|
 |
 |
West Lancashire, England |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
West Lancashire Golf Club
Hall Road West
Blundellsands
Liverpool
L23 8SZ
England |  | Ken Cotton, Fred Hawtree |  | Gary Edge |
|
 | +44 (0)151 924 1076 |  | 9 miles north of Liverpool. |
 |
Golf Club Website
|
 | Weekdays only, not before 9.30am |  | Stewart King |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
| |
 |
|
 West Lancashire Golf Club is the oldest surviving golf club in Lancashire, although, strictly speaking, Blundellsands is now part of the borough of Merseyside. In 1901, Harold Hilton, one of the finest amateur golfers of all time, was the Secretary of West Lancashire Golf Club. That same year, he won the British Amateur Championship at St Andrews, beating J Low by one hole. Hilton was also the British Open champion in 1892 and 1897, a feat only surpassed by Bobby Jones, who won the British Open on three occasions, also as an amateur.
The club was founded in 1873. The course was originally designed by the hands of an unknown architect, but this is such a natural links that we suspect Nature did most of the work. We do know that Ken Cotton and Fred Hawtree made significant revisions to the layout in the early 1960s.
Its esteemed Royal neighbours keep West Lancs out of the limelight but it is a truly classical links course, located on a charming stretch of prime links land. On a clear day, to the north, Blackpool Tower can be seen in the distance. To the southwest, there are panoramic views across the Crosby Channel to the Birkenhead peninsula and Liverpool Bay beyond.
James Finnegan, in his book All Courses Great and Small, articulately sums up the characteristics of West Lancs: “On the 355-yard 13th, we fire away from an elevated tee, the fairway curving left along a dune-framed valley to a green on a cunning low plateau. The next hole, 412 yards, also begins on a high tee in the sandhills, but this time the downhill drive is blind, over a ridge, and the fairway bends sweepingly right, around a thick stand of pines, finally disclosing a raised green tucked in the lee of a wooded hillside.”
The Guinness Book of Golf Facts and Feats tells the amazing story of Peter Richard Parkinson who, on 6th June 1972, at West Lancs, performed the British Isles’ longest hole in one. It was on the 7th hole, and clearly it was a mistake because the 7th is called “Folly”, a 393-yard par four. Either way, it was one hell of a biff!
| |
|
| |
If the above course review article is not accurate, let us know by clicking here |
|
|
|
In the section below, headed “Your Reviews”, are golf course reviews posted by visitors to the Top 100 website. There are no specific rules for reviewing a golf course except you MUST have played the golf course first. Merits of each course are left entirely to your discretion. Important factors, such as course location, condition (or presentation), course difficulty and historical importance are all left for you to judge and we have developed a simple rating system where you can allocate one score to each course. | |
|
|
|
|
 |  | | Average Reviewers Score: |  | | Played in an open in Aug 09. Had heard about an ugly club house but we went to a refurbished bit upstairs and it stunning, with a great view out over the course and the sea. Played the first 4 holes into the teeth of a very strong wind and it was brutal. Must have lost 10 balls between our team on that stretch. Turn inland at the 5th and it got a bit easier, actually played the last 14 in 4 over, but any chance of a good score was already gone.
Not a course full of memorable holes, 13th was the stand out, but you'd struggle to find any that are less than good. | | 10 May 2010
| Reply
| | A good course but not a great one. No inspirational holes and a very unkept look and feel to the place. This is of course to be expected for a links track but some refinement wouldn't go a miss. Doesn't compare to Birkdale, Southport & Ainsdale and Hillside, but not many do.  | | 28 September 2009
| Reply
|
| Response: | | | Gary Wilde | 28 September 2009 | | Couldn't disagree more with this review. Played W Lancs in August and thoroughly enjoyed having played several top links courses. W Lancs was one of the best, very clever design that made you think on every hole even though there was little wind that day. The pro allowed us to play off the white tees and we had to wait for him opening up at 8 am to play. He trusted us enough to come back and pay after the round as the till was booting up. All in all W lancs was a great experience. | | | Hugh | 17 April 2010 | | You say West Lancs is a good course but you didn't give it a "good course" rating e.g. 4 balls. You gave it 3 balls which is average. Why was that? |
| | Absoulutely love West Lancs. Up there in my top 5 links courses. Some great holes and lots of definition to the course. Played it twice and been very impressed both times. | | 26 September 2009
| Reply
| | | what a wonderful course and tough challenge especially in the wind!
wow!
come and play here its worth it but pick a nice day or it will kick your butt! | | 13 August 2009
| Reply
| | | Played in the Senior Open yesterday and really enjoyed this true links. Fabulous greens and plenty of variety in the shape of the holes. Clubhouse has been recently refurbished and is very comfortable. Highly recommended. | | 23 July 2009
| Reply
| | | Played here on Tuesday this week. What an absolute star of a course. Everything was excellent,the greens and the general presentation of the course could not be faulted. Anyone who visits West Lancs is in for an excellent days golf. I would recommend this course to any links lover. Thank you for restoring our confidence after playing Hesketh the day before. West Lancs we will return!! | | 12 June 2009
| Reply
| | | VERY under rated course, this is one of the best links courses I have played it deserves a lot more respect. Lots of sand dunes, fun links shots, beautiful and challenging par 3's, if the course were "bigger" all around it might be able to host an open it is that good. The trains run along side some holes which adds to the excitement. One of my favorite places to play and priced right too. The clubhouse needs a lot of work however. | | 10 February 2008
| Reply
|
| Response: | | | gregor clark | 15 May 2009 | | West lancs is a glorious course. The clubhouse may be quite ugly from the outside but it has been refurbished and the facilities are first class. |
| | | Very challenging golf course that is up to the high standards of the Southport and Liverpool area. The back nine is probably the slightly better of the two nines, but the overall experience is very enjoyable. This is cracking good links golf which we played in a stiff wind and drizzling rainstorm. I would cerainly play here again if I had the opportunity.
Richard Smith
Knoxville, Tennessee | | 15 December 2007
| Reply
| | | Great course, with some excellent par 3 holes. Very tough rough where you will loose lots of balls but it's a fair test & there is always a lay up option which you may need to take. Try & play off the white/championship tees for a real test! Right up there with it's illustrious neighbours, the only thing I can think lets it down is that it's possibly not quite as nice to look as as some links venues. I would go back a drop of a hat. | | 24 September 2007
| Reply
| | | What a stunning golf course, a true links in every sense of the word. A very well balanced golf course that provides a real test of golf, and provides some magnificent views.
A Rather ugly club house exterior but the interior is very pleasant and has an overwhelming feel of history and grandeur. The food is top notch and the staff very friendly. A highly recommended golfing day out that will leave a smile on your face regardless of how you play.
| | 22 June 2007
| Reply
| | Probably the most ugly clubhouse I have ever seen,at least as far as the exterior in concerned. Not the best course in the area but still far above average and far better than the courses that most of us play on an everyday basis. Tough test when the wind blows up on the last 4 holes. A real test!! | | 22 June 2006
| Reply
| | | West Lancashire may be the oldest club in the county, dating back to 1873, but the present course has only been in use since 1960. There are two circles of nine holes with the front nine, in particular, having a somewhat natural, wild feel to them (very like parts of Ballyliffin Old course in places). The 13th through 15th holes though have a very parkland ambiance (and our three ball of visiting golfers felt the blind tee shot at the 14th was unfair without a marker post to indicate the line of play). The prevailing wind was directly in our faces over the last four holes which made for a difficult finish in front of a clubhouse that looked very dated from outside (we never did get inside to find out what the interior looked like). Pro shop staff were very helpful in letting us on the course early in front of a bus load of ladies who arrived in a coach for a visitors day out. I’m sure that they, like us, would have enjoyed their time on this tough little cookie. James McCann | | 21 June 2006
| Reply
| | | The beauty of this course is its variety. While the wind is always an influence, it is never overpowering as the layout of two loops of nine provides relief from what might otherwise be a constant battering. It doesn't favour either hook or cut, just important to hit the fairway. Six Par 4s over 400 yards suggests a very long course but the four Par 3s are of average length, so a fine balance of length and difficulty is maintained. | | 27 April 2005
| Reply
| | | Despite modern clubhouse, this course is a true "old links", very tough when the wind blows, and all natural terrain...a great course. | | 04 November 2004
| Reply
| | | Very, very good - a nice variation of holes creating two loops of nine. The key to the course is keep the ball on the fairway - if you stray into the rough you will be lucky to find your ball. The clubhouse does look ugly from the outside, but once inside it is very nice. | | 14 August 2004
| Reply
| | | Hugely underrated, this is a cracking links course. The clubhouse is rather unattractive, but who cares when the golf is as good and challenging as this. The holes are varied and maintain a high degree of interest all the way round. A belter! | | 14 June 2004
| Reply
|
| Response: | | | tom melia | 22 October 2006 | | a truely testing course. in the wind, i have no doubt that it is one of the hardest and best cousrese in britain. it requires both accuracy and distance, so is a well balanced course which i recommend playing very much |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
