Royal West Norfolk Golf Club: Course Review, Green Fees, Tee Times and Key Info

Royal West Norfolk Golf Club Key Information

Regularly cut off by the tide, Royal West Norfolk or Brancaster on the north-west Norfolk coast is unique in more ways than one. It also heads the Golf Monthly list of the best golf courses in Norfolk.

This rugged links is the perfect antidote to modern corporate golf - if you like your links golf old-school and ‘au naturel’, Brancaster will be right up your street. It has been a mainstay in the top two-thirds of our Top 100 Courses in the UK and Ireland rankings since day one.

Laid out in 1892 by Holcombe Ingleby, a prominent and popular politician, relatively little has changed in the intervening 121 years. Of course, the ‘naturalness’ of this spit of marshland twixt field and sea is part of its charm and appeal, with the par-5 8th and par-4 9th playing very differently at high tide when there’s water to cross on both.

Stepping out of the quirky old clubhouse, you cross a section of beach to reach the 1st tee. Out on the links, in the shelter of the low dunes, there’s a great feeling of tranquillity and this is a course where pure golfing escapism is possible.

Brancaster is an out-and-back links delivering an excellent test of seaside golf, with the prevailing wind helping on the way out and hurting on the run for home. It features prominently in our best links courses in England list.

You’ll encounter great variety and some uniquely memorable holes among the sleepered bunkers, elevated greens, salt marshes and sand dunes. The 3rd and 4th, with their sleepered bunkers and banks, stand out early on, while the blind drive on the 5th will leave you coming over the crest full of anticipation or trepidation depending on where you’ve hit it.

You’ll find the two toughest par 3s - the 6th and 15th - play a similar distance in broadly the same direction, so club one right and you’ll probably get the other one right too. It could be anything from an 8-iron to a 3-wood, mind you, and both greens will be pretty elusive into the wind.

It’s probably fair to say that Royal West Norfolk provides a golfing experience like no other. At just 6,478 yards, it’s only of modest length, but with the wind perpetually whipping in off the sea and the golfer always open to every element, you’ll need to have your wits about you to score well.

It’s also one of few courses, if not the only one, to offer a reduced rate for foursomes golf. How much demand there is for that, who knows! But it’s there if you want it.

What The Top 100 Panel Said

James Holland

A very enjoyable layout. The opening drive must be one of the most welcoming in golf. If you get 1st tee nerves, this is the place to visit! Some of the holes are slightly quirky but that just adds to the appeal. Despite there being variety in the holes, there is also consistency in quality. 

John Slater

The well-rehearsed eulogies about its charm and old fashioned values mask the fact that Brancaster has a really good golf course too. Most of the front nine is memorable, the back nine a bit less so, but you are mainly fighting the wind rather than memorising the holes. I love the place and it continues to cruise along just as it always has. It doesn’t re-invent itself or embrace change, but why should it? It’s quite good enough as it is.

Royal West Norfolk Golf Club location

Royal West Norfolk Golf Club Green Fees

Contact the secretary at Royal West Norfolk for details or to book

Royal West Norfolk Golf Club scorecard

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Best Courses Near Royal West Norfolk

HUNSTANTON
Hunstanton is a classic out-and-back links, with the holes largely played on either side of a sand dune ridge running down the middle of the layout. The conditioning of the course is always excellent and sand dunes are a real feature on most holes, as are the traditional pot bunkers.

SHERINGHAM
The best links golf courses don't have it all their own way when it comes to seaside golf. For some, the clifftop version has even more appeal on account of the elevated views it affords over our beautiful coastline. Sheringham boasts some memorable front-nine holes hugging the cliff edge, among them the long par-4 5th, which serves up spectacular vistas and a lengthy approach to a long bunkerless green.

Best Places To Stay Near Royal West Norfolk

Titchwell Manor, Titchwell -  Book now at Booking.com
Titchwell Manor is a Victorian farmhouse less than two miles from the club, which offers luxurious boutique accommodation. Each individually designed room has its own en suite bathroom with shower or bath and luxury toiletries, flatscreen TV and tea- and coffee-making facilities. Many have sea or garden views.

The Hoste, Burnham Market - Book now at Booking.com
Situated in the centre of Burnham Market, about five miles from the club and just two from Norfolk's sandy beaches, The Hoste boasts a private 20-seat cinema room, a gym and beauty treatment rooms. The uniquely designed accommodation lies across two individual properties. Many boast a free-standing bath, pretty terrace, or views over the village green.

Royal West Norfolk Gallery

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ROYAL WEST NORFOLK HISTORICAL TOP 100 RANKING UK&I

• 2023/24 - 63
• 2021/22 - 60
• 2019/20 - 54
• 2017/18 - 47
• 2015/16 - 47
• 2013/14 - 45
• 2011/12 - 44
• 2009/10 - 44

Frequently Asked Questions