Prince's

Course name: Prince's Golf Club

Location: Sandwich Bay, Kent, UK
Four Word Course Review: Slightly hot and cold

I played all 27 at Prince's today. It was a good day for links golf, with a gentle northerly/nor-wester gathering pace as the day wore on.

All in all, I think there are some great holes at Prince's - Dunes 1, 5, 6 and 8; Shore 3, 5, 6 and 9; Himalayas 2, 4, 7. I didn't much like the Himalayas, sort of a mix of characters that didn't feel like it gelled.

Pity too that the post-war reconstruction that saw the original "Himalaya" bunkers ignored has not been amended.

By shifting the 8th to a dogleg right, the 9th could play from the 8th green site over those bunkers in the dune, kinking left to allow the current approach angle into the existing green.

It would be an exciting hole that would help to earn the course some attention, in my opinion.

I really enjoyed the Dunes and Shore nines, and thought the bunkering was a bit all over the shop - plenty of them in places that just were not in play and other areas that are screaming for a trap. That one factor if improved would make a HUGE difference!

The playing surfaces were top notch, though it scared me a bit that my playing partner, a member, pointed out that in summer a lot of balls are lost just a metre or so off the fairway as the rough grows and creeps in! I thought the level of difficulty/punishment today was fair. I think I could get very frustrated playing it in summer.

I'd be interested in seeing Dunes/Shore again, played back to back as an 18 hole course.

Royal Cinque Ports

The undulating 1st green, with its fronting burn, gives the opening hole its teeth

The punchbowl green on the par five 3rd, which calls for a long approach to use the front and side slopes to access the day's pin position

Looking back down the 3rd in mid summer - the rough burnt off nicely to create links golf heaven

The heavily-bunkered par four 7th has one of the best greens on the course, with slopes galore that can be used to work the ball toward the hole, or feed it away from the green

The shallow, bowl-shaped 17th green

Course name: Royal Cinque Ports
Location: Deal, Kent
Four Word Course Review: Options and dramatic movement

Some people say Royal Cinque Ports is flat and not especially pretty.

The dunes flanking the holes aren't towering and the views of the sea are limited, but the amount of undulation is perfect for links golf:  the movement of the land is like a lumpy ocean bobbing up and down, making for great blind or semi-blind tee shots at the 5th, 13th, 15th and 17th and all-world blind approaches to the 3rd and 15th.

Those same sharp undulations, heaving and dropping up to 10 feet in a matter of metres, make for a number of incredible greensites, where the drama of the land makes bunkers unnecessary. Eight of Deal's green's are bunkerless, yet the fun, challenge and variety are unsurpassed in links golf.

The bunkering that there is - and the number of traps was just 66 at last count (though such things are always in flux when the R&A is involved!) - is masterful. The placement marries perfectly with the flow of the land, with closely-mown swales guiding balls in from as far as 10m away if they land in the wrong area.

Wide fairways mean you can hit driver and, if struck and placed well, reap the rewards. If not, you will be on a slow train to a bogey. Very few lost balls, but you will die a slow death at the greens through being out of position - a death you are forced to concede you brought on yourself.

The three-shot 3rd and 16th holes are reachable in two shots for many, but thanks to one green in a severe punchbowl and another teetering atop a wild dune, both see more bogeys than birdies. Each provides a solid argument that bunkers really are only necessary when the land is lacking.

Likewise the first of the par threes, the 4th, measures just 150 yards, but an angled green surrounded by runoffs of varying severity demands precision.

Perhaps the standout hole at Deal is the bunkerless, driveable par four 6th. The direct line to the green is just 287 yards from the plates and less than 250 from the members' tee, but the green sits about 20 feet above the valley fairway, steep slopes on three sites and the beach behind it. Depending on the pin position and the wind, the ideal driving area changes significantly, but regardless of those factors, it's hard to resist taking dead aim at the green.

The closing stretch of 12-18 is played south, into what has traditionally been the prevailing wind, though it seems to blow just as often now off the ocean. It has a reputation for being a killer, and considering that from the 11th to 18th are six par fours measuring between 397 yards and 457 yards, a 222-yard par three and a 507-yard par five, that is probably fair.

Within that stretch are a number of memorable features: the halfpipe 12th green, blind front-to-back 15th green, all the aforementioned attractions of the 16th, nervous wedge approach to the shallow, heaving 17th green and testing home hole.

Deal hosted two British Opens - in 1909 and 1920 - and would have hosted another couple in 1938 and 1949 were it not for flooding from the sea. A sea wall has since been built to stop that happening again, and is being utilised for several tees.

It has been named as the host of the 2013 Amateur Championship and talk is getting louder of The Open eventually returning, with work ongoing to strengthen several holes.

To top it off, the clubhouse is homely and comfortable, a wash of dark timbers, leather couches, cold beers and a warm atmosphere. And not bad to have the names Douglas Grant (designer of Pebble Beach) and Bernard Darwin (noted golf writer) on the honour board.

Mitcham

The 5th was mong the better holes, with a rolling fairway and interesting green

Course name: Mitcham Golf Club
Location: Mitcham, Surrey, UK
Four Word Course Review: Same hole eight times

This course promised it was an "inland links". Well 10 miles from Central London there is one thing this certainly isn't, and that's linksland! Despite that, the rolling fairways offered very few flat lies, while with subtle elevation changes, some steep rises and tussocked "dunes", I can see how they're trying to draw the longest bow they possibly can and compare it to a links.

Certainly it calls for and rewards imaginative shotmaking. The 5th was arguably the best hole, along with 17. Both called for a long, accurate drive to an uneven fairway, then a mid iron to a green atop a ridge.

But that touches on what I didn't like. To mildly varying extents, so did the 1st, 2nd, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th, which were all within 20 yards of each other in length. Given that a couple of those holes have crossovers with other fairways, I can't see why they haven't shortened a few par fours to eliminate the crossovers and create some variation in the course.

The 18th, a 200-yard par 3 across a gorge to a green with a steep fall-off to the right and OOB left was a great way to finish. The highlight of the day was my mate Leigh holing his approach at the 9th for an eagle.

Would I head back? Yes, it's a decent enough course to have 10 minutes from home for a lazy hit now and then, but I wouldn't recommend you head out of your way to sample the delights.