Founded in 1888, Littlestone Golf Club is awash with history, legacy and tradition but one of Kent’s most established clubs with one of England’s finest championship links is determined not to be lost in a time warp.
To this end, the club has recently employed a business consultant and made two new appointments to the management team that will ensure that Littlestone develops a strong commercial strategy for 2015 so that the club is run as a viable business as well as a members’ club that welcomes both local and international visitors.
Sarah Saunders, formally of Chart Hills, has joined as Sales & Marketing Manager whilst Adrian Simmonds has come from The Buckinghamshire Golf Club as the new Food & Beverage Manager.
“Speaking on behalf of Adrian and myself, we are extremely excited about our futures and that of the club. The membership and board of Directors have made intelligent and proactive decisions about the club’s future and we are determined that Littlestone will thrive as a club and that its Championship Links course will continue to be high on all golfers’ “must-play” list,” says Sarah.
“Thanks to our temperate climate and greens staff, the course is always in immaculate condition and from here on in, we want to ensure that all visitors leave feeling their whole experience is one they would want to repeat.”
Set between Romney Marsh and the English Channel, the championship links of Littlestone is laid out on naturally undulating land within its own range of sand dunes. This stretch of east Kent coastline enjoys a unique microclimate making it one of the driest places in England.
The course today reflects design input by a host of great course architects. Originally laid out by Laidlaw Purves, the course was tweaked by James Braid at the turn of the 20th century and then modernised in the 1920s by Alister MacKenzie. Following the WWII, Frank Pennink made a number of bunker modifications whilst Donald Steel and Peter Alliss advised on minor changes in 2000.
Throughout its long and distinguished history, the course has hosted many major amateur championships and was chosen as a Final Qualifying Course for The Open Championship 2011. Littlestone is highly regarded by links lovers and is seen as one of the little gems of golf in Kent.
Alongside the championship links sits the Littlestone Warren course which provides a beautifully presented, slightly shorter 18 holes ideal for those starting out in golf or for those that find the championship layout a little too long. Both courses share the same land and are managed by the same course manager and greens keeping team.
“One of the most important things I shall be working on in the next few months is to ensure that everyone knows that Littlestone welcomes visitors and societies alike as well as having a really strong membership. It really is a very special piece of England, down here on the Romney Marsh. It can be quite wild and untamed but the light and space make it quite exceptional,” concludes Sarah.
Littlestone is a member of the Visit Kent Golf Partners Programme that promotes golf in Kent to golfers nationally and internationally as a golfer’s paradise in the Garden of England. In addition to offering a host of fantastic links and inland golf courses, Kent is well located for visitors arriving at the international airports of London as well as the port of Dover, Eurostar and Eurotunnel and boasts a wide variety of off-course activities and attractions.
For more about Littlestone, go to www.littlestonegolfclub.org.uk and for other Kent courses, go to www.golfinkent.co.uk