 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2018) |
  Clubhouse in 2007 | |
| Club information | |
|---|---|
  Map showing the location of Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent, England | |
| Location | Sandwich, Kent, England |
| Established | 1887 |
| Type | private |
| Total holes | 18 |
| Events hosted | The Open Championship (15 times) |
| Website | royalstgeorges |
| Designed by | Laidlaw Purves |
| Par | 70 |
| Length | 7,204 yards (6,587 m)[1] |
The Royal St George's Golf Club located in Sandwich, Kent, England, is a golf club in the United Kingdom and one of the courses on The Open Championship rotation and is the only Open rota golf course to be located in South East England. It has hosted 15 Open championships, the first in 1894 when it became the first club outside Scotland to host the championship. Past champions include Collin Morikawa, Darren Clarke, Ben Curtis, Greg Norman, Sandy Lyle, Bill Rogers, Bobby Locke, Reg Whitcombe, Henry Cotton, Walter Hagen (on two occasions), Harry Vardon (on two occasions), Jack White and John Henry Taylor. It has also hosted The Amateur Championship on 14 occasions.
The club was founded by the surgeon Laidlaw Purves in 1887 in a setting of wild duneland. Many holes feature blind or partially blind shots, although the unfairness element has been reduced somewhat, after several 20th century modifications. The course also possesses the deepest bunker in championship golf, located on its fourth hole.[2]
The club's Challenge Cup dates from 1888 and is one of the oldest amateur events in golf. It has been contested annually over 36 holes except during the war years. A 19-year-old Jack Nicklaus won the tournament in 1959 shortly before going on to win the first of his two U.S. Amateur titles.[3]
Author Ian Fleming used the Royal St George's course under the name "Royal St. Marks" in his 1959 novel Goldfinger. When he died, Fleming was the Captain-elect of the club.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
scorecardwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ The World Atlas of Golf, second, revised edition, by Herbert Warren Wind, Charles Price, and Peter Thomson, London 1988, Mitchell Beazley publishers.
- ^ "Royal St George's Golf Club, Sandwich, Facts and Figures, Golf Today, 2011".