Mention Skegness and you’ll always get some sort of reaction, whether a wry smile about this good old-fashioned British seaside resort, a mention of Butlin's or a reference to the famous early-20th-century ‘Skegness is so bracing’ GNR railway posters.
But for golfers, just a few miles south of town lies the top seaside offering in any 'best courses in Lincolnshire' ranking. Seacroft, a thoroughly deserving mainstay of our Next 100 courses list, plays over a sometimes slender links strip down to Gibraltar Point Nature Reserve, though the sea is rarely visible.
The 2nd hole’s narrow tiered green must be hard to find in any sort of crosswind, and I was humiliated by the steep drop-off right of the 3rd green that sits atop one of the dune ridges that frame many holes here.
Only a long accurate drive will open up the green tucked away to the right on the long 7th, while from the 8th tee there really doesn’t seem to be much fairway at all to aim at between the dune ridge on the left and the road down to Gibraltar Point on the right. Slicers must dread this hole in a left-to-right wind!
The run for home
You turn for home via the par-3 10th with its surprisingly long pulpit green, before a stretch that will prove testing all the way home if the wind is the wrong way, much as at Royal Cinque Ports in Kent. On the plus side, a number of back-nine fairways are gently valleyed to coax slightly wayward shots back into play.
The 13th is a cracker, playing from a slightly elevated tee down and over a dune ridge, before turning right and playing back up to a green perched on that ridge.
The exposed par-3 14th continues along the ridge, while at the 16th green, a giant appears to have taken a bite out of the front-right quarter, a mirror image of the 4th green at Royal St George’s almost next door to Cinque Ports.
Heading inland
For my second game, I ventured an hour west to Blankney near Lincoln, where the distinctive clubhouse caught my eye as did the sweeping uphill par-5 3rd, a genuine three-shotter for all but those who can conjure up the slinging hook with a long club.
The unusual crater left of the 6th fairway will catch your eye too, no doubt the result of a discarded bomb, with the first par 3 at the 7th a good one playing across a shallow dip to a steeply sloping, well-bunkered green.
The 9th is a brute of a par 4 into the wind, with the 11th boasting an attractive approach to a green with trees to the left and a drystone wall as the backdrop.
The 190-yard par-3 16th was then one of those holes that looked much longer when I first caught sight of its green, but actually played a little shorter, thus proving that… well, old people don’t have great eyesight, I suppose.
Finally, the 115-year-old James Braid course at North Shore in Skegness is part links, part parkland. The opener is a relatively gentle par 5 but standing on the 4th tee – the first true links hole – you see but a sliver of fairway.
The 5th along the beach is then a toughie, with a bank at driving distance all but ensuring a long approach to a perilously narrow target. There is then a blind or semi-blind element to every hole from 11 to 17 on the back nine, though sometimes concave greens may gather in the odd miscue.
For this trip, I actually stayed at Butlins as my wife’s work takes her there for a week every year. Mentioning the famous family resort chain on this website is definitely a first for me!
But they offer four-night breaks midweek and three-nighters over the weekend, and, with lots to do on site, it might just be the ideal base for a golfing group or if you’re trying to squeeze a game or two in on a short family break.
Seacroft
Par 71, 6,492 yards
GF: £70-£90wd, £85-£105we; Twilight: £50 (after 2.30pm)
Blankney
Par 72, 6,661 yards
GF: £20-£50
North Shore
Par 71, 6,216 yards
GF: £42 Sun-Fri, £47 Sat
(green fees correct at time of publication in June 2025)
Stay
Butlins Skegness Resort
Ingoldmells, Skegness PE25 1NJ
W: butlins.com
