IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF CHAMPIONS --
THE HISTORIC COURSES OF THE LANCASHIRE COAST

When most Americans are asked to name the top championship courses in the British Isles, their lists tend to be heavily loaded with Scottish and Irish favorites. Fortunately, the Open Championship rota returns every few years to England, and the spotlight is cast on a country whose contributions to championship golf are legendary. This is especially true along the northwest side, commonly referred to as the Lancashire Coast. Here one finds no less than eight true championship links layouts within a 40 mile radius ­ Royal Liverpool (Hoylake), Wallasey, West Lancashire, Formby, Hillside, Southport & Ainsdale, Royal Birkdale and the site of this year's Open Championship, Royal Lytham & St. Annes', where her venerable links stood the test of time and modern equipment -- lie like a string of precious pearls along the coast.

Between them they have hosted Open Championships, Ryder Cup Matches, Amateur Championships, Walker Cups, Curtis Cups, Ladies Amateur Championships and historic matches with the games greats. Royal Birkdale and Royal Lytham & St. Annes have long been on the Open rota and this year Hoylake was added back in, with a possible appearance as early as the 2006 Championship.

Whenever the Open Championship does return to Hoylake, it will be a welcome homecoming to one of the great sites in Open history. The 1897 Open Championship was only the second time the competition had been held outside of Scotland and the great amateur, Harold Hilton, himself a member at the club, beat five-time Open champion James Braid. Among the other nine Opens held at Hoylake, it was here that Bobby Jones won the second leg of his grand slam in 1930; in 1967, Robert De Vincenzio outlasted Jack Nicklaus, for a very popular sentimental win; Peter Thomson won his third Open Championship in 1956; John Taylor won handily by eight strokes in 1913, during one of the worst weather Opens; and Walter Hagen won the second of his four championships in 1924.

Hoylake has a grand tradition of amateur championships, having hosted the Amateur Championship some 18 times since 1885. Harold Hilton and John Ball, another member and Britain's greatest amateur, won the competition a combined 12 times. Ball won three at Hoylake alone in 1890, 1984 and 1910, and finished second five times. Ball grew up with an intimate knowledge of the course having been born in the Royal Hotel, which used to stand on the grounds. Ball, joins Hilton and Bobby Jones as the only three amateur winners of The Open Championship. Other winners when Hoylake has hosted the Amateur include Joe Carr defeating American Harvie Ward in 1953, Sir Michael Bonallack winning his fourth of five titles in 1969, and American Vinnie Giles in 1975.

It was also the site of the inaugural 'unofficial' Walker Cup match before the Amateur Championship that year, which the Americans won 9 to 3. The next year the Walker Cup became an official competition between the best amateur golfers in the United States against the best amateurs of Great Britain & Ireland. Hoylake also hosted the Walker Cup in 1983, with the United States winning 13 1/2 to 10 1/2. Familiar competitors that year included Brad Faxon, Jay Sigel (as playing Captain), Nathaniel Crosby, Philip Walton and Andrew Oldcorn. The Walker Cup was held this August 11-12 , at the Ocean Forest GC in Sea Island, GA and will return to England, at Ganton, in 2003.

Hoylake's course, dating to 1869, is the second oldest seaside layout in England, only Royal North Devon is older, and is credited to Robert Chambers, Jr. and George Morris. It is known for its windy conditions and numerous opportunities to find oneself out-of-bounds. A famous story involves Henry Longhurst, who in discussing with Tom Simpson his philosophies about golf course architecture, found Simpson to comment that, to be any good, a course must have out-of-bounds. "In that case, I take it you regard Hoylake as the finest in England?" asked Longhurst. "Without a doubt," answered Simpson. It is possible to find yourself on the wrong side of the white stakes on no less than 13 holes at Royal Liverpool, including holes on the inside of the course.

The initial reaction on the drive up to the course gives one the impression of the layout being flat and rather dull. Nothing could be further from the truth as one gets into the layout and has to contend with the natural features and elements. Part of this has to do with, in the early stages of its storied career, the links had to share its land with a racetrack and horses, and hoof marks were often the norm across the fairways and greens.

Although Jack Nicklaus remarked in the 1967 Open that the first hole was, "...not a particularly good opening hole." It made The 500 World's Greatest Golf Holes, by George Peper and the Editors of Golf Magazine. It is characterized by the "cop", an artificial bank, that lies along the right side of the fairway and green and also signals out-of-bounds. The No. 8 hole also made the list. This par 5, 519 yard hole was almost the upending of Bobby Jones' Grand Slam triumph when he took a 7 during the 1930 Open, having reached the fringe in birdie range.

Though not known for hosting championships, Hoylake's neighboring course, Wallasey, is famous for another gift to golf ­ the Stapleford scoring system. Dr. Frank Stableford was a distinguished and active member at the club. There is plenty of trouble lying in wait at Wallasey to turn a simple par into a double bogey or worse to ruin a days round, which may have provided the good doctor the inspiration to invent a better way to post a score.

Just down the road lies West Lancashire, and although it is not as well known as some of its famous neighbors, it is itself a serious test of golf. While it has not played host to major international championships, it has been a formidable challenge as an Open qualifying site. Founded by Scottish businessman who found themselves drawn to the shipping boom on the Mersey, it is the oldest club in contiguous use in the county.

The course was updated by Ken Cotton to give the layout more of a consistent feel between the flatter inland areas and those which border the sea, so that now it has two loops of nine that return to the clubhouse.

Continuing up the coast is Formby. Unlike most seaside links courses, the layout is characterized by the stately pines and fir trees which border it on three sides. The course encompasses today more of the woodlands than originally routed, as due to coastal erosion, the original 7th, 8th, 9th & 10th holes were abandoned and new holes were created inland. But overall Formby plays as a links course which plays firm and fast, with seaside greens, natural sandy bunkers and fairly substantial sandhills.

Formby has been a favorite venue for the Amateur Championship and in 1984 was the site of a young Spaniard, Jose-Maria Olazabal, defeating Colin Montgomerie 5 and 4 for the championship.

The Advisor's favorite hole at Formby is the original 19th. Legend has it the first 19th hole at Formby was a under a loose floorboard in the clubhouse, where there was kept a bottle of spirits for after the round. The accompanying note on the bottle read "A moderate go 3p."