Kent golf news: 11 juniors in England squads, Canterbury win the East Kent League Cup, Prince's take the Guilford Trophy (17 October 2026)
This round-up covers Kent golf from 3 to 17 October. Eleven Kent teenagers have been picked for England Golf's regional squads, Canterbury won the East Kent League Cup, and the county under-17s lost a close match to Hertfordshire.
Also in this round-up: Prince's will play Bromley's Sundridge Park in April after winning the Guilford Trophy, and Kent Golf has opened bookings for its autumn conference for club staff.
Eleven Kent teenagers named in England Golf's 2026/27 Regional Squads
Kent Golf announced on 15 October that 11 Kent juniors have been picked for England Golf's 2026/27 Regional Squads. Rochester & Cobham Park supplies four: Oliver McDonnell, Jenson Ringer, Justin Chenu and Harry Fryer. Wildernesse has two, Luke Antoun and Esme Medd. The rest are Alexander Dunmall (Knole Park), Arthur Saunders (Littlestone), Bella Watson (Langley Park), Kieki Chapman (Chart Hills) and Oscar Ford (Bearsted).
The Regional Coaching Programme links county golf to national golf. It picks out boys who could play for an England age-group team within two years, and girls who could play for England at junior level. Knole Park and Wildernesse are both in Sevenoaks and Langley Park is in Beckenham, so three of these clubs are a short drive from Lullingstone.
Source: Kent Golf, 15 October 2026.
Kent U17 boys lose 4½ to 5½ to Hertfordshire on the last putt
Kent's under-17 boys played a friendly against Hertfordshire at Sandy Lodge, which sits next to Moor Park. Their report, published on 14 October, says the boys played a practice round on the Saturday and the match the next day in calmer weather, so the course played very differently. Hertfordshire won 5½ to 4½, and the result was not settled until the last putt of the final match.
Source: Kent Golf, 14 October 2026.
Canterbury beat Gillingham 3.5 to 1.5 to win the East Kent League Cup
Canterbury Golf Club won the East Kent League Cup, beating Gillingham 3.5 to 1.5 in the final at Chestfield on Saturday, KentOnline reported on 16 October. Levi Johnson and Shaun Pilbeam won 4&2. Steve Robson and Chris Sherwood won 2&1, and Kurt Bryant and Simon Leggatt also won 2&1 to seal it. John Shiel and Pete Bundock halved their match, and Mark Lambton and Ben Dancer lost by one hole. The team manager is John MacDonald.
The same report shows the winter season has started at Canterbury. 52 pairs played the first round of the men's Hallet Cup winter league, which James Shore and Bob James won with 47 points. A seniors' captain's charity day raised £3,000 for Diabetes UK.
Source: KentOnline, 16 October 2026.
Prince's win the Guilford Trophy and will meet Sundridge Park in April
Prince's beat Walmer & Kingsdown 8 to 4 in the Guilford Trophy final at Bearsted on 26 September. Kent Golf published the report on 5 October. Prince's won the morning foursomes 4 to 0 and the afternoon singles were shared 4 all. It is their first Guilford Trophy win since 2014. The report also says Bearsted, like many of the county's courses, had suffered in the summer drought.
Prince's now play Sundridge Park, the Perman Shield winners, for the Mid Kent Cup on 4 April 2027 at Faversham Golf Club. Sundridge Park is in Bromley, a few miles from Lullingstone. The Guilford Trophy is not a Kent Golf competition. Clubs that want to enter next year can contact the organiser, Melvin Head.
Source: Kent Golf, 5 October 2026.
Kent Golf autumn conference on 3 and 4 November for club staff
Kent Golf has opened registration for its autumn conference. It runs twice, 2.30pm to 7pm each time: on Tuesday 3 November at Royal Blackheath and on Wednesday 4 November at Canterbury. It is open to club managers, course managers and head greenkeepers, safeguarding officers, and anyone who runs competitions, handicaps, or women's, girls' and junior golf. Experts will advise on course ratings, course mark-up and winter tees, the Rules, the World Handicap System, women and girls' golf, and safeguarding.
Source: Kent Golf, 13 October 2026.
What this means for golfers around Lullingstone
Winter golf has started in Kent: winter leagues are under way and the county's clubs are thinking about winter tees. If you play at Lullingstone or a nearby club, ask your committee whether anyone is going to the Royal Blackheath session on 3 November. It is the nearer of the two venues for north-west Kent.