Royal Liverpool Golf Club
Michael Weston visits Royal Liverpool on the Wirral Peninsula to acquaint himself with a links that has presented one of the most uncompromising tests of golf for 150 years and counting
hat feeling of anticipation as you arrive at an Open venue is as special as the round of golf that follows. It’s the sheer weight of history behind our great Open Championship links that sets them apart, and that’s no different on the Wirral Peninsula than it is in Fife, East Lothian or Ayrshire.
A century and a half have passed since the formation of Liverpool Golf Club at Hoylake. Regardless of your depth of knowledge about its history, the hairs on the back of your neck will be standing on end as you step into the clubhouse and feast your eyes on the historic memorabilia. Welcome to
TEngland’s second oldest links, where you’ll receive a warm welcome inside before heading outside onto the legendary course.
Having staged The Open 12 times, as well as the 2012 Women’s British Open, Royal Liverpool is renowned throughout the golfing world. Cast your mind back to 2006 and it’s hard not to picture an emotional Tiger Woods in his Sunday red soaking up the applause down the final hole. Five years ago and Rory Mcilroy was pretty in pink as he mastered the links and held the Claret Jug aloft, but these are just two of the best-known chapters in Hoylake’s past. Go back further and
Royal Liverpool has witnessed many a significant landmark moment in the game’s history, all of which fuel its aura.
Amateur heritage
In 1885, Royal Liverpool hosted the first Amateur Championship, where 44 players from 12 clubs took part. It was won by Liverpool-born Allan Macfie. Today, it’s one of the most prestigious events in the world, offering the winner a spot in The Open, the US Open and The Masters. The last of its 18 visits came in 2000, when Royal Liverpool and Wallasey welcomed the cream of the amateur game, as was the case in 1995, the year Gordon Sherry won.
Hoylake’s historic relationship with amateur golf also involves a certain match between USA and Great Britain. In the wake of World War I, efforts were made to stimulate interest in golf on both sides of the pond. In 1921, a day before the Amateur Championship, Hoylake witnessed a 9-3 American win in an informal match and a year later the first Walker Cup was contested in New York. In September, the famous contest returns to its spiritual home for the first time since 1983.
One member of that 1921 American side, playing his first golf overseas, described Hoylake as “dried out with the turf hard and the greens like glass”. Bobby Jones was his name. Much later, he would add: “At the time I regarded as an unpardonable crime, failure to keep the greens sodden, and considered a blind hole an outrage. I wanted everything just right to pitch my iron shots to the hole. It was the only game I knew, so I blamed the course because I could not play it.”
Like all true greats, he learnt how to cope in various conditions, returning to Hoylake in 1930 to take the spoils at the 65th Open Championship, and going on to achieve immortality by winning golf’s original Grand Slam – another fine Royal Liverpool champion.
‘Breeder of mighty champions’
Bernard Darwin’s famous words from 1933 are frequently quoted for good reason. To peel your eyes away from the imposing portraits that lure you up the clubhouse stairs is no easy task, so it’s wise to leave plenty of time to take it all in. Each picture tells a story, and every trophy provides glittering evidence of the many great champions to have walked the famous links.
One of those was the first Golf Monthly editor, Harold Hilton, a member of the Hoylake Triumvirate. It was here, in 1897 as an amateur, where he became Champion Golfer Of The Year for the second time. It was the first time Royal Liverpool had hosted The Open and it was fitting that one of its own should prevail.
Johnny Ball was another member of the trio – the first Englishman and amateur to win The Open at Prestwick in 1890. He also won eight Amateur Championships, including three at Royal Liverpool. Hilton was full of praise for Ball and reported that he was the first amateur to really threaten the supremacy of the professionals.
Finally, there was Jack Graham, regarded as the best player never to win the Amateur. In 1921 he beat Jones 6&5 in the fourth round but lost in the final. Among his many achievements, he was five times leading amateur in The Open and in 1910 shot a courserecord 66 at Hoylake.
The names of Woods and Mcilroy have since been etched onto the honours board, and another, perhaps new, name will be added in three years’ time when The Open returns for its 13th visit. There would be no greater story than if that name were Matthew Jordan, another Royal Liverpool representative looking to follow in the footsteps of the club’s heroes. The 23-year-old claimed his first professional win in Italy on the Challenge Tour in June having announced himself to the world the previous month with an incredible course-record 63 at Hillside on the opening day of the British Masters.
Out on the links
“There’s a real emphasis on strong drives. You’re often asked to thread the ball between punishing bunkers”
Being surrounded by so much history will hopefully inspire you to a good score of your own. Take in a few words of advice and encouragement from Jim or Neil – your friendly starters – and you’re away, right in front of the clubhouse. Hoylake isn’t characterised by towering dunes; it’s one for the purists – tough and uncompromising.
The par-4 opener is a brute. Out of bounds looms down the right, so accuracy and no small amount of bottle is required from the off. Find the fairway and you’ll still face a long approach as the hole doglegs sharply to the right.
The course places a real emphasis on strong drives and you’re often asked to thread the ball between punishing bunkers. Your first such encounter may well come at the 2nd, where the green – the only one remaining from the original layout – is well-protected. Both fairway and greenside bunkers, while beautifully crafted, are treacherous hazards to be avoided at all costs!
The holes by the Dee Estuary as you make the turn are beautiful, as are the views across to North Wales and Snowdonia on a clear day. Hole 10, ‘Dee’, doglegs to the left and represents one of the hardest par 4s, often playing longer than its 447 yards.
The 11th showcases the beautiful scenery around Hilbre Island, a nature reserve that can be reached on foot at low tide, while the 12th, christened ‘Hilbre’, is arguably the finest hole, and one that may tempt big hitters into carrying the bunkers on the corner.
The 13th provides proof that par 3s needn’t stretch over 200 yards to be challenging, before the revered stretch of finishing holes commences on the par-5 15th, although the course follows a slightly different route during Open week starting out from the 17th hole.
When the wind blows, there’s no shelter, but the opportunities are there to post a good score in benign conditions. Regardless of the weather, there are no tricks at Hoylake and the overriding feeling when your final putt drops is that the course has played fair.
Of course, a day at an Open Championship venue is special in a number of ways. Royal Liverpool prides itself on its warm welcome, so much so that it’s known not just as a great course, but a great club, too. The clubhouse was refurbished at a cost of almost £2 million before the 2006 Open Championship. While able to stage the great circus that comes with The Open, it’s a clubhouse that has remained true to the spirit of the original building.
That investment also included new locker rooms and showers plus a new visitors’ reception area to enhance the atmosphere on arrival. Downstairs is a popular place to relax and sample some delicious bites. Visitors enjoy its informality, while upstairs the club’s new library is a wonderful addition. Meanwhile, the meeting room and balcony offer splendid vistas across the links. What a spot to soak it all in before you leave! But don’t worry – you’re always welcome to return.