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by: MickEuanTait
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If you are planning your European golf vacations then you should consider playing some of the golf courses in England. Although, as a Scotsman, I would recommend that you start of by playing the historically famous courses in Scotland first. The courses in England are nearly as famous nowadays because of their exposure as venues of The Open. So, here are the championship courses that have held the event over the years.

I am not sure why, but The Open golf championship is held in golf courses in England that are sited in two distinct regions of the country. There are three in the south east corner of England in the county of Kent, to the south of London. Then there are another three that are located on the north west coast, between Liverpool and Blackpool.

Golf Courses In England - The North West

Between Scotland in the north and Wales in the south is the coastline of the northwest region of England. The links of three of The Open golf courses are to be found here. You can easily reach this area by flying to either Manchester or Liverpool airports, which are both about an hours drive from the golf courses. Why not make Liverpool a base for playing the three courses as it is a beautiful city - as well as being home to The Beatles.

Royal Liverpool, or Hoylake, is the second oldest links course in England and the first in the north-west to hold The Open and has held 11 in total. Starting from 1897, the event has been held here regularly every decade up to 1967, but wasn't held again until 2006 when Tiger Woods won the event. Bobby Jones won here in 1930 on his way to winning the unmatched Grand Slam of golf.

Royal Lytham & St. Annes held its first Open in 1926 even though it was founded in 1897. It is considered to be one of the best and most taxing links courses in Great Britain with over 200 bunkers to avoid. Many legends of golf have enjoyed success here including Bobby Jones in 1926, Tony Jacklin in 1969, Gary Player in 1974, and Seve Ballesteros in 1979 and 1988.

Royal Birkdale is the newest English course to host The Open; starting in 1954 it has held the event almost twice a decade since with 2008 being the latest. The course features towering sand dunes and has been a popular venue and a lucky course for American golfers. Apart from Australian golfers, Peter Thompson who won here in 1954 and 1965, and Ian Baker-Finch in 1991, Americans have dominated here with 5 wins out of 8.

Golf Courses In England - The SE

The southeast of the country is home to three Championship courses all located on the south coast of Kent, just to the south of London. This close proximity to London makes the area easy to reach for the visitor. To enjoy playing the three courses here, you would do well to stay in one of the charming villages and make the beautiful countryside of Kent as your base.

Royal St. Georges, as I said, was the first English course to hold The Open in 1894 and has held it 13 times in total. As such, this course should be on your priority list when on your European golf vacations. The course has had legendary golfers Harry Vardon and Walter Hagan win here twice each. More recently, Greg Norman won in 1993 with a perfect final round of 64, fighting off Nick Faldo and Bernhard Langer.

Royal Cinque Ports, known as Deal, held The Open only twice back in 1909 and 1920 and so is less well known. Unfortunately, further events were canceled here because of the War in 1915 and because of very high tides in 1938 and 1949 which rendered the course unplayable. As it is close to Royal St. Georges, it is worth your while to play a round here; you will find it a very challenging course.

Prince's is a Championship course which you have probably not heard of before because it was only used once in 1932 to hold The Open. Golf legend Gene Sarazen won that year with a faultless display of golf and scored 283, which was a Championship record that was unbeaten for 18 years. Incredibly, the beautiful Prince's course was used by the Royal Air Force for bombing practice during WW II. Renovation of the course was carried out in the 50's which managed to include the use of 17 of the original greens which stood undamaged by the bombs.

There you have the only six Championship courses in England that you should consider playing - the only difficulty might be playing all six as the north west is quite far from the south east. You will need to book your tee times in advance and you should check each of their websites for information on dress code for the golf courses and the clubhouses.

About the Author

Mick Euan Tait is a golf writer, golf fan, and a golfer. Check out his site for information on Golf In England and Golf In Scotland. Click here to get your own unique version of this article with free reprint rights.

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