Kington Golf Club

Overview: Kington Golf Club occupies the high ground of Bradnor Hill above the Herefordshire town of Kington and is widely recognised as the highest 18-hole course in England. Major Cecil Hutchison's 1926 design works with the hillside rather than flattening it, creating a natural layout of rolling fairways, grassy hollows, heather, gorse and quick changes of level. The course measures 5,961 yards and plays to a par 70, so its challenge is not based on excessive length. Instead, players must keep the ball in position, use the contours intelligently and judge approaches to greens that can feel exposed in the hilltop air. The reward is a sequence of long views across the border country.

History: The course officially opened on Bradnor Hill in 1926, when Cecil Hutchison used his experience of working with James Braid at Gleneagles and Carnoustie to shape a layout suited to the exposed upland. National Trust records note that the Kington course was constructed while Bradnor Hill was owned by Major Benn, before the site was bequeathed to the Trust. The club's history is therefore inseparable from the hill itself: the landscape is not just a backdrop, but the reason the course has its distinctive character.

Did You Know? Kington is unusual because its natural defences do not depend on conventional sand bunkers. Grassy slopes, hollows and the changing lie provide the principal hazards. Bradnor Hill also lies beside the Offa's Dyke path and a Site of Special Scientific Interest quarry, placing the course within a landscape with both historic and geological interest.