Welcome to UK-GolfGuide's page which contains feedback from site users who have played at Rye Golf Club.

Whilst UK-GolfGuide.com attempts to turf out the more unhelpful or just plain daft contributions, some may slip through. If you have played the course or hold a different opinion to those of the contributors, feel free to use the Add your Comments icon to provide a broader spread of views. If you have a gripe with the club then take it up with them directly - please don't use this facility for airing grievances!.

If you have played this course and would like to add your comments then feel free to Add a Report.

Richard Marker (USA) 14/08/04

RYE GOLF CLUB IS ONE OF THE FINEST COURSE'S I HAVE PLAYED. I HAVE BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH TO PLAY OVER 60 OF THE TOP 100 IN THE WORLD AND 65 IN THE USA AND RYE IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE COURSE. THE HISTORY OF RYE IS GREAT, AND THEY WERE EXCEPTIONALY FRIENDLY.IT HAS BEEN 10 YEAR SINCE I HAVE PLYED THERE AND I CAN REMEBER IT AS IT WERE YESTERDAY. I HOPE ONE DAY TO PLAY IT AGAIN AND OF YOU GET THE CHANCE TO PLAY IT DON'T PASS IT UP.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jon Anniss (England) 01/06/04

The Old Course at Rye is the most challenging course I have ever played. I was lucky enough to play in perfect conditions(without any wind!) and to play really well (for me) (hcp 9). I was absolutely delighted with a +15 score! The par 4s are truly the best test you will ever have - very long, blind, doglegs, etc. The par 3s are of the best quality - you need pinpoint accuracy and touch to hit and hold the greens.

The putting surfaces are better than any I have played anywhere. Absolutely true, perfect and as fast as Augusta - and I'm not kidding!

Rye is genuinely the ultimate test of skill. If you are fortunate enough to be invited to play - acccept immediately - it will be an experience you will never forget and the hardest golf you'll play.

Åke Appelgren (Sweden) 21/10/03

I had the opportunity to play this oldfashioned linkscourse in Oct 2003. Though it might semm easy and the par is 68 I must admit it is one of the hardest courses I've played, mainly depending on the difficulties in hitting the right spot for the next shot.

There are no magnificent views at Rye, there are no breathtaking dunes at Rye - but each hole has its own charm and each hole is testing Your ability to play in sidewind, downwind and upwind.

I love the course and would not hesitate if I ever had the chance to play it again. Scoring was of no interest that day but each shot was interesting.

Staff was friendly and the things kept in Men's bar bore the air of golfhistory.

'Young P' (England) 13/04/03

To play at Rye is to almost step back in time. Firstly, there’s the clubhouse: understated from the outside, oozing history and tradition inside, mandatory jacket and tie, upper crust membership and fantastic food.

That’s before you’ve even got to the course, which is equally (and delightfully) unpervaded by modern trends. Foursomes and twoballs are played here. There’s a single Par 5, and a short one at that, and five Par 3s to produce a total Par of 68. Nine of the Par 4s are over 400 yards – no wonder Rye has a reputation for being one of the hardest places to play to your handicap.

The sixth is the most impossible Par 4 I’ve ever seen. At 468 yards, none of which is remotely downhill, you need to absolutely nail a blind drive and then at least a 5 wood to get anywhere near a green that is viciously guarded by bunkers. If the wind is anything other than calm or assisting (unlikely), it’s virtually unreachable in two.

The most challenging of the other Par 4s are the 411-yard fourth, routed along the top of a line of dunes where even a vaguely loose drive on either side has had it; the 430-yard thirteenth, with a long, completely blind approach to a bunkerless green; and the demanding 439-yard 18th, a fitting finale to the round.

The collective reputation of Rye’s Par 3s stands among the best in the country. Personally, I wouldn’t quite rate them that highly but the pick of the bunch is definitely the famed 159-yard 7th – anything not on the green is seriously punished.

Needless to say, the greens as a whole are lightning fast – you barely have to look at the ball and it goes flying. There are some quirky elements here as well, particularly a big lake on the 11th - when did you last see one of those on a links course?

Rye doesn’t have the isolated beauty of some other links courses and it’s a shame there’s a road adjacent to 1, 2 and 3.

Nevertheless, as far as I’m concerned, you can stick the vast majority of your pretentious, 7,000+ yard, American-style target-golf country clubs - blighted by 5-hour rounds and riddled with water features, tarmac buggy paths and every other artificial embellishment you can think of - back where they came from.

For those who are lucky enough to play at Rye (you have to know a member), it’s a beautiful reminder of how golf was meant to be played.

8.75/10

‘Young P.’

Bernard Carter (UK) 13/05/01

This is a great course. I have been lucky enough to play on two occasions. OK, so I spent most of my time in horrendous rough ! - but, if you can hit straight then the true links fairways are so tight you could almost putt the ball 100 yards ! - and then you have the greens ... I have played over 50 courses in the UK and several in the US ( a couple of USPGA venues too)and the greens at Rye are teh best I played - fast, true and always a challenge. If you can get an invite to play it is well woth it !