Royal Cinque Ports, Deal

In March 1949 a north-westerly gale blew at eighty miles an hour all night, and by morning the sea was through the shingle bank and standing on the links. Sir Guy Campbell and Henry Cotton had finished restoring the course three years before. The club was founded in 1892 and completed its eighteen in 1899, taking its name from the Cinque Ports, the medieval trading towns that held privileges from the crown. Two Opens had already been played here. J.H. Taylor won his fourth title in 1909 with 295, and George Duncan won in 1920 with 303. Deal is a final qualifying venue now, most recently in 2025.

The routing is the plainest kind: straight out along the shore, then straight back. Whatever wind helped on the way out is against you coming home, and the inward nine is where the course does its work. Four of the last seven holes are par fours of 450 yards or more; the third and fifth on the way out measure 566 and 600. Bernard Darwin described the golf here as straight-ahead and long-hitting, the fives many and the fours few. Gary Player has called the closing four the finest consecutive four holes anywhere. Four more Opens were awarded to Deal and never played there. War stopped 1915 and 1942; high tides sent 1938 and 1949 to Royal St George's. The championship has not been back.