[Phil Benedict]

Evidently two Ryder Cups were played here in the 1930's.  Never heard of it.  Looks pretty cool based on photos on its website. 

[David_Tepper]

S&A is another of the good links courses along the Lancashire coastline. It is a bit south of Royal Birkdale and Hillside.

One could argue the stretch from Royal Liverpool to Royal Lytham is, mile for mile, the strongest stretch of links golf in GB&I.   

[Tony_Muldoon]

One could argue the stretch from Royal Liverpool to Royal Lytham is, mile for mile, the strongest stretch of links golf in GB&I.   

Amazingly I have suggested to a few local friends that a vist is in order and they talk of going to places like St Enedoc or Cruden Bay.  The Clubs obviously get a large no of viistors as the gren fees are high, but I think thats more to do with being close to the Northern cities than attracting overseas tourists.  The draw for the tourist is the Open venues.

For my part I loved Formby, Wallesey and Hoylake but Lytham and Birkdale and once and done deals for me.  There's a no of others I will consider if I return to play one of the first 3.  Apart form the Open angle the area lacks a 'star' to garner more attention.

[Jon Wiggett]

With Birkdale, Hillside and S&A all sharing boundary fences this small stretch (800 yards) has a lot to offer.

Royal Birkdale is a really solid championship course. Many here do not rate it as highly as they should because it lacks quirk but having played it 40 odd times I consider it to be in the very top echelons of UK links golf.

Hillside has some great holes but one or two poor ones too. With a bit of tweaking it could be right up there with the best but even as it is it is still a very good links.

S&A has a lot more quirk than its two neighbours. Well worth a visit especially in the winter when the rough is less severe.

Jon

[Mark_Rowlinson]

I agree with Jon. Don't forget West Lancs which often gets omitted from the list of links courses along this stretch. I should also put in a word for Hesketh. It's not 100% links, but has some strong holes and quite a bit of character. Like many of these courses its history is convoluted and the course has moved and changed considerably.

[Jon Wiggett]

I agree with Jon. Don't forget West Lancs which often gets omitted from the list of links courses along this stretch. I should also put in a word for Hesketh. It's not 100% links, but has some strong holes and quite a bit of character. Like many of these courses its history is convoluted and the course has moved and changed considerably.

Mark,

yes, West Lancs is one of a number of excellent 2nd tier links courses in that area. I only mentioned the three as S&A was the main one being asked about and as you could stand in the car park at Hillside and hit a wedge on to Birkdale or S&A thought the others should be mentioned.

Hesketh is also a good track as you say. Very unusual clubhouse and the holes immediately around it are pure links. From memory the rest of the course is a decent routing but flattish although with plenty of potential. I must add that it is almost 25 years since I last played there so things might have changed.

Jon

[Simon Pain]

I plus others from St Enodoc spent a week last September up there and enjoyed S & A as a nice links course a bit like Glasgow Gailes. Hillside I was a bit disappointed with in particularly the front 9 ; I suspect that it was over hyped in my mind. Formby was just wonderful even if I thought I was on a Surrey heathland course for the first 2 holes. Birkdale I thought was absolutely top hole for 2 reasons firstly you never had a shot on any hole without having to take serious note of at least 1 bunker and the the superb greens, we never counted less than 8 brilliant pin positions. Hesketh on the other hand I though poor except for the few holes round the clubhouse.

[abmack]

S&A is another of the good links courses along the Lancashire coastline. It is a bit south of Royal Birkdale and Hillside.

One could argue the stretch from Royal Liverpool to Royal Lytham is, mile for mile, the strongest stretch of links golf in GB&I.   

I don't know about this. I love Lytham and Hoylake but the courses in the middle: Birkdale, Formby, and Hillside, are not my favorites.

[Thomas Dai]

A low hcp friend who lived in the area for many years has often said to me that West Lancs - http://www.westlancashiregolf.co.uk/ - is the toughest course, ie hardest to play to your hcp on, of all the seaside links in Lancashire including The Open venues. I wonder if it's included in the new Confidential Guide?
atb

[David_Tepper]

"I don't know about this. I love Lytham and Hoylake but the courses in the middle: Birkdale, Formby, and Hillside, are not my favorites."

Andrew Mack -

While you may not care for those 3 courses, they are ranked in the top 50 of GB&I by Golf World, as are Lytham and Hoylake. Adding West Lancs and S&A gives that 75-80 mile stretch of coastline 7 courses in the GB&I top 100.

In terms of quality and quantity, the only other area that comes close is East Lothian.

DT   

[john_stiles]

For the excellent non rota courses in that part of England,   my taste is for S&A and Hillside  over  West Lancs.   West Lancs is a bit more flat and plays like a Carnoustie in terms of difficulty.  My sense favors the ups and downs and natural features at S&A and Hillside over flattish West Lancs. 

Staying in one place in say, Southport,  and playing the rota courses and many of the excellent others is one of the best trips you can make to England.   Silloth is but a short trip north from Southport area

Staying in one place and playing extra rounds is a big plus as I grow older.

S&A has some nice photos from the early Ryder Cups.

[Thomas Dai]

For those wanting to play several Lancashire coast courses in one trip this might be of interest -

http://www.englandsgolfcoast.com/stay-and-play-packages/the-englands-golf-coast-experience

atb

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