The Rochester Golf Club was formed in 1891. The original course was nine holes played at Oakleigh Farm, Higham.

The sale of the leasehold interest in the site in 1919 threatened the existence of the Club. However the 8th Earl of Darnley offered a lease of the Deer Park at Cobham Hall for 10 years at an annual rental of £1.

The Rochester & Cobham Park Golf Club started life in 1920. The clubhouse, transported from Higham, was separated from the course by the A2.

The separation of the course and clubhouse by the main motor route to Europe was never satisfactory. Consequently the Club embarked once more on lengthy negotiations resulting in a brand new clubhouse which was sited beyond the 6th green and opened in 1980.

In 1992 the Government announced the route of the Channel Tunnel rail link. It ran straight through the clubhouse. Several years of more negotiations resulted in a major reconstruction of the course and the opening of the present clubhouse in 1997.

The construction of Cobham Hall, at the west end of the course, commenced in 1584 for the 10th Lord Cobham. Many antiquarian additions were made by Humphrey Repton and his two sons between 1790 - 1820. In building the present clubhouse the view from Repton’s Seat, at Cobham Hall, to the Mausoleum has been preserved.

The Mausoleum to the south of the course and left of the 1st hole, was built in 1783 at a cost of £30,000. It was never consecrated and never used as a tomb. It was the subject of an edition of the BBC's series "Restoration" in 2004 and along with Cobham Hall itself has attracted Lottery funding.

Charles Dickens was a frequent visitor to the 4th Earl of Darnley, walking through the deer park from his home at Gads Hill.

In 1882 the Hon. Ivo Bligh, later the 8th Earl of Darnley, led the victorious England cricket team in Australia. He returned to Cobham Hall with “The Ashes” which were his private property.

In 1883 eight hundred Roman coins were found in the deer park in an earthenware pot. During the reconstruction of the course in 1996 other artefacts were discovered including a Saxon loom weight and flint arrow heads.