Royal St George

The Royal St George's golf course is over a hundred years old and has been home to The Open Championship many times. It is located in Sandwich, England and is one of the toughest courses in the world.

History of the course

William Laidlaw Purves was responsible for the creation of the Royal St George golf course. Originally it was called St George golf course and was opened in 1887. It got its present name in 1902 when it got royal patronage.

The course, like the Muirfield Course, is broadly circular for both the front and back nine holes. The course offers you natural appearance and experience which gels well with the wild flowers and dune grasses of the surroundings. The course also gives you a great view of the Pegwell Bay as well as the cliffs of Dover. Each hole around the course is different from the other, which is a sign of a good golf course.
Some of the hazards on the course were previously not visible previously. Therefore, the course was renovated by Frank Pennink who built three new holes and moved the tee on a couple of others. In the process the course became more competitive.

> Course Trivia

The Open Championship, one of the four majors, has been held here 13 times. It was first held in 1894 and the most recent one was in 2003.

The Royal St George golf course has also hosted The PGA Championship (another major), The Walker Cup, The Curtis Cup, various amateur tournaments and many other meets.

The bunker at the fourth hole is the tallest and deepest in Britain . Once you are able to cross it the fairway beyond it is flat which is called the “Elysian Fields”.

The sixth hole is called the “Maiden” as it is steep, sandy and full of black timbers.

“Suez Canal” is the name assigned to the 14 th hole as many golfers have failed to drive the ball over this water hazard.

The fairway bunkers in the 15 th hole is virtually symmetrical and is considered t be an architectural marvel.

The Royal St George golf course holds the 16 th spot in Golf Digest magazine's list of top100 golf courses outside the US. As we continue on this tour we will learn about the other top-100 golf courses in the world.