Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club

Royal Cinque Ports can’t quite match its neighbour Royal St George’s, but it’s not far off, making it one of the best golf courses in England. 

Royal Cinque Ports suffers in that familiar way of having a premium course as its neighbour (being less than 10 minutes’ drive to Royal St George’s), but few who are travelling along the road which divides the handsome clubhouse from the 1st tee will not feel the urge to pull over.

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The start here is modest but Royal Cinque Ports, otherwise known as ‘Deal’, soon warms up with a terrific par 5 at the 3rd, stretching to 509 yards and incorporating an undulating and exciting fairway that leads to a narrow green which will have witnessed more three putts than single putts in its storied history.

Then comes a splendid short hole, played from an elevated tee to an angled green with steep run-offs on both sides and where there is no future in going through the back.

A fun hole, whatever the wind.

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The 413-yard 7th is another highlight of the front nine of a links that has staged Opens of its own, in 1909 and 1930 and was due to do so in 1949, but for the sea flooding the layout.   

A consistently good back nine characterised by more rugged terrain and clever run-off areas around undulating greens often played into the prevailing south-west wind. One of the highlights is the 16th, a 508-yard par 5 where the elevated green is protected by a large dune.

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A similarly characterful clubhouse awaits for refreshment. Sandwich lite? Possibly, but that is hardly a sleight and its notable position in our rankings these days illustrates what we think of it.

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