The Best Links Golf Courses in Kent

Home to the 2021 Open Championship, Kent features some of the country’s best links courses. Its coastal location lends itself to some spectacular links layouts, multiple Major venues, local hidden gems, and one of the UK’s best golfing resorts. Join us as we take a look at the best links courses in Kent.

Royal St George’s

Where else could we start? Often thought of as the best golf course in England, Royal St George’s is a truly magnificent test of golf. The venue has hosted The Open on 15 occasions, more than any other English venue, and has produced notable champions including Harry Vardon, Bobby Locke, Walter Hagen, Greg Norman, and most recently, Collin Morikawa.

You’d struggle to design a bad course on the unbelievable golfing site on which Royal St George’s is based, with the dunes seemingly perfectly positioned for centuries, awaiting the arrival of Ludlow Purves in 1887. The Scottish surgeon had moved to London just over a decade earlier and was keen to emulate the courses from north of the border on which he learned the game. As such, Royal St George’s features all the hallmarks of true links golf, with firm and fast fairways, pot bunkers, a strategy dictated by the day’s wind, and an emphasis on running (rather than flying) the ball towards the target.

The course is broadly routed into two figure-of-eights, with the result being that no two consecutive holes are played in the same direction, keeping the golfer on their toes - particularly with a wind that regularly blows across the landscape.

There are notable moments, such as the huge lion's-mouth bunker on the 4th hole, the stunning short 6th (affectionately known as ‘The Maiden’), or the long and straight par-5 14th, where many a round has been ruined by the out of bounds which runs down the full length of its right-hand-side. However, every hole at Royal St George’s is incredibly strong, coming together to create perhaps the best collection of 18-holes in the country.

Put simply, Royal St George’s is a golf course that every single golfer should experience.

Royal Cinque Ports

Just a mile or so down the road from Royal St George’s lies another course bestowed with Royal patronage. Royal Cinque Ports, or Deal as it’s often known, is an unbelievable golfing destination in its own right, with many finding it difficult to choose their favourite course in Kent between these two titans.

A Championship layout, Royal Cinque Ports hosted The Open on two occasions, although the requirements of the infrastructure now needed to host a Major prevents it from making a return to a professional golfing rota. However, this hasn’t stopped the venue from hosting just about every elite Amateur event one could imagine, most recently the Boys Amateur in 2021.

The course itself has a more traditional ‘out-and-back’ layout, with a much-loved halfway hut located towards the far end of the course. The course’s collection of par-5s are particularly standout, all with their own unique features - from the split fairway and treacherous green run-offs of the 16th, to the rumpled fairway and hidden putting surface on the 3rd. However, golfers must look to make their scores here, as a series of demanding par-4s on the back nine, coupled with a solitary par-3 (which plays over 200-yards), can make turning for home tough - particularly with scorecard in hand.

On a warm summer’s day, you’ll find few places as enjoyable to play as Royal Cinque Ports. It’s a true links, in phenomenal condition, paired with a fabulously welcoming atmosphere created by every person you’ll meet on your visit.

Prince's

Bordering Royal St George’s, there is yet another previous Open Championship venue. Prince's is a 27-hole golfing mecca, with onsite accommodation at their ‘Lodges’ - the ideal base for a trip to this part of the country.

Prince's features three loops of 9-holes, named the Shore, Dunes and Himalayas. Traditionally, the strongest 18-hole course has been made from the Shore and the Dunes, which both lie on the south side of the clubhouse, nearest to Royal St George’s. However, a relatively recent redesign of the Himalayas has gained much praise, with many visitors now making it an essential part of their trip. The Himalayas features some properly impressive, and downright daunting golf holes; notably the par-5 second which can stretch back to 620 from the blue tees!

The strength of the courses at Prince's is clear, with The R&A continuing to use it as an Open Qualifying venue where scores are never particularly low - even on a calm day. Work has also taken place to resurface ‘sand scrapes’, areas of wasteland which previously housed longer grass. This has helped redefine some of the shaping on the course and looks visually stunning. Furthermore, it makes it much easier for golfers to both find their ball and play their shots, helping to keep play moving.

If you’re looking to skip around more than 18-holes on a links visit to Kent - Prince's is the perfect destination.

Littlestone

With its location south of Dover and overlooking the Romney Marshes, Littlestone Golf Club is situated closer to the famed links at Rye in the county of Sussex. As a result, this stunning layout misses out on the plaudits that would come with a location closer to the other courses on this list, with visitors to Kent often overlooking a trip down to Littlestone as part of their itinerary.

Those who do make the short drive down the coast though will be rewarded with a challenging links layout, with an ‘out-and-back’ routing that blesses the golfer with a view of the English Channel throughout. The land here is flatter than at the aforementioned courses, but clever tee-box placement coupled with strategic bunkers keeps you on your toes. What’s more, the lack of dramatic changes in the typography of the land makes the course a comfortable walk, with an emphasis placed on speed of play at Littlestone.

There’s a ruggedness to some of the bunkering which can feel a little more natural than the more polished riveting of the bunkers elsewhere in Kent. However, don’t let this fool you into thinking the course lacks conditioning, with it boasting some of the slickest greens in the area throughout the summer. The course is allowed to dry out through the year’s hottest months, with firm fairways making strategy all the more important as you pick you way around the Championship Course.

Littlestone is also blessed with a second 18-holes known as The Warren. Shorter than the Championship Course, The Warren boasts no par-5s, but still provides an exacting test of links golf - particularly in the summer. It’s the perfect warm up course at the start of a trip to the area, or a good one to tag on to the end of a day for those keen to get some extra holes in; with all 18-holes easily playable in less than 3-hours.

Knole Park

Our final course in Kent bends the rules slightly. Knole Park is often talked about as an ‘inland links’ due to its fast-draining terrain, and the impact of the wind across its browning and hilly landscape in the summer. The fairways are lined with wispy hay-like grass, akin to that found along Kent’s coastline. The course also allows for a huge variety of shots to be played and has bags of character.

Just twenty years after opening, the Second World War took a great toll on the club, with its proximity to London being a target of enemy gliders. As such, obstructions were created, and land moved on the course itself to prevent any aerial invasion.

Unfortunately, despite an almighty effort in the years that followed - leading to it regularly named within the Top 100 courses in England - it is this location in Sevenoaks from us properly including it in our list of best links courses in Kent. Despite its links-like qualities, the course is simply too far inland to be thought of as a links layout in the truest sense of the word. However, when heading down to Kent, it’s definitely one that’s worth adding to your trip!