The Addington Golf Club

“It’s a cracker - majestic and offers some real Augusta-esque moments at times. Devilish greens and cracking views, this is one I would recommend playing at least once. 15HCP and below. Good bits: Course design: Clearly the club has been blessed with some excellent geography, but the architects have maximised what’s available here to create a succession of world class holes. Most of the back nine (hole 16!) and all the par threes offer dramatic elevation changes, but these are laid out in such a way that competent golfers can fairly easily navigate around them and instead enjoy the views. Shorter par fours are protected by elevated greens. Only 1 blind tee shot (needs something to guide visitors). I’m of the view that elevation changes for their own sake aren’t good course design - but Addington is structured in a clever way so as to never punish a good tee shot with annoying cambering, if anything you can work with the topography. Some of the best course design I’ve seen. Bunkering is a real highlight: expertly placed to tempt you into aiming at pins (hole 5 and 11) you should be carefully ignoring. There is an Augusta quality to the traps: bright sand, tight lips, and they are deep, sometimes really deep! It’s a world class course design that impresses at nearly every turn, great fun. 10/10. Views/Scenery: The best I’ve seen on a London course, some wonderful vistas and dramatic tee-shots. At golden hour there is again a real Masters vibe to this place which is just plain cool, one to walk and take in the views. Special. Greens: With wide fairways and little OB the green complexes are the main protection of this course. They are hard! Mostly in excellent condition (a few patches under renovation), these greens run true and at a moderately fast speed. Smartly designed so as to lull you into a false sense of security with large greened areas - pick your landing spot carefully. Their difficulty then comes from the many tiers and slopes found on every green. There are no gimmes here, it’s easy to putt the ball off the green if you aren’t concentrating (hole 9 with a back pin). What I found interesting was the small hollows and swales on the greens themselves, rather than as runoff areas, this prevents you from chipping and means some putts become nearly impossible to hole. If you fancy yourself a good putter - particularly a good green-reader - this is the London course to test yourself. Difficulty: Moderate to difficult, not a course for a beginner. Easy bits: Wide fairways, calm rough, and very little OB - a vaguely accurate hitter will struggle to lose a ball. They’ve taken out many of the trees which has improved the views but probably reduced the difficulty off the tee. This course will however punish a misplaced approach, and the longer par 5 approaches require precision. The deep bunkers can turn a 4 into a 7 easily. Fairness is found in some forgiving bailout areas, typically short of the green on longer par 4s and 5s, which can provide respite for shorter hitters. Being adept with the flatstick is non-negotiable to shoot a good score. I shot an 82 as a 9 handicap. Conditioning: This is as good as any other course I’ve played in London. Greenskeepers clearly working very hard, looks great. No pick and place needed here. Staff and Members: All very helpful and seemed happy to have visitors at their club. Facilities: Grass range (a rare sight in London) and a great chipping green. Nice clubhouse. Value: I think this is good value at the £170 fee. Bad bits: Pace of play: 4hr 20m - so not good, especially for the green fee. Not a tee time issue (think they are 10m spacing), more that there wasn’t a ranger on course when we played on a Sunday afternoon (apparently gone home), which meant a slow four ball held up three groups behind them. My friend has played on a weekday and said it was excellent then, so your mileage may vary. Location: Not the easiest to get to, a solid 1hr drive from central London. Overall this is a must-play, top 100 for a reason.”

“Play this course if you can. Absolutely stunning. For starters (no pun intend), the personnel here are extremely welcoming and thoughtful. To me….their goal is to make sure their golfers have the best experience. As a guest from the US they made me feel right at home literally right when I stepped in the golf shop. Management does a good job of advising the final stages of renovations that they are completing but don’t get stuck on that. Course in great condition and you could hardly tell they just went through a major seven (I think seven) year reno. The views are stunning from a lot of vantage points throughout the course. The practice areas were kept in great shape. I will look to play this course when back in country. That’s all I can say. Swing easy people!!”

“A must for any golf enthusiasts. Top 100 UK golf course a d food here is delightful. As a young Harvey P would say 'What a day!'”