Hartswood Golf Club

Fairway & greens in excellent condition

Relaxing course with many challenging holes in wooded parkland setting. Definitely worth a round or two.

Having heard the ups & downs of Hartswood GC, having wanted to play this course for many years, I was pleasantly surprised to find a little gem of a course away from the hustle & bustle of Brentwood town centre. It is situated on the King George’s playing fields (with football, rugby pitches, Pitch & Putt, large playground, skate board run, Bowling Green, Sensory garden, summer children paddling pools, a very popular Park Cafe, Toilets & a large Car Park with overflow overflow).

The course is in 2 parts: holes 3 to 11 are across a busy B road, a long walk through beautiful & private ancient woodlands which I believe may have been part of the Thorndon Hall Estate at one time. Thorndon Hall is now a private Golf Club with private luxury apartments which can be seen from holes 3 & 4. This side of the course is a lot drier underfoot and easier to play.

Royal Hartswood is Council owned/run, it celebrated its 50th anniversary the summer just gone, a new team of Greenkeepers was introduced 3 years ago & one can only compliment on all the hard work put to restore this course to its former glory. The pond has been cleared, the paths defined, new diagrams by each tee box (although the design is “back to front”), it looks neat & professional, good signage to next tee etc. Ball washers, a water fountain at the 7th.

The fairways were in good condition, expect a little wetness underfoot as we are in Essex.... Rough quite thick, hard to find the ball, if found difficult to get a good shot unless you are Seve or Phil.... The 2nd part of the course is a lot drier, more pleasant to play. Greens were a little slow, the bunkers will be dealt with in the Spring now, so I have been told. But none of the above spoiled the challenge as the course is very attractive, lovely holes surrounded by tall, ancient, attractive & varied species of trees, a certain willow tree comes into play on hole 3 & 11, defining the shape of the holes & posing questions how to play the dog legs (6 of them), whether to lay up or not on the long Par 4s as the approach can be tight.

Wildlife present too, we saw a real heron by the pond at the 10th hole. There are new ditches, well designed, to help irrigation & making the approach of certain holes more challenging, the 8th comes to mind.

The course is not long, there is only one Par 5 from the Yellows, some long Par 4s, 6 nicely shaped dog-legs, beautiful Par 3s, short to medium in length with great bunkers guarding. We are in Essex, so expect a little wetness underfoot. We played Sunday 15th Oct 2017. So I assume the very best time to appreciate the course will be late Spring, Summer & early Autumn.

We had a very pleasant 4 balls, with our very own Mr TSG giving helpful information on how the holes should be best approached whether you are a 27 or 16 handicapper. Very useful on a 1st visit.

Some memorable holes:

5th - A short Par 3 with a beautiful backdrop, bunkers for protection.
6th - The only Par 5 from the Yellows, a very nice, slight dog-leg hole.
8th - Par 4, very pretty dog-leg left.
14th - A long Par 4, truly attractive, well designed, a little wet in the middle going downhill.

The Welcome in the Pro shop was insignificant.... Just paid the Greenfee, no friendly chit-chat to a new Visitor. Maybe they did not want to talk about Brexit to a French Lady golfer. The shop has lots of stock, rather untidy but did not have time to look around. I believe it is run independently from the Council and do online business.

There is a Starter hut where one has to show your Green fee ticket.

There is a Clubhouse for the Club Members, apparently, Visitors are welcome but I believe most of the casual players go to the popular, busy & friendly “Cafe in the Park”, open early till late, a nice seating area outside. Prices are very reasonable.

If you played this course in the past, I recommend you pay another visit and see the improvements that has been made.

The Greenfee for a Sunday late morning was from £22 to £15 (age dependent...).

THE END .....

Of my personal recollection of my 1st visit to "Royal Hartswood"

Having played it for the first time I found it tricky, as the trees play a big part in your positioning around the course, it needs playing a few times to know where to go also the green are small so making your approach shots difficult, its not long but the weather will make it a lot different. well worth a few rounds.

Really enjoyable!

Couldn't express pleasure more. What a beautiful course. Not the longest or hardest course but some lovely signature holes. You need to think your way around a little bit.

Whatever you do, when you're in Essex, play this course.

This is a well laid-out course but is let down badly by the poor greens and having no sand in the bunkers. The guys in the pro-shop are also a bit miserable, probably because they've had to play out of too many bunkers. Having said that, a green fee of £20 for a Saturday represents fantastic value and for that reason I would recommend the course to anyone wanting a friendly game.

Lets start with the down side to hartswood, the bunkers need sand in them, and there isn't much in thw way of practice facilities, (if wrong I apologise to the course management, but I didn't see it). For my taste the greens were a little slow, but that's my problem not the courses
On the course is was very pleasant, you could be in the middle of the countryside, tree lined course with some tough tee shots.
Seriously people, I know the company on the course always makes a difference to how you enjoy the golf, (and I had good company in Jack and Ian), and as Ian Mullins proved, play well and you can score well. And of course if you played a number of poor shots, the course will bite you. I would most definately play here again, just avoid the bunkers, there is no sand.

I have to agree with Ian. Apart from some greens being a bit 'hairy' I was surprised to find it in very good nick. I have played this course a lot in the past and about two years ago, I said that was the last time! But I had heard that had improved and it certainly has.

On a bright sunny day with a swirling breeze, this is a well appointed 'short course' the major observation was that greens were slow and bobbly (not running at all true). Other than that though this is a good test of ability. Mature parkland, pleasant walk, good views in an old Royal Park. The observant will be able to recognise the multitude of flora and fauna, and some well established Japanese Knotweed.

A course for careful thought - favours the skillful player (low handicappers especially) or the lucky...

Although no notable holes there are some interesting challenges and some peculiarly placed trees which have sprouted up over the years to obscure views of wide sweeping fairways...

Part of a leisure centre which seemed well attended - catering was adequate Ice Cream was expensive but a treat. Car parking might be a problem in the popular months as space seems restricted without obvious overflow facilites. Locals were friendly and a nice day out.

Be aware though that you do have to cross a busy road twice during the course of the round, and the view of the 'fast-moving' vehicles is obscured by trees and bends... take care and move quickly...

Nice selection of stuff in the pro shop...

Altogether a surprisingly good test of skill and ability (I lost two balls on separate holes to the same Willow Tree)...

No Par 5's from the yellow tees, but there are a couple of loooonnngg par 4s. Par 3s are a good challenge as well... lots of trees obscuring views a good challenge of decision-making... worth a second trip...

A very interesting parkland course, Greens in bad condition,Twilight after 5 only £8.50

Great value @£20 for a Saturday, very pretty course. All they need to do is spend a few bob on the greens / bunkers and they could charge a lot more.

Hopefully will return at a later date and they will have sorted things out.

Having been somewhat hesitant I decided to take the plunge and join the community of social golfing!
What an absolute pleasure to meet a new golf partner and enjoy good conversation in a suprisingly relaxed situation.
As for the course....
Hartswood is in "good nick" given the recent dry spell and represents a decent challenge. Plenty of trees, dog legs and well positioned bunkers make up for a lack of distance.The greens and bunkers could do with some investment, but certainly worth the very reasonable green fee.

Fitst time i.ve played with the s/g, the two groups of
lads made me very welcome and enjoyed the day. Like to make it a regular thing, thanks to everyone.
The course was very mature and pretty but this time of year can get a bit wet and muddy, but good value for money.
Well worth a visit in spring/summer

Played Hartswood again a few times in the last few weeks and I am happy to say that the greens are now recovering well (See previous review). I also was pleased to see there has also been a bit of sand thrown into some the bunkers and even some new rakes as well. Good to see the course being maintained again and it remains pretty as ever. Always enjoy playing here and its once again great value!

Played Hartswood last week for probably the last time....despite being a very pretty course, it has fallen into dis-repair! The main problem is the diseased greens that make it virtually impossible to make an honest putt! I have written to the local council to complain but this seems to have fallen on deaf ears and as such I can no longer recommend this course! A shame, as it has provided myself and friends great entertainment over the years. I will keep you updated but in the meantime stay away!!

A really nice parkland course, but it's run by the council so needs some money spent on it!

We played on the 13th March and teed off on mats (poor quality ones) despite the tees looking playable.

The greens once again were in a poor condition. Putts would turn off line due to the diseased grass!!!

Such a shame as this could be a top quality course.

This is a nice course, especially for £18.50. The course itself is nicely laid out and well marked. Apart from the greens being like your lounge carpet when we played it was all good. The pro shop is small, but stocked. Didn't see warmup area (driving or putting) and the cafe opens too late.

Played here recently for the 1st time, many thanks to Ian and Craig, thorougly enjoyed your company.
We endured wind, rain and hail but finished off with sunshine, i was'nt too keen on teeing off from mats or the condition of the shaggy greens.
However i can't wait to play here again, in a few weeks when course conditions have improved,(i'm sure they will).This is one of the most visually appealing courses i have played and is great value for money.
The shop is packed full of bargains so if you like to "window shop" allow extra time.

This is a very pretty course and generally well kept for a council course. A parkland course, it is forgiving to the Mid/High handicapper but can be challenging for all levels.

At £13 midweek and £18.50 at weekends it great value for money too. They also have a well stocked shop which is often very competitively priced!