The Ultimate Golf Marathon: Inside the Grueling Magic of The Hagen 54

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After 45,000 steps and what felt like nearly as many golf swings, the Guinness could not have tasted any better.

That glorious pint at Prince’s Golf Club bar marked just the second time I had sat down since teeing off 13 hours earlier at 5:45 a.m. in the second annual Hagen 54.

Forty holes into this one-of-a-kind golf marathon across three Open Championship links courses, I made the mistake of resting on a bench. If I’d listened to my ailing back at the time, I’d likely still be on that bench. But the spirit in our foursome that day, and the overall energy of this insane event was more than enough to push us across the finish line, and into the pub.

The Hagen 54 takes golfers on a one-day epic links journey across Prince’s, Royal St. George’s and Royal Cinque Ports.

The modern event was the brainchild of Royal Cinque Ports Secretary and Club Manager James Leah, but the origin story is more than a century old and the central character is Walter Hagen, one of the most colourful characters in golf history.

The American Hagen travelled by boat to play in the 1920 Open Championship at Cinque Port. In the run-up to that tournament, and having never played links golf, Hagen competed in some exhibition matches before one morning teeing off at Cinque Ports with fellow professional Jim Barnes.

“Anyone who knows the coastal links in Kent, south-east of London, will remember there are three links, adjoining each other,” the 11-time major champion wrote in his autobiography, The Walter Hagen Story.

“Jim Barnes and I started one morning to play the three links as if they were one,” he said. “After playing eleven holes on the Deal (Royal Cinque Ports) course, we hopped a fence over to Sandwich (Royal St. George’s) and played ten holes there, crossed to Prince’s links and completed all the holes there, coming back to the original starting place. We finished the remainder of the holes on the Sandwich and Deal layouts, ending up on the eighteenth at Deal.”

Who’s keeping score?

The Hagen 54 follows this bold and adventurous path, but even more importantly it embraces Hagen’s child-like wonder for the day.

“Scores? I’ve forgotten,” he wrote. “We weren’t trying to break any records. We were just lucky to go that far. We did it for fun.”

According to Cinque Ports Club Manager Leah, that description of ‘doing it for fun’ is the mantra for The Hagen 54, and is the main reason there is no formal competition as part of the event.

The day itself is the win. When I mentioned to a friend that I was playing (and walking and carrying) 54 holes in a day, he said, “I truly wish I still loved golf as much as you.”

His point was well-taken, and one thing that is a guarantee at The Hagen 54 is that you, as a certified golf sicko, will be among your people.

Most life-long golfers’ fondest memories of the game come from childhood; from long afternoons getting into and out of trouble with friends during seemingly endless summers.

To find yourself back on one of those adventures as an adult is all anyone can ask for, and even with the bucket-list material of playing three Open Championship venues in one day, it’s that invisible magic that is at the heart of The Hagen 54.

The three courses undoubtedly live up to their championship billing, and the event for many will be an introduction to an under-appreciated corner of an increasingly over-crowded golf world. With London less than two hours away by train, it’s easy to imagine a vacation for golfers and non-golfers alike that will allow travellers to experience Britain’s rich history while having convenient access to three Open Championship links.

Three legendary courses with rich history

Royal St. George’s is a legendary links test that has hosted the Open Championship 15 times, most recently won by Collin Morikawa in 2021. After playing the course and facing its incredibly demanding approach shots, it is no surprise that Morikawa — one of the world’s best ball-strikers — won there. The immaculate course blends seamlessly into its surroundings. You could be forgiven for, at times, having a hard time finding the golf course through the windswept grasses and sand dunes.

Royal Cinque Ports hosted the Open in 1909 and 1920 and these days it is regularly used as a final qualifying site for the championship. Its dramatic closing stretch was the most memorable stretch of holes during an unforgettable day. The severe undulation and creativity of the greens is unique for links land.

Prince’s hosted the 1932 Open won by Gene Sarazen. The American used his newly invented sand wedge to win his only Open Championship.

Prince’s 27-hole layout is the only one that features onsite accommodations for guests, and the lodge was our home for a few days and is highly recommended for a trip to the area. Prince’s is the most playable course of the Hagen 54 trio and with fewer blind shots and more forgiving greens, it was a welcome reprieve.

With Prince’s set to host the 2030 Walker Cup, the club has recently unveiled a new 18-hole composite course named The Laddie, created from the club’s three nines: The Himalayas, Shore and Dunes. At 7,400 yards and par 71, The Laddie will serve as the dedicated championship course for events at Prince’s.

The composite course is named after P.B. “Laddie” Lucas, who was born in the Prince’s clubhouse and became one of Britain’s best amateur golfers before joining the RAF and becoming a decorated flying ace, commanding Spitfire squadrons in the war. After sustaining severe damage to his plane over France, Lucas navigated his way home and famously crash-landed just out of bounds on the golf course he grew up at. He would later joke that he still couldn’t hit the ninth fairway. A replica propeller marks the spot of his landing, and the propeller is featured in the new logo of The Laddie composite course.

World War II craters

There is plenty of WWII history to be found across these great courses, from Prince’s being blasted into near-ruins during the war by British artillery practice, to huge craters still visible at Royal St. George’s from German bombers dropping ordnance on the course to save fuel for the flight home.

It doesn’t take long to be captivated by the history and charmed by the villages in these parts, and with the Hagen 54 the golf clubs have officially tied their courses and the region together to showcase a destination that should be on more golfers’ radars.

During a stroll from Royal St. George’s to the town of Sandwich, along one of the thousands of foot trails that make up the English countryside, I was reminded how important it is not to over-schedule a good golf trip.

When North American golfers make the journey overseas, the instinct is to tackle everything at once, to hit as many famous courses as you can manage to get on. Oftentimes, the result is a lot of driving and a dizzying pace to a trip that has you playing incredible golf courses without really experiencing any one place.

Once I arrived in Sandwich, I saw a picture-perfect medieval town complete with 12th century churches, a 14th century toll bridge, a stunning beer garden along the river, and a pub that is four times older than Canada.

Truth be told, golf trips and sightseeing tours are generally mutually exclusive. There’s been plenty of trips taken to places with rich histories only to see very little other than fairways and pubs. But with a little time to breathe in southeast Kent, the history finds you.

Hagen and Barnes walked out their door that fateful morning open to an adventure, and they found one. A century later, following their footsteps led to another.

The 2027 Hagen 54 is sold out, but golfers can add their names to the 2028 waitlist.

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