Thursday 13 September 2007

A long weekend on the Wirral

The days and weeks running up to the August bank holiday, I eagerly anticipate what signifies the commencement of my annual golf tour. As I make the drive up the M6 towards the North-West of England I know that I am returning to what is for me, the mecca of links golf, England's "Golf Coast". The Wirral, the Liverpudlian part, means one thing to me, the Hoylake Mixed Foursomes Tournament, hosted by Royal Liverpool GC. Not only is the most competitive and illustrous mixed tournament on the amateur cicuit, the quality of the course and hospitality set it apart from anything elase that I've ever attended. Players have courtesy of the championship links on the friday for practice, after which there is a compulsory "meet and greet" by the captain and his tournament committee in the clubhouse. The interior of the new house is a vision, fantastically re-designed and refurbished for The 2006 Open. You are constantly reminded of all the tournaments that the club has hosted, with paintings of golfing legends and antic memorabilia lining every room and corridor. There is a massive board in the main foyer, with naming all the major tournaments and winners at the Royal Liverpool. It joins an elite group of courses which can boast having hosted The Amateur Championship, The English Amateur Championship, The Walker Cup, The Curtis Cup and The Open Championship. After climbing up the tall staircase to the dining room we were immediately bombarded by champagne and cocktails. The front of the room is fantastically well-architected, great glass panelling allowing players to view the entirely course from the comfort of their seat. The first fairway runs horizontally immediately in front, dog-legging around the practice ground up towards a baron green; members give out a polite clap and a chuckle as stray opening drives cross the white staked line into the practice area.

Bright and early on the saturday, feeling slightly bloated, the sun was shimmering a beautiful golden yellow showing the links in all its glory. The course at Royal Liverpool is a fantastic test of matchplay nerves, and you are immediately confronted by a card-wrecker. Cheekily, the first pin was back right, just feet from the out of bounds. Half of the course is actually very flat, in every direction you look you can see the holiday house which surrond the course, people leaning out of the front windows to catch a glimpse of the action. For me the best part of the course, is the start of the second nine. 10 and 12 are two of the hardest golf holes I have ever played. With dunes on the left, you can hear the waves crashing over the beachfront, not to mention the Atlantic winds! Both holes sharpley dogleg as you drive downhill to fairways heavily bunkered on both sides. The land banks harshly left to right, feeding errant shots into the deep pot bunkers. If you do manage to find the driving area, you have to hit back up the hill to large sloping greens tucked away in the dunes that fall away steeply on the right hand side. Any balls landing short are kicked down into a valley of thick rough and an almost certain bogey. There is light relief in the par 5 14th and 16th, again dog-legging round the out of bounds, however 15 and 17 are two of the longest par 4 in Open Championship golf. Fun all round hey...?!?! As I wonder off the 16th green towards the grand clubhouse, I suddenly realise that I'm in the company of greatness; 17 months earlier I stood in exactly the same spot as Tiger three-putted himself into the history books. Unfortunately my three-jab didnt shroad me in the same glory, we lost 3&2!



Since we were in the area, my partner and I took the excuse to visit some of the other local championship links. West Lancashire GC, in Crosby and home course in Alan Hansen, hosted final qualifying when Tiger Woods won at Hoylake, and is certainly no push over. Even though not directly on the seafront, it is a raw links with rugged conditions that demands good shot-making and excellent placement off the tee. There are a few quirky holes, some with trees and artificial water, however its the train track which runs along the back nine which gives in real character. The 18th is a real gem and sums up what "West Lancs" is all about. Its 440 of the mens tee with wind behind, and the championship markers go even further back. It has an elevated tee which overlooks a hundred odd yards of hummocks and hollows covered in knee-high rough before falling away to expose a narrow strip of cut grass with massive banks on the left and a water hazard running all down the right. If you do find the fairway, your second shot hits up towards the clubhouse terrace, where green has a false front and trouble all around it; the view is immense. I hit a seven iron to pin high and lipped out for birdie, I'll take par any day of the week.

So, up north again along the A565 I decided to go play Formby Golf Club, which was a real delight! I didn't know much about it but I was absolutely taken aback by the clubhouse, the course and everything about it. As it was along that same patch of land as Southport and all those great courses I just presumed I was going to be confronted by another links. However, Formby is the greatest collection of different holes I have ever had the honour of playing. Like its club logo, there are pretty christmas like fir trees dotted all over the course. The bunkers are thoughtfully positioned off the tee and into the greens. Its quite a surreal feeling walking down some fairways, as you can play a links course, heathland course and parkland course on the same hole. Some holes are windy with up-turned fairways, however on some holes you are required to thread drives down narrow tree-lined fairways; thick heather runs alongside gorse bushes, pot-bunkers are overhung by tall pines trees. My only quarm is that there are a few too many blind shots, and a couple of the par 3s are too short, probably the only thing stopping it being more highly regarded in the rankings list. However, for me anyway, the course really is something special; some of the views are quite spectacular, and every hole reminded me of other fantastic courses I have been lucky to play in my time, ie. the rolling heather-lined green fairways of Walton Heath, driving into the dunes off elevated windy tees at Royal Aberdeen, walking through the thickly tree-lined and heavily bunkered fairways at Archerfield Links, and the fantastically designed and shaped holes of Ganton.

To sum up, I can't wait for my next golf break to Formby!