Golf on the Kent coast: A short distance north of the White Cliffs of Dover you’ll find three close neighbours that have all hosted the Open Championship. Royal St George’s (still on the Open roster), Royal Cinque Ports and Prince’s sit cheek by jowl on a dune-filled stretch of Kent coast between the towns of Sandwich and Deal.
Royal Cinque Ports and Royal St George’s are two of nineteen English golf clubs with a Royal prefix conferred by the sovereign. The oldest of England’s “Royals” is Royal Blackheath near London. Established in 1608 it lays claim to being the world’s oldest golf club, while Royal North Devon in Westward Ho! is England’s oldest golf course. All three courses are standard bearers for English links golf.
Make the most out of your golf trip to the Kent Coast. Look up the location of the golf courses on the map; it will help you with your planning to play the best during your holidays. To each golf course visited we have applied a rating. The scale, 5 (highest) to 2 (lowest), attempts to provide an indication of the golfing experience you can expect at each rated course. Hover your on-screen mouse pointer above the rating key hereafter to read our definitions.
Visitors welcome
Dover
Current design by English course architect Harry Colt (1927).
Visitors welcome
Dover
Nick Faldo & Steve Smyers
Visitors welcome
Crawley
Original designer unknown. Dr Alister MacKenzie was commissioned to make design improvements in the 1920s.
Visitors welcome
Brighton
The Dale Hill course (also known as the "Old course") dates from 1976. The "Woosnam course" was designed by Ian Woosnam (1997).
Visitors welcome
Brighton
American course architect Robert E. "Bob" Cupp designed the East and West courses.
Visitors welcome
Brighton
American course architect Robert E. "Bob" Cupp designed the East and West courses.
Rsrt guests only
Brighton
James Braid
Visitors welcome
Brighton
Donald Steel
Visitors welcome
Crawley
Peter Nicholson
Visitors welcome
Guildford
J.H. Taylor
Visitors welcome
Dover
Original design by Dr Laidlaw Purves (1888); later revisions by James Braid and Dr Alister MacKenzie (1924).
Rsrt guests only
Crawley
David Williams
Visitors welcome
Dover
Herbert Fowler & Tom Simpson (1913).
Visitors welcome
Brighton
Original design by Royal Ashdown GC professional Jack Rowe (1904). Later revisions by J.H. Taylor, Frank Pennink and club member Philip Russell-Vick.
Visitors welcome
Dover
Original course designed by Charles Hutchings & Percy Montagu Lucas (1906). Current 27-hole layout resulted from a significant post-war redesign by Sir Guy Campbell & John Morrison (1950).
Visitors welcome
Crawley
Original design by brothers and founding members William R. and Francis A. Lee; some input from the two other founding members: Robert Birch and Rev A.T. "Archdeacon" Scott. Later modifications made by Harry Hunter and longstanding Ashdown professional Jack Rowe (1897); final significant changes made by Jack Rowe (1922).
Visitors welcome
Dover
Original 9-holes laid out by Henry Hunter (1892), and extended to 18 (1896). Layout redesigned by James Braid (1919). Sir Guy Campbell restored the course after WWII, substantially retaining the earlier Hunter/Braid routing.
Visitors welcome
Brighton
Original nine-hole course designed by Horace G. Hutchinson and Charles Mayhewe (1887). Later extended and modified by unknown others.
Weekdays only
Dover
Original design by Dr Laidlaw Purves (1887); later revisions by Dr Alister MacKenzie (1924).
On application
Dover
Original design by English course architect Harry Colt and Scottish professional Douglas Rolland. Later revisions by Tom Simpson (1932), Sir Guy Campbell (1938), Major H.C. "Charles" Tippet (1947).
Visitors welcome
Brighton
Course designed by J.H. Taylor in 1907, when the club moved to its current Blatchington location.
Visitors welcome
Dover
Original design by James Braid. Restored and re-opened in 1948 after WWII (when the course was covered in barbed wire and defensive positions). Extended and improved by John Lawrie (1960s).
Wkends restrictd
Brighton
Original design by the firm Ferigna (Cecil K. Hutchison, Sir Guy Campbell & Col. Stafford V. Hotchkin).
Tournaments:
2021 Opens: whether by accident or design, four of the top five mens’ Open Championships played in the British Isles occupy consecutive weeks in July: the Irish Open (1-4), Scottish Open (8-11), The Open (15-18) and Wales Open (22-25). The recently relaunched English Open is scheduled for early-August.
Hoag Classic: Ernie Els defends his title in this prestigious PGA Tour Champions event, played since 1991 at the Newport Beach Country Club, CA (Mar 5-7).
Who's Who:
Brooks Koepka: won his second Phoenix Open title, with a chip-in eagle at TPC Scottsdale’s short par-4 17th included in his final round.
Annika Sörenstam: the legendary Swede makes a return to the LPGA Tour in the Gainbridge LPGA, to be played at Lake Nona, her home club (Feb 25-28).
New course opens for play at Barnbougle
Bill Coore designs 14-hole layout with “sporty” holes on dune ridge above Lost Farm.
New links course planned for Scottish Highlands. Landowner aims to appoint a ‘world-class architect’ to work on site next to Cromarty Firth.
New Faldo Design layout in Vietnam set for summer completion. Nine holes of the course at Thanh Lanh are routed across a the lake peninsula.
Dundonald Links Scotland: Construction work is in progress on new practice facilities and course changes at Dundonald Links in Irvine, Scotland, as part of a £25 million investment by new owners Darwin Escapes that also includes the construction of a new clubhouse with rooms, plus eighteen lodges. Read more ...
R&A submits planning application for new golf facility in Glasgow.
Look up the Top Golf Courses in Scotland.
You can subscribe to the Where2Golf channel on YT if you like to see more video content. You'll find a "Subscribe" button on any of our YouTube videos. Or if you want a quick and direct access subscribe here. Once done, any new published videos will show up in your Subscriptions feed.
