For US Visitors · 2027 Planning
For US Visitors · 2027 Planning
If you've been thinking about a golf trip to England — and specifically to the links courses on England's east coast that most American golfers haven't discovered yet — 2027 is the year to stop thinking and start booking. Here's why, and why shoulder season might be the smartest decision you make about the trip.
Norfolk and Suffolk sit on England's east coast, two hours from London, and hold a concentration of links and heathland golf that rivals anything in the country — without the crowds or premium pricing of the famous Scottish names. Royal West Norfolk at Brancaster (World Top 100, tee times set by the tide), Hunstanton, Royal Cromer, and the Suffolk heathland classics at Aldeburgh and Thorpeness.
Word is spreading. American golfers who have played this coastline are telling other American golfers about it. The hotels we recommend — small, characterful properties that suit a serious golf traveller — are booking up earlier than they used to. For 2027, the prime summer dates are already under pressure. Which brings us to why shoulder season might be the better call.
Most American golfers planning a first England golf vacation default to June, July or August. Understandable — the weather feels safer, the days are long, and it fits naturally around work schedules. But here's what the regulars know that first-timers don't:
The courses are in peak condition after a full season of play. The summer visitors have gone. The light on the Norfolk coast in late September is extraordinary — low, golden, cross-lighting every bunker and ridge in a way that makes the photography almost unfair. Hotels drop from peak pricing without any drop in quality. Tee times at Royal West Norfolk and Hunstanton are easier to secure. This is when the course members choose to play, and that tells you everything.
Spring on the Norfolk coast means firm, fast fairways, long daylight hours, and visitor numbers that haven't yet hit their summer peak. A May morning at Royal Cromer — the sea visible from every hole, the course to yourself, a proper English breakfast waiting at the clubhouse — is one of those golf experiences that stays with you.
We'll be honest: these months aren't for everyone. The weather is genuinely unpredictable and we won't pretend otherwise. But for the American golfer who has played Bandon Dunes in the wind and rain and loved it, who wants the raw links experience without a single other tour group in sight, March and November in Norfolk offer something that peak season simply can't. Green fees are at their most accessible, hotels are genuinely welcoming of the business, and the courses on a bright winter's day are as good as they get anywhere.
This region is being discovered. The hotels we recommend — The Grove in Cromer, Titchwell Manor near Brancaster, The Hoste in Burnham Market — are small, characterful properties with limited rooms. They don't have the capacity of a resort hotel and they fill up. We are already taking 2027 enquiries and the peak summer months are under pressure.
The golf vacation you've been meaning to book has a better chance of being exactly what you imagined if you plan it now rather than when convenience dictates. The shoulder season dates are still open. The tee times at the courses you want are still available. That's the window you want to move in.
"The golfers who get here in the next two years will be the ones who got there before it became the next big thing. That window doesn't stay open forever."
We check accommodation availability at the properties we recommend, hold provisional tee times at Royal West Norfolk, Hunstanton and Royal Cromer, and come back to you within 24 hours with a clear picture of what's available for your preferred dates. We quote in USD. There's no obligation in that first conversation — but there's a real cost to leaving it until the dates you want are gone.
Tell us your preferred window, group size and which courses interest you. We'll respond within 24 hours — quoted in USD — with no obligation.
Start your enquiry