This is England's best course and one of the world's best links.

"First nine holes, tremendous fun-not very good golf. Second nine holes-tremendous golf-not fun at all"-Walter Hagen

I don't think that I can completely agree with the Haig but he did play the course before many of the alterations that are in place now. I will say that the first 12 holes play through dune land and are a lot of fun; however, you still need to have your ball in control or it could be no fun at all. The stretch from 1-7 is all world. The stretch from 13-18 is not in big dunes but is a strategic masterclass and also quite a challenge. I am a high single digit handicap but found this stretch to be exhilarating vs punishing. The challenge was there but recovery was still possible. There really aren't any "weak" holes on this course just weaker compared to the outstanding ones. If you judge a course by a lack of weak holes or by how many great holes there are, then Sandwich would be top 25 in the world by either measure.

Royal St. George's has the best green sites/surrounds in England. Approaches from sides of fairways become imperative to scoring and misses in the correct spot makes recovery possible or borderline impossible if you miss on the wrong side. There is a great amount of variety in green shapes so pitching/aerial or putting can be options which to me is great fun. It is not an out/back links as it changes directions every few holes so winds can be crosswinds which add to the strategy. You will tee off in seemingly every direction on a compass. The par 3s are a great set. They vary in direction, length and shot needed to put yourself in position A and avoid trouble.

This is links golf so you will get wavy fairways and not a flat lie that often. Shot making becomes necessary. The angles/slopes in the green vary too and there are false fronts but not an endless amount of them. There is also the whole "Lap of the Gods' feeling that you get watching your ball land and use the ground-probably the reason why most pros don't like this venue. MacKenzie wrote that golf in the name of fairness is bad golf so I will side with him vs the pros. If there is a negative, to me, it is that the rough is thick and tall. If you miss a fairway-good luck finding your ball if it is more that a yard or two off the fairway. (The same could be said of Portrush) The good news is that most of the fairways are quite wide.

The positives far outweigh the negatives at Sandwich. The opening 10 holes are as fun as strategic golf can be. The last 5 holes are the difference between difficult golf without hope of recovery and difficult golf with hope of recovery. I think that if you live outside of the UK and are travelling to England, then Royal St. George's is a must. It's place as the top of England and one of the tops of the world was confirmed by my multiple visits.