Seaford

The Club, not to be confused with nearby Seaford Head Golf Club, moved to its present site at Blatchington in 1907 two decades after its formation.

Panoramas of the glorious Sussex Downs, including the Rathfinny Wine Estate, on one side and out towards the English Channel on the other greet you at all turns.

The rapid drainage of water through the underlying chalk ensures that the course is rarely closed for play and presents an enjoyable challenge of firm fairways and greens. It should be noted that the putting surfaces were absolutely superb towards the end of October when I visited whilst holidaying in the area.

The firm ground conditions ensured plenty of the run on the ball too and provided different options when approaching the greens, many of which are severely tilted and where being above the hole is far from desirable. The putting surfaces are one of the highlights of playing here.

There is just one par-five to offset the four par-threes at this par-69, 6549-yard layout which as you can expect from the numbers is a fairly stern test.

J H Taylor is the man responsible for the design of the course and it has undoubtedly stood the test of time. Aside from one major revision to the layout in 1911 it has otherwise remained unchanged apart from the usual additional lengthening of some holes and modifications to bunkers.

There is plenty of width to the course and it is very playable although gorse does creep in on some holes if you are wayward.

A number of the longer holes bend one way or another whilst the 6th and 7th make good use of a deep ravine which, although playable from, is so deep and steep that extracting your ball from it is not a given.

The set of short holes are very impressive and perhaps enjoy the best green complexes on the property. The fall-away nature of the 3rd is an early highlight whilst the aforementioned ravine in close proximity to the 7th adds an element of danger. The pushed up 12th is not an easy target to find and neither is the sloping green at the 15th but this is mainly due to the 221-yards that it plays!

Seaford is a very popular members club but equally welcomes visitors. If holidaying in Hastings, Eastbourne, Brighton or indeed anywhere along this stretch of coastline in the South of England it’s a golf course worthy of seeking out to play.