Seacroft

The Lincolnshire coast has a character distinct from the better-known links regions of Lancashire and Norfolk. The landscape here is flat, wide and featureless in the way of a big sky country, and Seacroft sits within it as one of the few places on this long stretch of coastline where the land rises into natural dune formations capable of hosting great golf. The course makes full use of what is available: firm turf, natural rough, the constant presence of the North Sea wind, and a routing that demands patience and course management over aggression.

What makes Seacroft particularly appealing is the combination of genuine quality and genuine accessibility. This is not a course that requires an introduction or a waiting list. The open common land ethos and the club's attitude to visiting golfers mean that Seacroft is simply available, on most days, to anyone prepared to travel to Skegness and book a tee time. At a course of this standard, that accessibility is remarkable, and it places Seacroft in an unusual position among top-ranked English courses, most of which are either strictly private or heavily oversubscribed with visitor demand.

For golfers with an appetite to explore English links golf beyond the canonical names, Seacroft is precisely the kind of discovery that makes such exploration worthwhile. A county that rarely features in golf travel discussions turns out to contain a course of genuine national standing, played in a setting of elemental coastal wildness and welcomed with the easy warmth of a club that knows exactly what it has. Details on visiting can be found at seacroftgolfclub.co.uk.