The Open Championship returns to Royal Troon on the west coast of Scotland this week. The Scottish Open has just been completed, and in thrilling fashion, we might add. These events and the return of the Women’s Open to St. Andrews in the coming weeks as well, links golf is on full display at some of the best courses in the world. This has made us reminisce about our first trip to play the greatest links courses in southeast England.
We were so excited to play Royal St. Georges, an Open Championship venue 15 times over and will surely continue as host. Along with Sandwich (as Royal St. Georges is referred to, based on the town its located in), Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club and Prince’s Golf Club have also hosted the oldest championship in golf on multiple occasions. What’s best is they are all abutting one another on the southeast coast of England in the county of Kent. Kent, known as “The Garden of England”, has so much history, and natural beauty, that there is much to see and do beyond golf.
We flew into Heathrow, took our rental car, and drove the short two-hour drive out to the epic course at Sandwich. Along the way, we made a detour to visit one of the most important cathedrals in the Christian world, Canterbury Cathedral. The town of Canterbury is so worth a visit. Here you can also explore the remaining medieval fortifications and take a boat ride around the lovely Westgate Gardens. If the time is right and if you fancy a nice meal in Canterbury, we highly suggest to try the PIG at Bridge Place, located just 3 miles south from Canterbury. Deliciousness guaranteed!!
Now it was time to make our way to the course! After parking and opening the car doors, we were greeted by a fresh sea breeze and the sound of distant seagulls. The clubhouse at Sandwich is as charming and perfect of an English setting as is possible, not an imposing building by any means, but you still know you’re somewhere special. After checking in at the shop, we made our way to the first tee and could see the massive dunes that awaited our round in the distance. We will not go hole by hole around the course, but we can definitely endorse Royal St. Georges as one of the finest golf courses in the world and among our very favorite places to play.
After our round, we checked into our hotel, The Bell Hotel & Pub, a small and charming hotel perfectly situated to visit the area. It was here that we began to find how delicious dinners in England can be. Our meals at the Bell Hotel were all freshly prepared and crafted from the finest locally sourced ingredients. Both menus, the one from the bar, and the one from the restaurant, featured excellent and varied choices as well as vegetarian options.
In the coming days we played Royal Cinque Ports, two time Open host (and another of our very favorite courses), Prince’s Golf Club and all of its 27 holes, and Littlestone Golf Club, which lies a little south of the other three, but still well worth a play as it also lays claim to an Alister Mackenzie designed links.
On our way to Littlestone, we stopped to visit the White Cliffs of Dover, and they are as dramatic as you would hope for! Also, in the town of Dover is one of the most imposing castles in all of England, Dover Castle.
After playing Littlestone, we made our way over to the town of Rye, a fantastic walled city worth a visit even if you weren’t going to play the enchanting course of the same name. We have great memories while strolling the streets of the ancient town as we recall seeing a sign on an old cathedral mentioning that the church was celebrating it’s 900th! anniversary. The next day we made our way out to Rye Golf Club. We must first say, that our excitement to come to this club was as high as almost any we had played in Europe. The history of the club is as amazing as the course itself. The founding Secretary and original architect was the one and only Harry S. Colt, who went on to design some of the world’s great courses. The course was then redesigned some time later by the great Tom Simpson, and that is primarily the course we play today. It is also home to the President’s Putter, an annual match between the Oxford and Cambridge Golfing Societies that has been held for over 100 years. Perhaps our favorite piece of history in the club is a leather armchair that belonged to the greatest of all the golf writers, Bernard Darwin, and was given to him by his grandfather, Charles Darwin. Darwin spent his later years living in the dormy house at the club. The course itself is a masterclass on how to use the predominent features of a property, with holes meandering up over and even along the dunes that are present.
Following our round, we made our way back to London to catch our return flight scheduled the next morning. We were actually fortunate to stop in the town of Maidstone and visit Leeds Castle and its maze made up of Yew trees, only to find out that we could potentially stay in the same place King Edward the 1st resided 800 years earlier.
If you are considering a golf trip in this area and you are looking for a couple or girlfriends’ retreat, we strongly advise staying at the Champneys Eastwell Manor Spa & Hotel. Here you can indulge in luxury spa treatments, delicious home-made afternoon-tea and relaxing walks in the estate gardens.
We had an awesome time playing the greatest links courses in southeast England and would love to help you plan the trip of a lifetime. Talk to us if you want to experience this one-of-a-kind golfing destination; we have much to share with you. Where to stay, where to eat, where and when to play the courses…we simply love the area and can’t wait to share our secret spots with you.
