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Royal Liverpool Golf Club

Coordinates: 53°23′06″N 3°11′24″W / 53.385°N 3.190°W / 53.385; -3.190
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Royal Liverpool Golf Club
The clubhouse at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, also known as Hoylake[1]
Club information
Royal Liverpool Golf Club is located in Merseyside
Royal Liverpool Golf Club
Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, Merseyside
Coordinates53°23′06″N 3°11′24″W / 53.385°N 3.190°W / 53.385; -3.190
LocationHoylake, Wirral, England
Established1869, 155 years ago
Typeprivate
Total holes18
Events hostedOpen Championship
Amateur Championship
Women's British Open
Websiteroyal-liverpool-golf.com
Designed byRobert Chambers,
George Morris,
Harry Colt
Par72
Length7,341 yards (6,713 m)
The 3rd hole at The Open Championship
in 2006, the opening hole (Course)
for club members

The Royal Liverpool Golf Club is a golf club in Wirral in Merseyside, England. It was founded in 1869 on what was then the racecourse of the Liverpool Hunt Club. It received the "Royal" designation in 1871 due to the patronage of Prince Arthur the Duke of Connaught, one of Queen Victoria's younger sons. Robert Chambers and George Morris (younger brother of Old Tom Morris) were commissioned to lay out the original course, which was extended to 18 holes in 1871. Harry Colt, one of the world's leading golf course architects, redesigned the course early in the 20th century, and it has since been tweaked periodically, mainly as a response to advances in equipment.

The Open Championship has been played 13 times at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, most recently in 2023.

Location

Royal Liverpool Golf Club is located in the small town of Hoylake, at the northwest corner of the Wirral Peninsula. The golf course extends between Hoylake and the neighbouring town of West Kirby, to the southwest. It has a single 18-hole course, which is a seaside links.

History

Royal Liverpool was the inaugural men's amateur championship host in 1885, which became The Amateur Championship. It was host to the first ever international match between Scotland and England in 1902. It hosted the first Home International matches between Great Britain & Ireland and the United States in 1921, an event which became the Walker Cup. In fact, it is Royal Liverpool Golf Club's contribution to the amateur game that has set it apart from all other clubs in England. Although, at the end of the nineteenth century, it was the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews that took on the role of the governing body in golf as the game developed, it was at Royal Liverpool that the rules of amateur status were laid down.[citation needed] The Open at Royal Liverpool was also the scene of the second leg of Bobby Jones' historic Grand Slam in 1930.

Superstar champions Ball and Hilton

The history of Royal Liverpool would not be complete without mention of two of the club's most famous sons, Harold Hilton and John Ball. Between them they dominated the amateur game of their era, and the pair were also a major influence on the professional game, each of them winning the Open Championship as amateurs. Ball won the Amateur Championship eight times between 1888 and 1912, and was runner-up twice.[2] The venerable Ball competed in the Amateur Championship as late as 1921 when Royal Liverpool hosted the event.[3] He won the Open Championship in 1890,[2] the first Englishman and the first amateur to do so, and also took the Amateur title the same year.

Harold Hilton's record was just as impressive. He won the Open twice, in 1892 (the first year the Open was played over 72 holes) and again five years later, making him the only amateur apart from John Ball and Bobby Jones to win the title.[2] His victory at Hoylake in 1897 was marked 100 years later by the creation of a new, annual Harold Hilton Medal tournament open to amateur golfers aged 30 or more and handicap five or less. Hilton also won the Amateur Championship four times, was runner-up on three occasions, and won the U.S. Amateur in 1911, the year in which he also held the British title. This feat made him the first to hold both major amateur titles simultaneously. In the same year he still found time to become the first editor of the new Golf Monthly magazine.

Character of the course

Many comments have been made over the years about the quality and toughness of the links. The wind's absence was conspicuous during the benign Open week in 2006. However, such was winner Tiger Woods' respect for the need for strategic play that he only hit his driver once during the tournament, with the course baked out due to dry conditions, and playing very fast. The course is mostly level, but the holes nearest the coast run through sandhills. The course underwent a variety of changes in advance of the 2023 Open Championship, including a new par-3 that will play as the 17th hole during The Open.[4][5]

Important events

Important tournaments staged at Royal Liverpool include:

The course has also hosted a number of professional tournaments on the European Tour and before its foundation in 1972. Royal Liverpool has been the site for many tournaments for ladies, seniors, and boys, and various regional and representative events. It hosted The Open Championship for the first time in 39 years in 2006; Tiger Woods won his third Open Championship, two strokes ahead of runner-up Chris DiMarco. It was an emotional victory for Woods, who had lost his father to prostate cancer just two months earlier.

Royal Liverpool hosted the 2010 English Men's Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship for the Brabazon Trophy; the event was won by Darren Wright. The links had earlier staged the Brabazon on four occasions. In 1961, Ronnie Shade was champion, followed in 1972 by Peter Moody, a former University of Cambridge captain. Sandy Lyle lifted the trophy in 1977, while the 1989 event saw a tie between Craig Rivett from South Africa and Neil Roderick from Wales.

Royal Liverpool hosted the Women's British Open for the first time in 2012. The championship was won by South Korea's Jiyai Shin, who set a new record for the largest winning margin in the event (9 strokes) and a new women's course record of 64 in her second round.

The Open Championship

The thirteen winners of The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club:

Year Winner Score Winner's
share (£)
R1 R2 R3 R4 Total
1897 England Harold Hilton (a) 2nd 80 75 84 75 314 Am (30)
1902 Scotland Sandy Herd 77 76 73 81 307 30
1907 France Arnaud Massy 76 81 78 77 312 30
1913 England J.H. Taylor 5th 73 75 77 79 304 50
1924 United States Walter Hagen 2nd 77 73 74 77 301 75
1930 United States Bobby Jones (a) 3rd 70 72 74 75 291 Am (100)
1936 England Alf Padgham 73 72 71 71 287 (−9) 100
1947 Northern Ireland Fred Daly 73 70 78 72 293 (+21) 150
1956 Australia Peter Thomson 3rd 70 70 72 74 286 (+2) 1,000
1967 Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo 70 71 67 70 278 (−10) 2,100
2006 United States Tiger Woods 3rd 67 65 71 67 270 (−18) 720,000
2014 Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy 66 66 68 71 271 (−17) 975,000
2023 United States Brian Harman 67 65 69 70 271 (−13) 2,332,800
  • Note: For multiple winners of The Open Championship, superscript ordinal identifies which in their respective careers.
  • (a) denotes amateur

Recent scorecard

  • Normal Route
Royal Liverpool Golf Club
Tee Rating/Slope 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
White 425 366 514 199 479 437 215 503 388 3,526 444 191 454 614 456 134 611 458 453 3,815 7,341
Green 425 366 510 176 421 384 190 503 388 3,363 392 191 410 516 432 134 552 398 402 3,427 6,790
Yellow 413 356 485 151 387 357 178 478 353 3,158 358 165 383 493 417 107 506 370 374 3,173 6,331
Par Men's 4 4 5 3 4 4 3 5 4 36 4 3 4 5 4 3 5 4 4 36 72
SI Men's 5 13 11 7 1 9 15 17 3 8 14 4 18 2 16 12 6 10
Black 395 328 459 127 349 332 153 445 310 2,899 310 150 354 462 410 100 468 347 347 2,948 5,847
Par Women's 5 4 5 3 4 4 3 5 4 37 4 3 4 5 5 3 5 4 4 37 74
SI Women's 13 7 3 17 1 9 15 5 11 8 16 2 6 14 18 10 4 12

Source: [1]

  • At the 2023 Open Championship, play started at the 17th hole (Royal) and concluded at the par-5 16th hole (Dun).
Hole Name Par Hole Name Par
1 Course 4 10 Dee 4
2 Road 4 11 Alps 3
3 Long 5 12 Hilbre 4
4 New 3 13 Field 5
5 Telegraph 4 14 Lake 4
6 Briars 4 15 Little Eye 3
7 Dowie 3 16 Dun 5
8 Far 5 17 Royal 4
9 Punch Bowl 4 18 Stand 4
Out 36 In 36
Total 72
The 18th Hole at Royal Liverpool Golf Club
  • Open Route
Tee Rating/Slope 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
2023 Open 459 453 426 367 520 201 481 436 218 3,561 507 392 449 194 454 620 461 136 609 3,822 7,383
Par 2023 Open 4 4 4 4 5 3 4 4 3 35 4 4 4 3 4 5 4 3 5 36 71
White 458 453 425 366 514 199 479 437 215 3,546 503 388 444 191 454 614 456 134 611 3,795 7,341
Green 398 402 425 366 510 176 421 384 190 3,272 503 388 392 191 410 516 432 134 552 3,518 6,790
Yellow 370 374 413 356 485 151 387 357 178 3,071 478 353 358 165 383 493 417 107 506 3,260 6,331
Par 4 4 4 4 5 3 4 4 3 35 5 4 4 3 4 5 4 3 5 37 72

See also

References

  1. ^ Townsend, Mark. "Why is Royal Liverpool Golf Club Called Hoylake?". Golf Monthly. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Brenner, Morgan G. (2009). The Majors of Golf: Complete Results of the Open, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and the Masters, 1860-2008. Vol. 1. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-3360-5.
  3. ^ Rice, Grantland (25 May 1921). "Wright Only U.S. Golfer Left in Play". The New York Tribune. Library of Congress. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  4. ^ Townsend, Mark (20 February 2020). "Royal Liverpool making major changes ahead of 2022 Open". National Club Golfer. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  5. ^ Heath, Elliott (26 February 2020). "Royal Liverpool Building New Par-3 Ahead Of 2022 Open". Golf Monthly. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
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