Darenth Valley Golf Course

Had a great day in the sunshine yesterday at Darenth Valley. Couldn't fault the condition of the course, greens especially were looking great (apart from a couple of ring mould spots). I would say that if you are after a real tough challenge that this may not be the course for you though, its about 6100 yards off the whites and a par 72, so fairly easy to score well. If you go expecting a nice relaxing days golf rather than a thrilling hazard filled monster of a course you won't be disappointed.

I played this course on a Tuesday in Mid November 2013 on a bright, sunny day and found the greens to be in a beautiful condition and very receptive to a well struck approach shot. All the bunkers were neat, tidy and very well raked (not that I went in many!). The tees were all level and well maintained. There were a few leaves about, but it's very late Autumn, so they're not unexpected. The course will probably look stunning when all the trees are in full leaf in the summer. The green-keeping staff should be rightly very proud. It's not a long course by modern standards, with some sensible par 4s and 5s where you can score well. There are two strong (and very nice) par 4s - stroke index 1 and 3, halfway through the front 9. A par at both of these two holes is well earned. For a 'pay and play' course, this is definitely worth you visiting, whatever your skill level. The pro-shop is well stocked, with attentive staff. There are two driving nets, a good putting green and a practice chipping area. The clubhouse before and after the round looked after me very well. I'd recommend their bacon sarnies! (Round played: 19/11/13 - Score: 73 Handicap: 5.4) Did I enjoy it? Yes; Did I play well? Yes; Will I be back? Yes

Have played this course a number of times over the past two months and can not fault the course itself, it is very well kept and offers a decent test to the mid handicap player. At £26.50 for a round at the weekend it also offers decent value for money. The minus point would be to try and avoid mid-morning Saturday as it tends to be extremely busy.

Second time we've played this course and I must still like it. Maybe not as long as some courses we play but really nice place to play. No really bad to say about the course or the staff were really helpful. Would recommend it to anyone wanting a good society venue.

Played this course in ealy September and after a good summer it was ,unsuprisingly,in good nick.The course is in a very picturesque setting in a valley in the North Downs. Tees and green were pretty good as were fairways, the first cut of rough was maybe an inch but very wide, unfortunately this didn't help as my Driver unusually got out of the bag on the wrong side and I was just as likely to be playing from an adjacent fairway or just past the ladies tee! Hazards were in poor condition - bunkers seemingly not raked for days. We didn't see anyone playing from 3.30 till we finished at 7.40 which on course as open as this and on a sunny day tells you its quiet (when were all those foot prints in the bunkers from?) Very friedly staff

Played the course yesterday and found it to be in good condition - the greens had been watered so well, they were bouncy underfoot. They were receptive and the quickest and smoothest greens we have played on this year. I'm not sure whether the course has been set up differently recently (maybe I've just not noticed before) but the fairways all seemed extremely narrow. Now, the first cut of rough is short and generously wide but playing from it can nevertheless have an effect on the ability to control the ball. Perhaps this explains why a course that is not long and doesn't have a lot of obvious defences is also not often a score-fest.

First time visitor in early July 2007. Very impressed with course, nice straight forward opening couple of holes, before crossing into Valley where holes become longer and more challenging. 5 Par 5's and 5 Par 3's make it a good test of all round golf game. Need to go very wide to find deep rough which makes it good for any handicap golfer, and greens were slow for the summer but i'd say this was due to the summer rainstorms. Well worth a visit back, once you've played it once you'd hope to go under your handicap score second time round

Very nice course in great condition. Not to challenging. Great views of surrounding area. Played after 4pm so only a tenner. Well worth a visit for this price.

Excellent course for anything up to a mid level golfer. Great fairways and greens. Clubhouse is also fantastic with friendly staff. Only fault is that some of the fairways are a little close together with only a thin strip of rough between them. Over all though, a great place for a days gold and will be going back very soon.

Played here 13th MArch 2007. Altohough the time of the year the course was very consistant and was not at all muddy or patchey. The lay out is very good and holes are very exiting to play with holes at both ends of the scale easy and hard. The accessories are very good, the restaurant is good value and not over priced and served up very well. The pro shop is excellent with lots of variety to fill your needs if short of a few things. And the on course accessories were very clear such as the 150 markers, next tee signs and the actual hole information at each tee box, and playing off of the tees and no mats, thats always a good sign and positive way to start a game during the wet weather. Very impressed will make a return not to far in the distant future.

Played it on Friday for the first time in two or three years and thought for the time of year it was pretty good. Their website is up to date, too, and on the wednesday had a rolling-warning for would-be players that there were 10 temporary greens in use due the previous day's downpour. By the friday it had them all in use and a rolling warning said as much. Changes to the 11th are unfortunate and we played it as a par three from a mat next to the new green, making it one of four very ordinary par-threes on the course. The other holes were fine, though, and the greens excellent considering 10 of them had been out of use 48 hours earlier. Would definitely play gain - nice real ale pub called the george in shoreham, too, 90 seconds past the main gate.

To follow up on Phil R's comments, we played Darenth on 9 July 2006 and were told that the greenkeepers had used the wrong chemicals on a couple of holes on the back 9. As it turned out, from memory, large parts of the fairways on 13, 14 (albeit a par 3) and 15 had been completely stripped of grass and were left in shocking condition. Granted the affected areas are not where one should ideally be playing from but then this is golf - all of us put the ball in far from ideal spots from time to time - and this is a course frequented by a fair number of higher handicappers. For me, this damage is something that the course should be disclosing at the time of booking and it's a bit cheeky to be charging the full green fee in the circumstances.

Very nice, varied course that challenges all players and has good views across the Kent countryside. Nice facilities, and though there isn't room for a range there are practice nets up, as well as a good quality putting green, practice bunker and pitching area. A drawback when playing was that the greens were very slow despite being at the end of a heatwave, really requiring a good trim. There's also a couple of waste areas they've let build up in the middle of the back nine where there used to be light rough, not sure exactly what's going on there. The fairways and tees though were generally in decent condition. Unfortunately the short dogleg par 4 11th has now been straightened into a longish par 3, taking out one of the course's best holes. This is fair enough though as I'd have got a bit annoyed as well had I been living in the farm at the corner of the old dogleg. All in all a pleasant looking golf course that'll test your game in a lot of different ways, but maybe does got a bit over the top on price. Worth a go if you havn't played here before and are in the area.

Despite an unpleasant experience in November with a very slow fourball in front of us, who turned aggressive when we asked politely if they would either quicken their pace or let us through, we returned to play Darenth a couple of weeks ago. No problems this time and the course was generally in good nick for the time of year albeit that the greens were very bobbly. The new green on the 7th hole was open for a very rare change but the new green on the 11th (which the course has been obligated to convert from a par-4 to a par-3) was closed as usual. The changes to the course (the 12th has also been changed from a long par-4 to a short par-5, presumably to maintain the overall par at 72) have made it easier to score well here. Hopefully, they have plans to eventually move the 12th tees back (to where the old 11th green is now?) to make it a decent length.

This course gets beter and better. Although i am az member of another club, I play there more and more - twice this week alone. New 10th hole is a tough par three and the par 4 11 is now a par 5 - can be a bit rough in the winter but great in summer.

We played this course in a fairly wet November. It was in superb nick for time of year. Greens were lightning fast and fairways very good, also bunkers very playable. Only slight downside was it was not the most memorable course I have ever played, with only about 6 or 7 inspiring holes. A very warm welcome in pro shop and clubhouse , with very cheap food. A definate yes if your course is a bit boggy. Worth a look.

Myself and my two regular playing partners highly rate this course. The fairways and greens are kept in a very good condition all year round and the staff are extremly curtious and welcoming. Playing for a number of weeks throughout the summer and autumn months as allowed all three of us to improve our game a to a consistant competitive level as the course is diverse and challenging. One word of warning though, do not play darenth valley if you hate Z list eastender chelebrities. Even the poor standard of the four ball did not deter them from phoning the club house from virtually every one of the first 9 holes, complaining about the slow play of some of the better players infront of them. You have been warned

As pay and play courses go this is fairly long (6195yds) and hard with tight lies and fast, but normally fair, greens. PROS: The surrounding hills make for a nice setting and the holes are varied with some tough rough and plenty of trees. This course is at it's best in the winter when many others deteriorate. The temporary greens are very good and the whole course drains very well. CONS: All the ball cleaners are either broken or worn-out. GUR is just left and not re-seeded. The bunkers are awful and filled with low grade sand. Forget getting under the ball, you will just hit the hard bottom 1/2" under the surface and end up with a flyer. The later you start the more chance you have of a slow round (4 1/2 hrs is common). In spite of the cons above the course is pretty low maintenance and so overall is perfectly playable. It is much more challenging than most P&P courses and is in a very attractive location. In the Pay & Play category I'd give Darenth Valley 8/10 in summer and 9/10 in winter.

Having played Darenth 15-20 times, I would have to disagree that it is an easy course. We don't often play to our handicaps here, though there are the occasional moments... Played it on 10 May 2003 & the greens were terrifyingly quick! The rest of the course is in good nick too. Only downside was that the round took 4:50 but then it's the start of the golfing season I guess & there will be slow weekend rounds everywhere for the next few months. Staff are all excellent, friendly and helpful.

Like it, played it a lot, BUT I can't stand the first hole, this is becoming a thing with me, the first hole should be either accomodating (gentle, easy start) or right up and in your face difficult (wakey wakey time to play golf). This one just leaves me scratching my head, what are you supposed to do ? drive it ? Lay up with a 9 iron ? You tell me. Signature hole ? Gotta be the 11th, what an enticing prospect and what a long skinny green with big fall offs both sides. Chris H'Cap 12

As others have said, it's a well maintained course which is forgiving of bad drives, especially right handers' slices which tend to land safely on adjacent fairways. On a summer's day the air is thick with cries of "fore" and the sight of other golfers standing on your fairway playing in the opposite direction is far from unusual. It is very popular with societies and higher handicap players but never gets too slow (depite the fairway crossing), in my experience. Most players seem to behave with proper etiquette and it is always a pleasant place to have a round and pretend that your handicap has suddenly improved by 5 to 10 shots. It drains far better than some of the other local courses down in the valley such as Nizels and Edenbridge, so is a good bet after (or during!) a period of heavy rain.

This is probably my favourite course at the moment even though I live in North East London. It's definately worth the 2 hour round journey every time we visit. For a "pay and play course" it always seems to be in excellent condition. The greens are fantastic and true. They are not afraid to close greens after heavy rain which usually means there is at least one or more temporary greens every time I play there!!! Its a fair test of golf for all levels of golfer especially this 26 handicapper. Look out for the short par 4 11th. It's a right hand dogleg downhill with out of bounds on the right. At around 260 yards it should be at least a 5 even for me. But I've lost count of the number of times I have run up double figures. It's definately my bogey hole!

This was the first private Pay and play course I have ever visited and I must say it was with great pleasure. (For a £23 fee at the weekend)Although we had very strong winds and slight rain it didnt deter the enjoyment I received from this course. On arrival the welcoming was very friendly and helpful. Although the fairways are quite narrow they are also very forgiving as the rough isnt too built up and it is always possible to play from the opposite fairway...as I found out !! The greens are in excellent condition and very fast this time of year. The course seems to have good drainage. The one thing I liked about this course was that there wasnt a single flat straight hole which to me makes the game of golf more fun. Not having no members I feel has also made this course much more enjoyable for the higher handicapped golfers. I will definately be visiting very shortly.

Good course to play on,last played in the rain but the ground soaked up very well. Great surroundings also

Well-kept course with stuning views over the Kent countryside. Also avoids some of the 'agro' associated with many public courses, and is my personal favourite in the area. Rather long walks between some of the holes, but overall very well designed, with the right difficulty rating for the amateur (me) trying to break 100.