Knole Park: A tranquil and natural landscape
A country house and a deer park – Knole Park Golf Club certainly is a unique place to play golf.
Set amongst 1000 acres of outstanding, natural parkland, the Knole Park golf course meanders magically through Knole Park, near Sevenoaks in Kent, with stunning vistas providing a magnificent backdrop to your round.
The course is kept in superb condition all-year-round and attracts visitors from far afield, not only for the excellent golf that’s on offer, but also to visit the magnificent Knole House and the abundance of deer that live on the grounds.
It’s on National Trust land adjacent to Knole Park itself – a 15th-century country house and deer park. You will certainly encounter some deer on your way round the course and that only adds to the vibe.
All you need to know about Knole Park Golf Club
History
On the 1st November 1924, Lord Sackville of Knole Park drove from the first tee of the newly completed J.F. Abercromby course. He did so as landlord of the estate and member of the newly formed Knole Park Golf Club.
One of the caddies that day was a slim lad in short trousers, aged 14. His name was Sam King, a name that would be engraved on many trophies, appear in the Ryder Cup competition and be called in the Knole Park clubhouse until the dawn of the new Century.
During the war years some competitions were held, but it took great ingenuity to keep the club alive. One major obstacle was placement of obstructions on all of the fairways to prevent the landing of enemy gliders.
Many years were needed to reconstruct the club. Finally in the 1960s the perennial issue of the enlargement of the clubhouse was solved, the course was lengthened to create a Par 70 and the Beatles strode across the fairways whilst filming Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane.
The years to the present day have seen further extensions to the clubhouse and the building of squash courts. The introduction of a sprinkler system for the course was a further major undertaking.
What makes Knole Park Golf Club special?
JF Abercromby designed courses are few and far between. He created The Addington, Worplesdon and Coombe Hill, as well as Knole Park.
He was a bold architect, who made dramatic use of undulating golfing ground. If architecture interests you, just admire the way Abercromby uses the slopes and hills to make interesting holes rather than allowing them to detract from the overall standard of the course.
He very modestly said of his work at Knole Park; “We have endeavoured to lay out an interesting 18 holes, some quite remarkably so and we think we have succeeded.”
Knole Park Golf Club is entertaining and engaging from start to finish. Its six short holes ensure you are always kept on your toes. The unusual topography, plus the bouncy, quick-draining turf, ensure you need to think carefully about your clubbing and shot selection.
Where is it?
Knole Park is less than a mile from Sevenoaks in Kent, and just off the M25 to the south of London.
Get in touch
For more information about the club and course, visit Knole Park’s website or call them on 01732 452150.
Have you ever played at Knole Park? What did you think of the course? Let us know with a post on X/Twitter!
Matt Coles
Mention a European country, and Matt will tell you which resorts make the National Club Golfer Top 100s: European Resorts list. He might even throw in who designed the golf course and how many rooms the hotel has got at each one…
Matt got into the game of golf from a young age, following his old man to the local golf club. He fell for the sport, and now can’t seem to go a day without thinking about how to improve his game (Thanks Dad!). Matt has been a member of Howley Hall GC in Leeds since 2020, and is just about managing to maintain a single-figure handicap. He likes to remind people that he once broke 75, but won’t tell people that it was on a shortened course during the winter.
He moved to Leeds after graduating from the University of Central Lancashire with a First Class Honours degree in Sports Journalism. Matt joined NCG after almost five years travelling the world with the Professional Squash Association, working on events in all four corners of the globe.
Matt currently plays a Cobra King LTDx driver and RadSpeed 3-wood. TaylorMade monopolise the rest of his bag, with a SIM UDI, M5 irons and both Milled Grind and HI-TOE wedges, along with a Monza Redline putter. He uses a Vice Pro Plus golf ball, because he’s a bit different…
Away from golf, Matt is a Manchester United fan, and a keen runner, having ran the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon (his first and possibly last), in May 2023.
