Alternate Universe
England Golf Diary from Princes, Deal, Rye and Royal St George's.
Scotland and Ireland get most of the attention when it comes to links golf, but we have recently returned from a life changing week playing the wonderful links courses of England’s southeast. The trip was organized by the The Fliers Club and the schedule was strong. 18 holes at Princes Golf Club, 18 at Royal Cinque Ports (or Deal as it is commonly known), 36 holes at Rye Golf Club and finally two days of 36 holes at Royal St. George’s.
With Princes being the first round, it was there that I met my caddie Paul for the first time. I noticed Paul casually sizing up my bag before the round trying to get a sense of what time of player he was in for. The pairing was critical for him because he was going to be stuck with me for the entire week (with the exception of our day at Rye). “The 2 iron in the bag was a good sign.” He later told me while I was asking him about how he assesses players before the round. Unlucky for him that 2 iron was going to be a crucial element for the week. My swing with the #1 has vanished. I think I might have left it in Hawai’i where I spend a considerable amount of time playing too much golf.
The first swing at the first hole at Princes was a lost ball — the first victim of the fescue. Did I bring enough golf balls? is not something you want to consider in the middle of the first hole. It took 12 holes at Princes to sniff competency, but we did manage to put some decent swings together by the end of it. The sun was shining and despite all of the bad shots by me, Paul seemed confident. He knew what I didn’t, that Princes is a cakewalk compared to Deal. Apparently, I was in for some real punishment the next day. Cool.
With the plentiful precipitation this year the fescue was up. The combination of hard links-ground and ample rain means the fescue in the southeast demands respect. The best thing to do is to avoid it all together, but that’s not always possible. “Steep! Steep! Steep!” My caddie Paul reminded me with equal parts encouragement and disdain before each shot from the tall stuff. His feedback was as much for him as I was me. Paul didn’t want to spend any more time in the high grass as he had to. Astonishingly, Paul’s hit rate for finding lost balls was almost 90% for the week. An incredible feat. I’ve never witnessed anyone track something so ambiguous so precisely. He managed to mark even the smallest hill or area so meticulously it was shocking.
Even without my best golf Paul and I got on well. It was nice to get to spend so much time with the same caddie so he could really understand my game. By the end of the week we had a good rapport. The clubs would come out with little discussion of distance. The lines for the putts were easily assessed and communicated. “Nice and smooth,” Paul would say while handing an iron on a par 3. The caddie element adds so much and the week wouldn’t have been the same without Paul on the bag.
We played 4 courses during our trip. We started at Princes which borders Royal St George’s. It was a fine club and a fun warm up round. After the first day we moved on to Deal, then to Rye and ended up at RSG. A collection of thoughts on each experience and photos from the talented Omar Rawlings are below. Hope you enjoy.
Royal Cinque Ports ‘Deal’
On the bus ride to Deal the Fliers who had been on this trip the previous year regaled us with stories of losing close to a dozen golf balls in their round here. I tried to act like I wasn’t listening to the conversation, but deep down I envisioned myself doing the walk of shame mid-round out of golf balls. Not exactly what you want to think about before the fun. That state of mind isn’t the most productive. Regardless of how many balls would be lost, it’s easy to appreciate the stunning beauty of Deal. It’s a fantastic routing with wildly undulating tight fairways, blind shots, expansive greens and unrelenting fescue. Not surprisingly, this is not the place you want to be when your driver is erratic. All I could do is say is we’re here so let’s try our best.
After the horror stories on the ride over I was feeling defensive, the goal had become: just don’t lose the entire bag. That policy worked to a degree, but Deal still ended up being a white-knuckle experience. Running scared didn’t allow me to appreciate the natural beauty of this historic links as much as I would have liked. At Deal we were playing our own ball for a friendly match with another Fliers Club member. After about the 3rd hole Paul the caddie was strongly broadcasting nervous apprehension. I don’t blame him. I managed to generally keep it together until 18 when the wheels came off completely. I managed to lose the match from the tee box. It was a fitting end to a failed strategy but a beautiful day nonetheless.
As we drank G&Ts on the terrace upstairs I was pleased to have survived and only lost one sleeve of balls. Deal is an incredible place. After it was all over I uttered the famous words. “I need to come back and play this again.” Golf is such a sick enterprise.
Rye
The next day was an early morning with a 90 minute drive to East Sussex to play Rye. I knew virtually nothing about the place except that there are two 18s and we needed a jacket and tie for lunch. The day was organized completely as foursomes with a different partner for each round. We played the Jubilee course in the morning, which is the newer of the two courses at Rye. At one point divine intervention happened and this bit of land was reclaimed from the ocean. Apparently the sand dunes had shifted and a relatively flat piece of land was now available for golf.
An interesting thing about Rye’s Jubilee course is the fact that there are a few holes (and greens) which are re-used in the routing. It was a creative solution to get 18 holes out of perhaps 14 holes worth of space. It’s as unique of a golf course as I have ever played. This spring I went to Chicago and thought I had had experienced the most traditional, minimalistic golf experience of my life – then I played Rye and the stakes have been raised. Jubilee has the simplicity of someone putting a few flags in a wild field. This is pure golf at its best.
After our morning alternate shot game on Jubilee we cleaned up and changed into coat and tie for lunch. Everyone said that just being allowed to visit Rye was a special privilege as the club doesn’t have many visitors. When you sit in the dining room it felt special indeed. We still had our afternoon round on the Old Course to look forward to.
At first glance alternate shot is intimidating. You’re far from home playing links golf which is quite different than what we are used to in America. You don’t want to embarrass yourself or disappoint your partner. Eventually after a few rounds of foursomes you will likely be hooked. One partner plays the tee shots on the odd holes and one plays the even holes. This means that you will likely spend most of your time with one of your two opponents. The caddies help to push things along and typically you will be standing in the fairway while your partner is on the tee. This gives foursomes a unique social aspect and tempo. In the best case scenario your partner would tee off and hit the fairway. You then would hit and when you hit the green your partner walks straight from the tee to the green without stopping. It’s a wonderful dance and most of the rounds at Rye and Royal St George’s are played in this traditional way. With this being my first true UK alt shot experience I admittedly fell in love with the format. The Rye Old Course is a wonderful routing and unique experience. Rye is distinctive for how traditional it remains. We were lucky to get to experience it.
Royal St George’s ‘Sandwich’
The last two days of the trip was the main event, 4 rounds at Royal St George’s. This is the second year The Fliers Club has held these Matches with RSG. When I saw the photos from last year I knew I needed to try and make this trip. RSG is the complete package. Of course being a part of The Open rota brings massive attention.
of course it’s an amazing clubhouse, historic club and incredible golf course. More than anything else we played on this trip RSG felt like a proper championship golf course. Last summer I went to Northern Ireland and Roayl Portrush felt similar in that you can just tell this place is a championship golf course.
The routing of RSG is unique and it’s striking just how massive the property is. Two more golf courses could probably be commingled into the existing course and no one could tell the difference. Having all of that open grassland made the course feel serene and special. There’s a healthy amount of undulation in the fairways and of course you have to hit fairways or you are going to suffer in the fescue.
To me the major difficulty of the course was the amount of deception off the tee. Many tee shots just look like you are hitting into waist high grass. Holes like #10 which is visible and straightforward are the exception and not the rule. My favorite stretch is holes 4, 5 and 6. Which are all quite interesting and quirky. The tee shot on 7 is completely blind and takes multiple rounds to trust the guidance of the caddies. The par 3s are either on the shorter side or long and each have interesting greens. Overall, RSG is a Burgundy and not a Bordeaux. It takes time to develop. It’s a subtle place. You need time and experience to appreciate the nuance of it all.
The final day of golf at RSG was the day of the matches between The Fliers and the Sandwich members. The day was filled from start to finish with 18 holes of foursomes in the morning, followed by showers and lunch in the dining room at a long table. The RSG members were so welcoming and kind, it really felt like something special to be in that room.
After a hearty meal and plenty of wine we found new partners and played the final round of matchplay for the trophy and bragging rights. Pimm’s followed in the garden and then we were back in coat and tie for a celebratory dinner. Friday at RSG felt like something out of a movie. It didn’t matter if my game was shaky or how many sleeves of PRO-V1s has vanished, these are days I will not soon forget. To be in England with such beautiful weather and camaraderie felt like a dream. This is one that won’t be recreated anytime soon.
Part of the fun is how we play, the weather and the course, but most important are the people who add the texture to these experiences. It’s the community which reminds me exactly why I love this game so much.
Sweet socks. I was very close to signing up for that trip. After seeing your pictures, the great weather and reading your recap I very much regret not pulling the trigger.
Great piece, MW!