Yes, the 4th at Sandwich has to be a top contender for best hole on the Kent coast. I think where Sandwich does falter is in its one-shotters. They are not a bad lot, but the club could have done with Colt having something to say about them. I think Sandwich is probably harder on balance, but this isn't necessarily a positive attribute. For me, its usually the championship qualities of a course which drag it down. Often times quirk eliminated and Sandwich has gone through a long process of reducing quirk. Besides, for handicap play, Deal can play plenty tough - its more than enough to handle for likes me. Deal has a much homier feel, but for its hominess it also suffers for views which Sandwich has a bit of. To me, the thing which really separates Deal and Sandwich are the routings. Its sounds like a small matter, but I believe it to make Sandwich clerlay the better course. Deal is greatly hampered by its out n back routing. I know there is precious little else that could have been done, but that merely means the site isn't the class of Sandwich, but at least many of the holes try to make up a bit of ground with true old fashioned humpty bumpty ground. Finally, I think Deal is a good enough a course that it would make up all the ground for me on Sandwich if they stopped trying to price themselves with the big boys. If the green fee were more reasonable I would be glad to pay it, but at £110 Deal is overs-stepping the mark - a disease which drives me away from clubs quicker than I can smoke a Cuban.
Ciao