# Course Review - Hampton Court Palace



## Paul_Stewart (Jun 1, 2010)

HAMPTON COURT PALACE
Hampton Court Palace Golf Club, Home Park, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, KT1 4AD
6,514 yards, Par 71

INTRODUCTION 
Part of the Crown Golf group - have played off both the white and yellow tees in several visits to the course.

LOCATION
It's a bummer to get to.  You enter the park by the Old King's Head  pub by the bottom of Kingston bridge as you come out of the town towards Hampton Court.  You then drive for around two miles through the park to reach the course.

FRONT NINE
Fairly easy start with nothing too nasty in the first five holes, the par-5 5th taking you up to the edge of Hampton Court itself.  The course then toughens up with the lone par-3 on the front nine being to a narrow sloping green.

BACK NINE
The course comes alive when you cross back over the King's Walk to the final six holes which are reminiscent of any decent Scottish links.  The par-5 14th has a wicked valley just short of the green and a pair of bunkers that see more action than any other on the course.  15, 16 and 18 are great par fours.

HIDDEN ATTRIBUTE
Deer.  Like everywhere.  On the tees, on the fairways, they are everywhere.  And hence they tend to leave deershit everywhere too.   The novelty of having Bambi's uncle staring at you hitting a 6-iron into a green does wear off after a while and by the 12th, many of holes have blended in the same memory.  But the final six holes make up for any boredom you may have slipped into.

WEBSITE
http://www.hamptoncourtgolf.co.uk/course.htm

COSTS
Visitors rate - Weekdays Â£42, weekends Â£65.
Twilight rates after 4pm - Weekdays Â£28, weekends Â£31.50.


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## RGDave (Jun 2, 2010)

Paul. Your reviews are top, but why do you seem to forget your own personal impressions and subjective opinion?
I don't want you to stop 'em coming (no, they're great) but it's like you are compiling an entry for the Surrey tourist board.


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## Paul_Stewart (Jun 2, 2010)

Good point Dave - I'm trying to be a neutral and objective reviewer here.  Although I thought my comment about Bambi's Uncle crapping all over the course would come under the category of personal opinion!

I'm off up to Scotland for 10 rounds of links golf in August so will do a bunch of reviews there and have some other local ones in the pipeline too.  And I'll try and be more objective in them from now on too!


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## PieMan (Jun 2, 2010)

Played HCP a lot about 10-15 years ago when it was Home Park Golf Club. Notice that they have changed the hole numbering, so looks like it's more of a test now than it was then (the final 3-4 holes were a bit weak). Really liked the course and it was always in great condition, apart from the deer poo and a few hoof marks on a couple of the greens (bloody deer not repairing their hoof marks!!)I can remember that the rough was pretty brutal in summer when it was allowed to grow, and added to a fairly strong breeze/wind (it's quite open), was a stiff test of golf. 

Would be interested in going back and to play at some point.


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## RGDave (Jun 2, 2010)

I'm off up to Scotland for 10 rounds of links golf in August so will do a bunch of reviews there
		
Click to expand...

Good man. Great to see this section get some posts. I'll look forward to reading future posts.


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## HomerJSimpson (Jun 2, 2010)

I think our very own Mike Harris was/is a member there


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