Great Yarmouth & Caister - Norfolk - England

Interesting course and very hard to judge. I love the old fashioned-links courses and this is certainly one with some cracking holes but there are also a few weak ones.

As has been noted, the first hole is odd - crossing the racetrack twice on a bizarre short par 4. 2 and 3 are ok holes amongst the gorse bushes but the course gets going from hole 4. This is a great links hole - slight dogleg left with some nasty cross bunkers at the corner of the dogleg. The green is nestled in some low dunes and it’s a tough one to find. 5-10 are also great links holes (all surrounded by the gorse and dunes) before leaving the inside of the racetrack. 11 and 12 are great holes along the beach before heading back towards the clubhouse on the tricky 13th. 14 is another great par 3 where it is difficult to keep your ball on the green (the bunkers short meaning you daren’t underclub).

The final 4 holes are ok but not as good as some of the previous ones.

This is a great links course with a lot of history and there are some clear comparisons to Musselburgh Old. Yes the racecourse is a bit quirky, yes the conditioning isn’t perfect and yes, you do have quite a noisy and unsightly caravan park to contend with but this is worth playing if you enjoy good old fashioned links.

Really don't get or like the first hole but after that it is a superb course. Plenty of scary shots and a few easier holes to give you a chance. Take plenty of balls as there is gorse aplenty. It's a tough walk but also an enjoyable one. You'll get plenty of tricky lies which makes this a tough track to score well on even if you can steer clear of all the bunkers

Great Yarmouth & Caister was founded in 1882 making it the oldest golf club in Norfolk. It’s also one of the best.

Steeped in history The Club was adopted by members of Royal Blackheath Golf Club (England’s oldest club) who provided Captains, Officers, members and trophies.

The historical importance of the club doesn’t end there for Great Yarmouth & Caister is also the ‘Home of Bogey’.

This dates back to their 1890 Autumn Meeting when Dr Browne, a member of Coventry Golf Club, suggested the idea of playing a match under handicap against the number of shots a scratch golfer would take playing perfect golf.

Moving forward to the present day and “Caister Links” more than caters for the needs of the modern golfer, especially those who seek good quality links golf on an all-year round basis. Norfolk is rightly noted for its acclaimed courses in the North; Hunstanton, Brancaster and to a lesser extent Sheringham. However, it is certainly worth edging a little further around the coastline to sample this honest and traditional links.

Holes four through to 15 are of a particularly high standard and are played on pure linksland with tight, fast running sandy fairways lined by dabs of gorse. There is plenty of movement in the fairways over this stretch of holes as well as some superb green locations.

Before then the course makes an unusual start where one must duck under the barriers of the neighbouring and intertwining horse racecourse no less than two times on the opening hole! Your drive should easily clear the racetrack for the first time prior to playing over it again with your approach to the green. The majority of the front nine is laid out inside the track and this is where many of the best holes can be found.

Ed is the founder of Golf Empire – click the link to read his full review.

Having played GY&C two times now in contrasting times of the year, I am happy to say i'm fairly pleased with what I have encountered.

Speaking to other junior friends of mine I was not expecting much as they had said it wasn't a good course, however they were talking on looks rather than the holes of the course. Yes it's easy to write it off as a racecourse flows straight through, which is now GUR, and a caravan park close which I personally wouldn't know was there, but as far as a test of golf is concerned I was delighted.

Along with the history of the golf course, it's charming par 3's and well placed bunkers make it a hard course to play when the wind is blowing. However both times I played it, there was hardly a breath of wind! The greens in the summer time were very close in speed to Hunstanton at peak time and very good greens in the winter too considering it was late December!

My only negatives about the course is the racetrack which prevents people playing on the Yarmouth race days they have there. It's not the prettiest of things to happen to a golf course but you get used to it. There is however a very tough stretch of holes if you happen to be starting off the 9th tee which can ruin a round along with the delicate 18th.

It's a shame that Norfolk has so much quality in the links department already as Yarmouth is a pleasant one to play, just with the likes of Royal West Norfolk, Hunstanton, Cromer and Sheringham around too makes it very hard to compete with.

This is certainly links land but I found the whole aspect of this course as being quite weird. A racecourse runs right through the middle of the course and is undoubtedly the predominant feature. There is plenty of gorse and rough but the terrain is of necessity one of low mounds rather than high dunes so as not to spoil the view for the racing fraternity.

Whilst the 1st hole is a fairly short par four, it cuts across the racecourse at the turn so you have to negotiate it twice. The 4th is the first of the more difficult holes. A par four of 452 yards, the fairway narrows about a hundred and twenty yards from the green. A line of bunkers runs across the fairway and gorse is on either side.

The 7th is the only par three on the front nine and it is 191 yards in length with a two-tiered green that falls away on both sides. Eight is quite rightly index 1, a par four of 468 yards with fairway bunkers along the left and plenty of gorse on the right, near the green. Index 2, the 10th, is a good looking par four of 419 yards.

Fourteen is a lovely short hole of 161 yards. There are several clumps of gorse for a really poor tee shot, but the view of the green is dominated by two large bunkers with vertical sleepers. The par four 18th requires an extremely accurate drive. There are wet ditches and then trees close by on both sides forward of the tee. The drive must also clear the racetrack, the rails of which are classified as an immovable obstruction.

This review is an edited extract from Another Journey through the Links, which has been reproduced with David Worley’s kind permission. The author has exclusively rated for us every English course featured in his book. Another Journey through the Links is available for Australian buyers via www.golfbooks.com.au and through Amazon for buyers from other countries.

Fantastic links course. A very tough stretch holes 8 9 10 and the fantastic 11th hole form Caisters Amen corner. The key to the course are excellent four par 3s at 7, 12, 14 and 17 some of the best you will ever play. Score well here and you will generally have a great round. Not for the faint hearted the 18th tee shot is one that will scare you rigid. You will enjoy this place . As for the race course, imagine it is a river and keep out of it. This course never plays the same twice. I love it.

I'm a huge fan of this golf course. It divides opinion upon many people who have played it. Those looking for a 'pretty' golf course will hate the place. The racecourse is always in view (and play), and the adjacent caravan park is noisy and ugly. However, focus on the holes ahead of you, and there are some true links classics out there. This is not a coastal course, it is an out and out links. Hole 11 is the signature hole, and would not be out of place on many an Open venue. There are some blind shots, and some really tough golf holes. If you are the sort of player that loves the challenge of a windy links and can focus on what is in front of you and not around you, then you will enjoy Caister.

I really liked this club. Maybe it was because it is the first links I have played ?Either way, it "feels" like a proper golf course and some of the views are simply stunning. Rolling fairways with dents and bumps. The classic view back from the 14th (?) is text book links stuff with a nice view out to sea.Ignore the wind turbines, avoid the race course with careful course management and learn to use the wind to your favour and you will really enjoy this 130 year old piece of golfing history.BTW - 4.70 for the all-day breakfast, 2.40 for a pint of beer and happy Norfolk charm from the members free of charge - happy days !