I have recently played twice at West Kent with visiting ladies. The first time was in the ladies invitation and the second time was a ladies friendly against Blackheath. On both occasions the damaged toilet door on the 12 hole was mentioned. We have spent money on refurbishing the refreshment hut on the 12th, was it an oversight that we did not refurbish the toilets and especially the damaged toilet doors. Have any allowances been budgeted for these works to go forward? These doors are no longer fit for purpose.

I see a point was raised at the comittiee meeting of erant tee shots on the 15th landing on the 17th fairway i do belive this can be solved by moving the 15th tee in to the field which we own making the hole into a fantastic par 4 of 475 yards. It would not play much longer than the current hole as the tee shot will have great elevation and as the starting point is now further to the right it should prevent people pulling it off the tee and ending up on the 17th or our left handers hitting a big slice.

Dave, thanks for your suggestion (although I am not aware of any left handers with big slices!!) I will ensure this is discussed in the July greens meeting, although I am aware this was looked at several years ago and a decision was made to not proceed. MB 23/06/24

Halfway hut too expensive now and takes too long , Anne’s instant coffee much better than what they are selling , rather pass now and move onto 13th

John, thanks also for your feedback regarding the Halfway Hut, I will collate this with the other similar comments from your group and discuss with the caterers. MB 23/06/24

The halfway hut does seem very expensive and not sure why it costs so much it should be for a quick sandwich or to purchase a drink which also eases the waiting time on the course, this was always the benefit previously and worked very well but now it seems most are bypassing and walking through which leads to two or three groups on the 13th tee which is very frustrating

Just think costs could be looked into

Darrell, thanks for your feedback regarding the Halfway Hut, I will collate this with the other similar comments from your group and discuss with the caterers. MB 23/06/24

Will members get subsidised food / drink at the halfway hut as the current costs seem to be nearly double what we used to be charged for food and drink that is of a poorer quality? The coffee is especially bad. This means lots of groups are not stopping causing a backlog on the 13th tee and slowing pace of play considerably for those that do stop.

Colin, thanks for your feedback regarding the Halfway Hut, I will collate this with the other similar comments from your group and discuss with the caterers. MB 23/06/24

2nd June 2024 - When will the old sleepers and astroturf that were replaced with new steps to the 9th tee earlier in the year be removed?

17th June 2024 - Noted the rubbish has now been removed

I wonder where the 50% of members that wanted drawn competitions were at the weekend? Pretty poor showing yesterday with only 40ish people booked into the B Medal with a lot of gaps. Would it not be better to group the tee slots up so free play could start earlier rather than have 7 free gaps between 7.30am and 9am?

Colin, thank you for your feedback. Yes, it was disappointing to see a lack of support for this drawn competition. Golf Committee will be reviewing how we offer these drawn competitions moving forward and the timings that are offered. MB 14/05/24

I have noticed recently a number of booked tee times during morning open play. If you can book morning tee slots why not just have a booking system, what is the point of a roll up period between 7am and 1130 if tee times can be booked, seems a pointless exercise.

Thanks for the message Robert, tee times are not to be booked before 11.30am (soon to be 1pm when the clocks change) as we do indeed operate a roll up system prior to these times. To my knowledge this is still happening, could you drop me an email with specific dates and times so I can look into this further please. Many thanks in advance. MB 21/03/24

Re the 14th tee. For several weeks all members have been teeing off the right hand tee box, traditionally the ladies tee. The entire area is now extremely worn from front to back. Is the intention to move both red and yellow tees to the left hand tee box when this re-opens, or will the red tees remain on the damaged right hand side?
Could a mat be used next winter to protect all of the teeing areas, or all members?

Thanks Kathryn. After speaking with Darren, he advised that the red plate, where the course has been measured from is halfway down the traditional red tee box meaning the back half of the tee is not allowed to be used for a red tee as you are unable to play the course longer that it has been measured. We are due to have the course re-measured in early 2025 and this is something we will look to amend. Greens Committee are also looking at implementing a number of mats in the 24/25 winter programme, especially on some of our smaller tees which 14 certainly is. MB 07/03/24

Further to Brian Pfieffer’s suggestion on 1st November to have yardage markers from the par 3 tee mats that are used in the winter, is there any reason why this idea was not pursued?

Thanks for the reminder Jonathan. Apologies, this was an oversight from me and something we will look to implement next winter. MB 07/03/24

Apple Test - MB 10/02/2024

Android Test - MB 10/02/2024

In regard to the clubs winter programme. While I understand and see logic in the proposed reduction in size of the two bunkers at the front right of the 15th green, and also removing the back left bunker, presumably in the cause of reducing maintenance. I see no logic or reason to remove the right hand bunker to the 6th green. I do not believe it can be claimed this bunker is out of play or unfair in any way, making it redundant. This bunker may not be seen from much of the fairway but that`s golf surely. Potentially this bunker is one of the features that might catch out visiting opposition and a boon to members. If filled in, there would need to be a swale there instead, similar to those on the 7th, 8th, 11th, and 12th, which all need maintaining to keep playable. In my view this bunker should be kept, not least as its been there all the 40 plus years i`ve been a member and never been an issue. The drainage was improved there a couple of years ago.
In addition, while I see it might be desirable, again for lowering maintenance, to reduce the size of the bunker to the 8th Green, removing this bunker creating a par 3 without any bunkers would be a step too far.

I don`t recall these proposed bunker removals to the 6th and 8th being included within the proposals published two years ago and would prefer them to remain.

Thanks Alan for your feedback. This has been shared with the Greens Committee. MB 12/11/23

With the need to use mats/forward tees on the par 3’s this winter, is it possible to provide yardage distance signs please especially on the 16th.
Brian Pfeiffer

Thanks Brian, this is a great idea and definitely something the majority of members would benefit from. I will pick this up with Darren and hope to have something in place in the coming weeks. MB 03/11/23

Recently I have noticed that when competitions are on , the leaderboard is sometimes not always showing during the competitions and only after,can it be showing during the competitions.

Chris Nouch.

Thanks Chris, all competitions have been copied from last year and so the settings are the same as previous years. I will ensure moving forward, each competition is amended to show a live leadberboard. MB 23/08/23

Hi, when will we be able to use the white tees again for general play. I thought the temporary suspension was for a limited time only but have heard no more since. Although the difference between yellow and white are minimal (apart from a couple of tees), this puts our members at a disadvantage when playing against other clubs in competitions.

Mark Lewis

Thanks for your comment Mark, it was good to talk in person today to discuss the above. As advised, this will be on the agenda for Wednesday's Greens Committee meeting and i will share any relevant updates in due course. MB 04/08/2023

Before money is spent on much needed Club house refurbishment could I suggest that consideration is given to how our lady and men members might be encouraged to share the facilities more effectively together. This would clearly have major implications for any redesign. In my opinion a much closer integration between the mens and ladies sections would bode well for the future of the club as a whole.

Russ, thanks for your comments, it was good to explore these further earlier today. As advised i am aligned with your thinking and am keen to promote a more inclusive environment for all West Kent Members. MB 30/07/2023

I have now sat on the new patio furniture twice. Can somebody please explain why there are 2 different heights of chairs? The chair with the bigger base and rounded arms is an acceptable height for the tables and looks quite smart. But the other basic square chair is much lower and because of the lower height the table is only just about level with upper chest, making it impossible to eat a meal. The basic squarer chairs are not as stylish in comfort and appearance.
After asking other members it appears the majority all agree with me about the low height of the basic squarer chair. Did anybody check the heights against the tables?

Thanks Sue, it was good to discuss your feedback today (whilst sitting on the new furniture). As advised, Council did review the furniture prior to purchasing. We have ensured there is sufficient number of both chairs in the hope that all members will be able to enjoy their time on the terrace. MB 25/07/2023

With regard to the comments about the bunkers i must disagree i have found them to be ok i accept that there are some differences in the depth of sand As i understand about half an inch of sand on a hard base is enough to hit a splash shot out but will stop the ball from plugging in the sand and having a fried egg lie. Also to help Darren and his team i think members should say exactly which bunker they felt was not up to standard thus enabling Darren to go straight to it and work on it if required to do so.

Thanks Dave, we are looking at improving consistency so members can be confident the depth will be the same (as much as possible) across all bunkers. MB 24/07/23

Today and last Tuesday me and my partners attended to play starting around 7.40, on both occasions we had failed to check the diary of the notice board re societies etc.
On both occasions we noticed before starting that societies were shown to be teeing off at 7.20, on neither occasion did this happen.
Last Tuesday the society tee off at 8.30. We went to the second tee to to get ahead even there was no sign of anyone near teeing off the first.
Today we did the same, only to find getting to the 6th, the society starting from there at around 8.30. We then went to play twice around the loop.
Now, it seems to me the course is either closed or not, and by not stating, either in the diary or notice board. that a two tee start is in play is s recipe for trouble.
Surely, the notices must be clear and explicit or the course should be closed giving members accurate information about course availability?

Thanks again Alan for your feedback. As discussed this was due to both days having a 2 tee start from the 6th, i will ensure moving forward we communicate this better on the boards outside of the pro-shop. MB 21/07/2023.

Notwithstanding the present generally good course condition I have twice in the past week cause to complain about the lack of sand in bunkers and the rock hard sand half an inch below the surface making good bunker play impossible.

On Tuesday after the seniors match v Purley my opposition players both complained at theses conditions, and again today I had the same experience and complaint.

The lack of depth to the bunkers can be felt immediately when walking into the bunkers and in my view these conditions are unacceptable and a poor reflection on our course.

Alan Brown

Thanks Alan, it was good to have a chat this evening about your comments. As explained we are continually reviewing the bunkers, and especially the depth of sand. I am hopeful that you will see improvements with consistency over the coming weeks as discussed. MB 21/07/23