they should think about introducing). Nevertheless it is well worth a visit.

A fine, mature course with every hole providing a challenge. This is not one of the new style mundane courses, but a very old course with much charachter. Hard 1st and 18th holes with an enourmous 5th hole par 3 measuring at nearly 250 yards. If this was a privately owned course, this would be one to join.