First-class transport connections enhance Kent’s position as the closest golf destination to London and continental Europe
(Canterbury, Kent - July 15, 2011) Kent, the closest Open Championship venue to London and host of this year's tournament, will offer visitors an even better travelling experience when they attend this week’s event.
The Garden of England - tucked away in the south-easterly corner of England - is set to welcome more than 200,000 visitors from across the world for the prestigious tournament at Royal St George’s Golf Club in Sandwich from July 14-17.
A string of new and improved rail, sea, air and road links will also act as The Open’s long-term legacy by ensuring routes into Kent are highly accessible to thousands more of visitors, from home and abroad, attracted to enjoy golf and leisure breaks in the months and years after the tournament - positioning Kent as one of Europe’s foremost golf destinations.
Kent offers golfers a choice of more than 100 courses to play. Royal St George’s is part of Kent’s ‘Regal Golf Coast’, which includes Royal Cinque Ports (venue of The Open Championship in 1909 and 1920), Prince’s (the Open venue in 1932), Littlestone (a Final Qualifying course for this year’s Open) and North Foreland.
Complementing this quintet are London Golf Club (a European Tour Destination and home of the 2009 European Open and where work will soon start on a five-star golf and spa hotel resort) plus Chart Hills (designed by Sir Nick Faldo and ranked 82nd in Golf World Magazine’s Top 100 Courses in the UK and Ireland).
Many of these venues can be enjoyed following the establishing of a strategic partnership between Visit Kent (www.visitkent.co.uk), Golfbreaks.com (Europe’s largest golf travel company) and Shepherd Neame (the renowned Kent-based brewer, pub and hotel operator).
Visitors journeying to Kent by train can now enjoy super-fast travel courtesy of HS1, the high-speed line that serves the Kent coast and which will also ferry passengers to the Olympic Park for the London Games in 2012.
For the Open an ‘Open Special’, operated by Southeastern, will take 50,000 golf fans directly to Sandwich from London’s St Pancras International in just 80 minutes - slashing previous journey times by 55 minutes - with services running half-hourly.
Visitors arriving from continental Europe to go by sea can now enjoy the memorable experience of sailing on the largest ferry ever to grace the Dover Strait - the new, state-of-the-art Spirit of Britain ‘super-ferry’ - which, from this autumn, will be joined by sister ship Spirit of France.
These 47,952-tonne ‘leviathans of the seas’ - which can carry 2,000 passengers and 1,000 cars - are operated by P&O Ferries and will offer travellers multiple return sailings to Dover from continental Europe.
Air travellers can jet straight into the Garden of England’s own international airport at Manston, situated just 20 minutes by road from Sandwich, courtesy of operator Flybe whose regular services include direct routes from Edinburgh and Belfast City. Allied to Manston are Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, all handily located close to London and Kent and served by excellent road and rail connections.
Complementing these services are the Channel Tunnel rail link to and from Continental Europe, and, for road users, recent improvements the M2 and M20 motorways - offering better than ever access to Kent.
Sandra Matthews-Marsh, Chief Executive of Visit Kent, said: “We are pleased visitors to Kent, the closest Open venue to both London and continental Europe, to watch the Open Championship will be able to reach their destinations quickly, safely and in comfort.
“In the months and years to come, we hope our visitors from both home and abroad will benefit from these same excellent travel connections to enjoy short and long golf and leisure breaks in Kent,many offered through our partnership with Golfbreaks.com and Shepherd Neame - helping establish the Garden of England as one of Europe’s foremost golf destinations.”
For more information about golf in Kent, visit www.visitkent.co.uk/golf. For details on high-speed train services to Sandwich visit www.southeasternrailways.co.uk, ferry crossings to and from Dover visit www.poferries.com and flights to Manston Airport visit www.manstonairport.com.
Image caption 1: Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport & the Olympics and MP for Faversham and Mid Kent (centre), Charles Horton, Southeastern Managing Director (left) and Mike Tate, Director of the R&A, organiser of The Open Championship, flag off the trial run of the high-speed rail service from St Pancras International in centralLondon. The service will ferry golf fans to Sandwich in Kent for the Open this week.
Image caption 2: Chart Hills Golf Club, set within gently undulating hills at Biddenden, is a UK Top 100 venue and one of more than 100 courses golfers can play while enjoying a break in Kent. Pictured is the 17th green.
