Royal St George ’ s
ROYAL ST GEORGE ’ S & THIS YEAR ’ S 149TH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
It ’ s the 10th July 2021 , and as the eyes of the sporting world wake up and prepare to tune in for a spectacular week of golf , one prestigious course sitting atop Kent ’ s iconic coastline in historic Sandwich is gearing up to host its biggest event since 2011 . As The 149th Open Championship arrives in the Garden of England , we take a closer look at this year ’ s host course and what it means to welcome one of the world ’ s most renowned sporting events to Kent ’ s shoreline .
Easily identifiable by the telling red cross of St George marked on each of the course ’ s flags , and the thatched roof shelters scattered across its landscape , the course at Royal St George ’ s flows effortlessly through the imposing high dunes of Sandwich Bay .
Stepping out onto the course , it ’ s hard for golfers not to pause and enjoy the stunning views of the Channel seascape sweeping from Ramsgate in the north , across Pegwell Bay , and through to Deal in the South . This course is home to a huge variety of rare coastal dune-land flora and fauna , providing a unique , tranquil setting in which to enjoy a testing round of golf .
160-year history ( more than any course outside of Scotland , might we add ...)
It was back in 1885 that a man by the name of Dr William Laidlaw Purves was stood at the vantage point of St . Clement ’ s Church in Sandwich , when he was intrigued by an expanse of undulating land along the nearby coastline . A Scot and a skilled golfer himself , William decided that this land was the perfect place to create a links golf course , and it was here that he designed and supervised the laying out of a course which he called St George ’ s ( after the English patron saint ) when it opened two years later in 1887 .
This beautiful links layout has long been ranked amongst the leading courses in the world , an accolade the on-site team won ’ t take for granted , and perhaps unsurprisingly one of the main reasons golf ’ s original championship has returned here no less than 15 times in over
William ’ s aim was that the course should be a rival to St Andrews in the South of England , and it was just seven years later , in 1894 , that Royal St George ’ s Golf Club became the first course outside of Scotland to host the
Open Championship .
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