ONE of England’s oldest golf courses is under threat after hundreds of tonnes of rock crashed 150ft into the sea.
Golfers at the stunning Seaford Head course in East Sussex have been left playing just inches from a sheer cliff edge.
Seaford Head golf course is in danger after extreme weather has caused major safety risks Credit: Getty
Golfers travel from far and wide to tee off on the gorgeous links course Credit: Getty
While coastal erosion eats away at the 139-year-old links still hosts one of the most photographed 18th holes in Britain.
But now bosses are preparing to move the 17th green and famous 18th tee amid fears more of the course could disappear.
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Players are still teeing off around 300ft above sea level against the gorgeous backdrop of the Seven Sisters chalk cliffs.
But increasingly wild spells of wet and dry weather have caused chunks of the coastline to break away.
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Hundreds of tonnes of chalk recently collapsed onto the beach below – with no-one harmed – forcing the council-owned course to act.
Speaking to The Times, course manager Simon Lambert said: “Coastal erosion has been a big factor to consider for a number of years now here on Seaford Head.
“We have seen a number of smaller and some more significant cliff falls over time.
“It is something that is happening with ever increasing extremes of weather both wet and dry.
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Lambert, who has worked on the course for 26 years admitted: “I feel this will only continue, and we need to be proactively working towards managing the effects of what seems to be an unstoppable issue.”
But it has been several years of reviewing to gauge what needs to be altered on the course – and how.
The changes are also being planned to protect walkers using the new King Charles III England Coast Path, that runs alongside the course.
Golfer Jonathan Beech, 42, said: “Seaford is an iconic links golf course which is part of the heritage of the sport and it’s a huge move to relocate the 17th green and 18th tee.
“I think more needs to be done to protect its future and the future of other links courses around Britain, but that will cost a lot of money.”
All the while, the 17th green already sits within a 2,500-year-old Iron Age hill fort that itself is being swallowed by the sea.
In 2021, a major collapse at the fort saw Historic England put the whole site on their ‘Heritage at Risk’ register.
At the time Seaford Head was founded in 1887, the Eiffel Tower did not exist, Queen Victoria was celebrating her Golden Jubilee, and Sherlock Holmes’ name publishes in print.
But before the golf course, the land withstood plenty.
It was requisitioned by the military during the World War II before reopening in 1946.
Plans to reshape the course will now be put to members as well as South Downs National Park, Natural England and Historic England before the club seeks planning permission.
And it would not be the first famous East Sussex landmark forced to retreat from the crumbling coastline.
Belle Tout Lighthouse, around seven miles away, was shifted 17 metres inland in 1999 to stop it toppling over the edge – and is now run as a bed and breakfast.
