The Rt Hon AJ Balfour formally opened on 21July 1894, only the present 7th (then the 5th) now remains. The present layout was designed by Easton Devonshire, who drove himself in as the Club's 7th Captain on 1 June 1900. There have been no really major alterations since.

With an overall area of less than 70 acres, space is at a premium so that accuracy has always been more important than distance from the tee. At 5106 yards for the men, the course is clearly short, but a SSS of 65 gives nothing away. This is clearly demonstrated by the record of 62 for a medal round in 1938 by OJ Llewellyn remaining unbeaten after more than sixty years.

There are trees, hills and dales, the excellent greens are neither too large nor too flat. Any two of the eight 'short' holes can together demolish the highest of hopes at any one time.

At 4808 yards (SSS 69) the ladies' course might be judged a harder test than the men's. For 60 years we have hosted County matches and three Kent championships. First registered with the LGU in1899, the ladies' section maintains a full fixture list and its Open Meeting is always fully subscribed.