It has
no pretentions to be a 'first-class' course (for one thing, it is
too short), but in laying out the eighteen holes the ground has
been utilized to the best advantage, and the Royal and Ancient
game flourishes more at Knocke than at any other place in Belgium.
The owners of the soil and the hotel-keepers, with a keen eye to
business, and knowing that the golfing alone brings the English,
from whom they reap a golden harvest, to Knocke, do all in their
power to encourage the game, and it is quite possible that before
long other links may be established along the coast. The soil of
the strip behind the dunes is not so suitable for golf as the close
turf of St. Andrews, North Berwick, or Prestwick, for in many places
it consists of sand with a slight covering of moss; but with proper
treatment it could probably be improved and hardened. It is merely
a question of money, and money will certainly be forthcoming if
the Government, the communes, and the private owners once see that
this form of amusement will add to the popularity of the littoral.
A short mile's walk to the west of Knocke brings us to Duinbergen,
one of the newest of the Flemish _plages_, founded in the year
1901 by the Societe Anonyme de Duinbergen, a company in which some
members of the Royal Family are said to hold shares.
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