The Royal St George’s Golf Club has been ranked as the best course in the country for 2025 by a golfing magazine.

Based in Sandwich, the “quintessentially English” course triumphed over stiff competition to win the accolade.

It has hosted the Open Championship on 15 occasions, most recently in 2021, and dates back to 1887.

It became the first English venue to host the historic championship just seven years later.

Royal St George’s stands as a majestic gem on the Kent coastline, exuding timeless elegance and sporting excellence, according to National Club Golfer (NCG) magazine.

The setting provides a notable challenge for players keen to take on a course that's usually frequented by the professionals.

Chairman of the NCG Top 100s Rankings, Dan Murphy, said: “It’s English, idiosyncratic and plays by a set of rules that you probably don’t understand, unless you are local. I love it for all those things.

“It’s an endlessly fascinating golf course with some of the best green complexes I have ever seen. Some of the places they can put pins are out of this world.

“I just think it’s the most special place to play and, to me, I think it’s way better than anything else in the country and that it’s one of the easiest things we do is to name Royal St George’s as the No.1.

“As a golf course, it’s better for knowing and they are the best golf courses. I love what it does, I love that it’s rumpled and crumpled.

"I love that it has character. It’s hard and bony.

"It’s all about the angles of the wind, the dog-legs and the choices.”

Royal Cinque Ports GC in Deal also made the top 10 as it came seventh overall.

Visit https://www.national-clubgolfer.com/top100/golf-course/england for more on the Royal St George's GC and to view the full NCG Top 100 England List.