The Royal Liverpool Golf Club is a leading golf club in Merseyside in North West England. It was founded in 1869 and received the “Royal” designation in 1871 due to the patronage of the Duke of Connaught of the day, who was one of Queen Victoria’s younger sons. Despite the club’s name, its clubhouse is located in the small town of Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula, with the course itself extending between Hoylake and the neighbouring town of West Kirby, which is separated from the city of Liverpool by the estuary of the River Mersey. Consequently, the course is often referred to as Hoylake, after the town. It has a single 18 hole course, which is a seaside links.

The 2006 Open was held at Royal Liverpool from the 20th to the 23rd of July. The course has had its layout changed slightly, so that the old 16th hole (a huge par 5) is now the 18th thus making the old 17 and 18 the first and second holes.

Important tournaments staged at Hoylake include:

The Open Championship: 1897, 1902, 1907, 1913, 1924, 1930, 1936, 1947, 1956, 1967, 2006
Walker Cup: 1983
Curtis Cup: 1992
The Amateur Championship: 1885 (the inaugural event), 1887, 1890, 1894, 1898, 1902, 1906, 1910, 1921, 1927, 1933, 1939, 1953, 1962, 1969, 1975, 1995, 2000
Ladies’ British Amateur Championship: 1896, 1989, 1996
The course has also hosted a number of professional tournaments, both on the European Tour and before the foundation of that Tour in 1972; many tournaments for ladies, seniors and boys; and various regional and representative events. It hosted The Open Championship for the first time in thirty nine years in 2006.

Winners of The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club :

2006 Tiger Woods - United States
1967 Roberto DeVicenzo - Argentina
1956 Peter Thomson - Australia
1947 Fred Daly - Northern Ireland
1936 Alf Padgham - England
1930 Bobby Jones (amateur) - United States
1924 Walter Hagen - United States
1913 John Henry Taylor - England
1907 Arnaud Massy - France
1902 Sandy Herd - Scotland
1897 Harold Hilton - England

Golf it could be argued is one of the main industries of Woodhall Spa with the first course of 9 holes being opened in 1890. This flourished until 1895 when the land that the course was built on was required for building. A new site was hurriedly found and another 9 hole golf course was laid out. By 1902 it became clear that the golf course would have to find another new home as the land was required for the expansion of the spa town once again.

Local landowner, Stafford Vere Hotchkin, offered a sandy tract of land off the Horncastle Road for the building of an 18 hole course. The course opened for play on 24 April 1905 and has come to be rated as one of the finest golf courses in the world, with the Golf Magazine of America rating it the world’s 43rd best golf course.

The English Golf Union bought the course in 1995 in order to set up a National Golf Centre. The Union also secured enough land to build a second course and to provide extensive practice facilities. The second course, ‘the Bracken’, opened for play in 1998 alongside the original course, now named ‘the Hotchkin’.

Royal Birkdale Golf Club in the town of Southport, England, is one of the clubs in the Open Championship rotation. The club has hosted The Open eight times since 1954, with the next championship to be held in 2008. Previous winners of the Open at Royal Birkdale are Mark O’Meara, Ian Baker-Finch, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer and Peter Thomson (on two separate occasions). Birkdale is the only course in the Open rotation that has never had a champion from the United Kingdom.

Royal Birkdale has also hosted the Ryder Cup, the Walker Cup, and the Curtis Cup.

History
Founded as Birkdale Golf Club in 1889, the club had to wait until 1951 for it to get the “Royal” status. In 1946 the club hosted its first big championship in The Amateur Championship. During this time the club also hosted the 1948 Curtis Cup, in which the United States team were victorious, and the 1951 Walker Cup, which also fell into the hands of the United States. Several constructions, including a move in 1894 and a new clubhouse in 1935 also kept the members busy. During the 60’s the club played host to two Ryder Cups, one in 1965 and another in 1969. In the 1965 edition, the United States took the cup in a playoff between Arnold Palmer and Julius Boros. The Ryder Cup of 1969 however ended in a tie, when Jack Nicklaus generously gave a short putt to Tony Jacklin.

Open Championships
The Open Championship has been held at Royal Birkdale eight times, since it was first staged there in 1954. The championship is also scheduled to be held there in 2008.

Year Winner
1954 Peter Thomson
1961 Arnold Palmer
1965 Peter Thomson
1971 Lee Trevino
1976 Johnny Miller
1983 Tom Watson
1991 Ian Baker-Finch
1998 Mark O’Meara

The Royal St George’s Golf Club is one of the premier golf clubs in the United Kingdom, and one of the courses on The Open Championship rotation. It has hosted 13 Open championships since 1894. Past champions include Ben Curtis, Greg Norman, Sandy Lyle, Bill Rogers, Bobby Locke, Reg Whitcombe, Henry Cotton, Walter Hagen (on two different occasions), Harry Vardon (twice), Jack White and John Henry Taylor. It is located at Sandwich, Kent, England. It also possesses the deepest bunker in championship golf.