Grand, excellent and unashamedly Belgian.

If restricted to very few words, those are the ones I would choose when describing the visuals and the conditioning of the course and the atmosphere of the club as we found it during our visit in mid-May.

After getting lost among road closures in the very genteel surrounding area, we arrived just in time for our tee-off time. We decided to play the club's 9-hole course as an appetizer before lunch and the main 18-holer in the afternoon. On reflection, I think we made a virtue of necessity as the club could only accommodate us in the afternoon, but having tried and failed to get on four top Dutch clubs on the same date we were very grateful guests and I would actually now voluntarily do the same thing for my next visit.

My playing companions soon forgot about that missed session on the driving range as the joy of playing without anyone behind or in front made us fully appreciate the landscape where the courses are laid out. "Grand" is the word I finally landed on.

Whereas the 9-holer was a bit rough and ready in places; the manager explained that they had relocated the 1st green recently to accommodate longer clubs on the driving range, the main 18-hole course had no equals when it came to conditioning among the other top Belgian courses we played during this trip (Limburg, Koksijde, Ostend and Zoute). In fact, Royal Antwerp can easily compete with the better Surrey heathland courses both in terms of design and presentation and Limburg and Zoute would be well advised to follow their example in removing trees, opening up playing angles and I am sure the quality of their courses would likely improve accordingly.

If I should be ever so slightly critical on one design point, it is perhaps the overenthusiastic use of bunkers on both sides to pinch fairways. A quick flick through the course planner shows this to be the case on no fewer than half of the par4s and 5s, the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 11th, 14th, 15th and 17th. Maybe this is exactly what Simpson designed, but it is still a bit too often in my book.

Finally, as a few reviewers have remarked before me, this place makes no excuses for being Belgian. Not only the completely relaxed mix of French, Dutch and English among staff and membership but also a low-key mix of informality and elegance. This club knows its course is very good and that they have made it a lot better in recent years, but neither needs to shout about it from the rooftops or go ultra-exclusive by shutting its doors to visitors.

Long may that continue, highly recommended.