England’s highest 18-hole course is blessed with perhaps the finest golf views in the country…
Kington Golf Club Course Review
Having written about Kington a couple of times in Golf Monthly, I have finally sorted out my photos which means I can now offer my views of this fabulous and relatively unheralded gem. The club was founded in 1925, and as you drive up Bradnor Hill to the charming clubhouse, you wonder whether this is going to be seriously hard work. Happily, it is more hilltop than hillside, and it’s the views at Kington Golf Club rather than the walking that takes your breath away.
The opening hole leads you up onto the hill and a plateau green
The first three holes head gently out and up onto the hill, and once you are up the path to the fourth tee, you are pretty much at the top. Despite the lack of sand and its modest length, the course is protected all the way by the need to approach its greens from exactly the right angle.
The third is typical of the natural green sites throughout the course
The 7th is the first and shortest of the three par 5s, and wind direction will be a factor here as two good blows could see you home to the green that backs onto the 10th.
The seventh green at Kington – standing on the top of the world
There is plenty of room between the holes at this furthest part of the course where you could be forgiven for thinking that you no-one else exists. In addition, the air is as pure and clean as you will find anywhere.
The green at thirteen – Hergest Ridge
There are no real signature holes at Kington, and none would win a design award on its own, but put them together in this location, and you have a course that will delight anyone with a love of the game.
Yet more far-reaching views from the fourteenth green
The 15th is a long par 3 that can be unreachable in the wind. Miss to the right and you might actually do well to salvage a four.
The tough but exciting par-3 fifteenth
The round closes with three short par 4s, but each has its own defences while offering various options.
The sixteenth green beside the seventeenth tee
The penultimate hole is the longest of the three, played to what is almost an infinity green with the valley falling away beyond.
The seventeenth hole – Home Straight
The 18th is a terrific risk and reward hole – should you go for the green or play up the left and rely on an accurate pitch or chip and run?!
An inviting drive at the closing hole
Its length and design mean that it isn’t a contender for a place in the Golf Monthly Top 100, but it was one of our Hidden Gems a while back and would be in my personal list of 100 places to play.
I will conclude by plagiarising myself – if that is possible – and repeat the final sentence of my 2014 Golfer’s Guide review. This was the 469th course I have played in England and I am happy to sum it up by saying that if there is an inland course with finer views anywhere in the country, I have yet to play it. That count has now risen by another 100, and I have still not changed my mind.
Another spellbinding view, due west from the ninth hole
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