Located eighty miles to the southeast of London, on the south coast of England, you will find Rye Golf Club. The original layout was designed by a local barrister who became the clubs first Captain, one Harry S. Colt who went on from Rye to have a fairly distinguished career in golf course design! The club great quickly in the early days and the extension of the tramway from nearby Golf Links Station helped its growth. By 1907 the course made use of the receding sea by acquiring sandhills to its southern end of the course and extending outwards. Despite the onset of the First World War, Rye wasn’t significantly impacted and for the best part golf continued. However, the Second World War saw substantial sea defenses built along the golf course and a stray bomb significantly damaged the course in 1944.
Rye upholds its and the traditions of the game steadfastly. The preferred method of play is foursomes, but two ball form is permitted. No golf at Rye is played in three or fourballs. The traditions adhered to at Rye extend to the care of the links. Little or no fertilizer is used on the golf course and irrigation an absolute rarity. As a result, you tend to play year-round on some of the crispest turfs that you will find anywhere and putt on some of the best fescue greens anywhere in the UK & Ireland.
The one constant at Rye Golf Club, literally, is the wind that is generated off the Channel. It blows straight across all but one or two of the eighteen holes at Rye, having a significant impact on your shot-making. The opening hole is a par 5 and the only par five on the golf course and a genuine birdie opportunity if you start well! The round gets going on the 4th a devilishly difficult driving hole and the 5th an extremely challenging par three which at 171yards demands considerable skill to find the putting surface.
The stand-out holes rear their head towards the end of your round, beginning with the 13th. A quirky par four with your second played blind to the green across the dune ridge is very old school, and undoubtedly memorable. The 15th & 16th are two solid par four holes with the weakest of the final run, the short par three 17th. However, the 18th is a very strong finishing hole and demands absolute precision with your driver. Avoiding the penal rough down the right side is key, but conversely, anything tugged to the left won’t end well. The green complex on the 18th is one of the toughest of them all, and with the clubhouse immediately adjacent, all eyes will be upon you to see if you can make that elusive par.
Rye Golf Club is possibly one of the toughest par 68’s that you will find anywhere. Rye epitomizes the traditions of the game and is as far away from the modern world of commercial golf as you will find. Let the Consummate Pro bring you to this part of the English coastline to enjoy what can only be described as a unique golf experience.
