The London Golf Weekend That Americans Don't Know Exists

Americans don't think of London as a golf destination. That's an oversight worth correcting.

The Kent coast — home to Royal St George's, Royal Cinque Ports, and Prince's Golf Club — is 90 minutes from central London by car, or two hours by train to Sandwich. Three Open Championship venues clustered within a few miles of each other, all accessible as a long weekend from the capital.

The Setup

Fly into London. Spend a day in the city — your non-golfing partner will thank you. The next morning, rent a car or catch the high-speed train from St Pancras to Sandwich (75 minutes). Play Royal St George's in the afternoon. Stay in Sandwich — a medieval town with proper pubs and good restaurants, not a golf resort. Play Royal Cinque Ports the next morning, Prince's in the afternoon (it's right there). Drive back to London. Fly home.

Three days. Three championship courses. Zero golf-trip guilt because you spent the first day at the Tower of London and a West End show.

What It Costs

Green fees for three rounds: approximately $550-650 total. A good hotel in Sandwich (The Lodge at Sandwich, the Bell Hotel): $150-200 per night. London hotel for one night: your choice, but $200-300 gets you something excellent. Trains or car rental: $100-150. Total per person, excluding flights: under $1,200 for a golf weekend that includes three courses most British golfers never play.

Compare that to a week in Scotland at $5,000-7,000 per person. The London golf weekend is the trip you take between the big trips — or the trip that convinces your wife that golf travel doesn't have to mean seven days apart.

Beyond Kent

If you have a fourth day, Rye Golf Club is 40 minutes from Sandwich and one of the most atmospheric courses in England. The town of Rye is medieval, perfectly preserved, and the kind of place you'll photograph obsessively. Or drive west to Surrey and play Sunningdale — heathland, not links, but possibly the most beautiful inland course in England.

The London gateway works for English golf the way Edinburgh works for East Lothian. You get the city and the golf without choosing between them.