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Host Course of the 2011 Open Championship |
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The
6th Hole at Royal St. George's — Par 3, 176 Yards. |
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Royal St. George’s is the Old Course of England, like St. Andrews is in Scotland, and Royal St. David’s is in Wales. Although an expensive, private club, Royal St. George’s makes it possible for visitors to play, if they meet certain requirements. Although it doesn’t have women’s tees, the course is not closed to women, with handicap requirements that match women equally with men. Royal St. George’s is a frequent venue for Britain’s premier golf tournament, the |
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British
Open.
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Meanwhile, in the eight years since The Open last pitched its
road show tents on the sands by Sandwich, the course has changed. Its
reappearance in 2011 provides us an
opportunity to take a look at what’s old and what’s new at Royal St.
George’s. The current course layout is somewhat longer than when The
Open last visited. Played from the championship tees, the 2011 course —
7,204 yards — is 102 yards longer than the 2003 version. Visitors, like
the pros, will have to hit a little further now, too, as the weekday
tees have been lengthened a total of 164 yards to 6,340 yards for a
round of 18. The medal tees have been lengthened, but only by 23 yards.
They play 6,630 yards now. At 70 strokes for a par round, Royal St.
George’s plays long from all tee positions. Women continue to get no
break in distance or par at the course: there are no “ladies’ tees” at
Royal St. George’s. However, one advancement for women has been made in
the last eight years: handicap requirements have been relaxed from a
stringent maximum handicap of 15 strokes to match the men’s
still-stringent handicap maximum at 18. A final advancement has been the
price to play Royal St. George’s. Greens fees for visitors have risen to
£150/round and £190/day from April through October, with significant
reductions for play in November & March (£90/round) and
December-February (£70/round). Men and women now play on a level playing
field at Royal St. George’s: to play here both genders must be pretty
good golfers and even better wage-earners.
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ADDRESS: Royal St George’s Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent CT13 9PB England
LOCATION:
Royal
St. George’s Golf Club is on
Upper Strand St., 1.5mi east of Sandwich —
among the dunes and flats by the sea (English
Channel) 1 mile east Directions: Trains from London Charing Cross, Blackfriars, and London Bridge to Sandwich. Taxi from Sandwich 1-mile out to the course.
LENGTH & PAR:
GREENS FEES:
FACILITIES: |
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VISITORS WELCOME DAILY, YEAR ROUND: Advance reservations mandatory no less than 48 hours in advance of play.
MAXIMUM HANDICAP REQUIREMENTS:
Men & Women: 18.
Handicap certificates must be presented
VISITOR TEE TIMES:
Monday through Friday (except public holidays). |
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SPECIAL CLUB RULES:
PLACING
RESERVATIONS: £30/player deposit required when
tee-times have
PAYMENTS:
Final payment is to be made to the caddiemaster prior to the
CANCELLATIONS:
No penalty if you cancel outside of 1-month of play.
NEAREST
HOME AT FIRST LODGINGS:
The golf courses are within
reach DIRECTIONS FROM HOME AT FIRST’S LONDON LODGINGS NEAR THE TOWER BRIDGE: Trains depart London Bridge Station every 1-2 hours for the direct 2-2.5 hour journey to Sandwich. Take a taxi from Sandwich station for the mile-journey to the golf club. |
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HISTORY AT ROYAL ST. GEORGE'S |
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wasteland. Sightlines
indicating fairways and |
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| Unusually, the club requires play by twosomes, except on some Tuesdays. Not unusually for Britain, the course must be walked—golf carts are anathema here. Rough, natural, and shaggy, the course seems unkempt at first appearance. In the traditional Scottish golfing manner, this natural links requires a nearly formal clubhouse, where | |
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jacket, tie, and Cuban cigars are de rigueur. |
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American unknown Ben Curtis won the Open at
Royal St. George's in 2003. Royal St George’s (only 7 years old at the time) was the
first course outside Scotland to stage the British Open in 1894, when J.
H. Taylor won the first of his five Opens with four rounds shot in the
80’s. By contrast, in 1993 the British Open was won by Greg Norman with
four rounds shot in the 60’s. The Open was won twice by the legendary
Henry Vardon (1899 and 1911), twice by Walter Hagen (1922 and 1928),
and, in 1985, by Scot Sandy Lyle, now a resident of Balquhidder, the
same lovely Central Scotland village familiar to so many
HOME AT FIRST guests. |
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Fleming, composed a vignette about a golfing duel between |
| his series hero, James Bond, and a classic Fleming villain, Goldfinger, in his book by the same name. It would take a man with the wherewithal of 007 to take on the simultaneous challenges of the evil Goldfinger and the menacing Royal St. George’s Golf Club and emerge neither shaken nor stirred. | |
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| THE REGION Southeastern England has been making history for millennia. Being that corner of Britain closest to the European continent, southeastern England has received many visitors over the years, some of whom were uninvited, including the Roman legions of 2,000 years ago and the Normans of 1,000 years ago. As a result, numerous castles (Dover Castle being the most impressive; Leeds Castle being the most attractive), battlefields (Hastings), churches (Canterbury Cathedral, Dover Priory) and important ports (Sandwich, Rye, Dover, Folkestone, Hastings) have drawn visitors for centuries. Most of these destinations are reachable conveniently from London by rail. HOME AT FIRST's "London Activities Guide" includes a large section about day-trips by rail from London to dozens of locations easily visited by train, including southeast from London toward the English Channel. This guide is provided all HOME AT FIRST guests to LONDON. |
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MORE RESOURCES: |
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