The Darenth

The Darenth is an excellent golf course. Its challenging for all levels of player. Tee boxes are in very good condition, fairways are excellent, greens were good considering the bad weather we have had, pretty quick though. Staff were amazing and really very helpful, we will definatly be coming back.
Only minor negative is the bunkers were not brilliant but as there is not loads it wasnt reallyt a problem.
You have to keep up pace of play, where my group were high handicappers we had a group chasing us round the course, not their problem but biy distract us a little.
Overall a really enjoyable course and I look forward to returning in a few weeks time.

This was my first visit to The Darenth Golf Club (just of M25, Jct 3 in Kent) and on arrival, you first notice a very modern clubhouse, clean and new paths and welcoming staff...

However, whilst it's always nice to play a course you've never played before it's also interesting to see how much time and effort has been put into the overall golf experience for the visitor by the club.

So with the friendly face in the Pro shop, I was expecting good things from the course...

The Par 72 design is both a good test and well laid out. There are some very pretty Par 3's and some long Par 4 but more than enough to enjoy for all, in this parkland setting.

But, given the club has had nobody playing on it for three months (this was the first week in April 2020 after lockdown) thus giving the club plenty of opportunities to regenerate the course, I was somewhat disappointed to find patchy greens, no yellow tees at all and in places, unkept tee boxes.

I would also comment that many of the greens had little bumps and tweaks that made the greens hard to predict.

Don't get me wrong, this course is very pleasant, with some expansive fairways, tight greens, and nice vistas of the valley the course runs through, but why spend all that money on a lovely clubhouse and not have your greenkeepers work the course?

In addition, as is often the way with a 'members club', there was little signage to help the visitor and at times we had no idea where we were going next?!

All of this should not take anything away from the course as a whole, but I think this could be a great little course with not much more needing doing to it, therefore making it a 'great' venue.

That said, I will gladly return in the summer months to try the course again, as I have no doubt some warm spring weather will help the course no end.

The course is aptly named, as from pretty much any of the holes you're aware that the course is along one side of a valley. What this means is that there are a number of holes where you're playing uphill, downhill, or on sloping fairways.

We could certainly have played here in better conditions though, with heavy rain before, during, and as we left the car park, but the course handled it pretty well. The greens all rolled beautifully given the amount of water in them, and I imagine will be excellent once the warmer months get here.

The fairways are mostly on the generous side, with maybe only a few that one might condsider to be narrow. Other than the slopes, the main protection is probably a number of raised greens and greenside bunkers.

The round finishes on a par 3, which is fairly unusual, and it's a hole you defintely do not want to get on the wrong side of, as there's a huge slope right down the middle seperating the left and right sides.

One area I do think it needs to improve on is its signage, as there were a couple of occasions where we struggled to figure out where the next tee was. We actually played halfway down the 9th thinking it was the 3rd, and it was only when the GPS pointed out that we were 700+ yards away from the green that we guessed that we might not be on the correct hole.

Despite the way I played it, I certainly enjoyed the course, and it's one I'd like to play again during the summer months.

Darenth Valley is a nice summer course. In winter it suffers a bit, but there are plenty worse. Mid Jan and the greens are ok-ish. No temp greens this time ( have had in the past) and all proper tees. Fairways were ok, bunkers ok. I like the clubhouse here. Pro shop is small ( and was changing stock, so nearly empty ) but the bar is nice and the food is very good. Definatly better in summer, but reasonable this time of year. They have extended the carpark that was too small, but the new bit is like walking on sticky clay. Still cleaning shoes, wheels etc weeks later. Hope that improves with time.

Nice course, friendly staff and good company made for a good day on the course.
Hard to judge the course properly as it went from frozen greens to soft greens and back to frozen on the last 2 holes. I would like to play here again, esp in summer just to see it at it's best.
But it had drained very well considering all the inclement weather we had suffered the previous week.

Definity a course worth playing

Pretty tree lined course even if some of the holes were a bit "samey"
Small greens and a bit slow. Bunkers could be a bit better. General overall condition was good. Good clubhouse and friendly staff. Will definitely play again and one for our rota

I think it would be possible to score well in good weather. The course is quite short and would favour the longer hitter or the lower handicapper. A few hidden bunkers in the middle of the fairway that you can't see until you are in them! Would help having someone with you who knew the course.......or maybe buy a course planner! Willing to give it another go - but only in better weather. Lovely breakfast and a good hospitatlity.

Darenth Valley is a parkland course of just over 6000 yards. The course generally has wide fairways and the hazards include bunkers and fairway trees and bushes. There are no water hazards. The greens are large and well maintained and are often elevated providing a good challenge for the short game. I would recommend this course for someone wanting to improve their short-game and those wanting to post a score on a 6000yds+ course.

Always a lovely course, well laid out, reasonably flat so easy walking and nice views.
Course in pretty good condition and after 12 it's only £10 (£20 normally).