With the English Channel as a backdrop we head for Belgium’s only links course. King Leopald, at the end of the 1800s, wanted to attract English tourists and hired Seymour Dunn to design Royal Ostend. The course is immersed in history. Twice the club house has burnt to the ground and the course has been the stage for two world wars. Today’s infrastructure has split the course into four parts with the help of motorways and the railway. It is blowing hard from the Channel and we struggle out into the welcoming marsh landscape that comes to an end with a well-placed burn in front of the 4th hole. We wait for the green light and walk out onto wonderful links surroundings. From the 5th to the 10th hole our classic need for links golf is fulfilled. On the 6th – a quite wonderful par 3 that poses typical links problems. The 7th – a par 5 – with ships in the English Channel visible from the tee.
After the 7th green we climb highest up the sand dunes to the rear in order to get to the 8th tee. A par 3 with a view over to the British Isles. Impressive. The 9th and 10th – long par 4s – put us to the test. Once again we cross over roads and railway tracks to reach another four wonderful holes among the sand dunes. Two par 3s, one par 4 and a par 5. All, except the par 3 13th, are a little shorter and simpler than earlier holes. We get the opportunity to breathe out. The wind has made itself felt.
The course’s last quadrant is back in marshland. Some trees offer shelter round the fairways and the wind has completely disappeared on the 15th and 16th. Then we are thrown out into the gusty wind to finish on the wonderfully difficult 18th hole. The only real links course in the country. The King of Belgium.
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