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The Coast With the Most

England's Northwest, now marketed under the banner England's Golf Coast, has more great golf to offer than any other region of the British Isles.

It would be fair to say that there are many fine golf courses dotted all over England but the Northwest is undoubtedly blessed with more than its fair share. The area, stretching from Cumbria in the north down to Cheshire in the south, has been christened England's Golf Coast and it is not difficult to see why.

England's Golf Coast offers over 200 courses to choose from with no less than three venerable Open venues topping the list. It also boasts six regular Open Qualifying venues and several other courses that have staged men's and women's Tour events.

The area is a magnet for golfing aficionados and at its core are three clubs that enjoy the luxury of royal patronage.

Royal Birkdale is one England's most illustrious courses having staged The Open in 1954, 1961, 1965, 1971, 1983, 1991 and 1998, The Amateur in 1946 and 1989, the Walker Cup in 1951 and the Ryder Cup in 1965 and 1969. It is renowned for its towering sand hills and features an outstanding set of par threes that rank among the best in world golf. The Open returns to these famous links in 2008.

The fine links at Royal Lytham and St Annes may not be as scenic as its near neighbour but it is just as formidable a test of golf. It has staged no less than ten Open Championships, with the most recent coming in 2001 when America's David Duval emerged victorious over a world-class field.

Bernard Darwin once said that Lytham had "beautiful turf but not much else of beauty". However, the doyen of British golf writers, qualified that statement by suggesting it was one of the fairest tests in Britain and that has proved to be an equally uncontentious statement.

"It is a beast but a just beast," he said and that was a theme that Duval returned to in the aftermath of his victory. "I can honestly say that I loved the course from the first time I saw it," said the champion. "It is one of those courses where you get what you deserve. You get rewarded if you hit a good shot but can find yourself in all sorts of trouble if you hit the ball offline."

Lytham St Annes celebrated its centenary back in 1996 but that makes it a mere youngster when compared to the venerable Royal Liverpool club at Hoylake. It was founded as far back as 1869 and is second only to Royal North Devon (Westward Ho!) as the oldest course in England.

Royal Liverpool staged the last of its ten Opens back in 1967. It might concede seniority to its royal counterpart in Devon but its role in the development of English golf cannot be exaggerated. It was responsible for starting the Amateur Championship. It staged the inaugural English Amateur and the inaugural international matches between England and Scotland and Britain and America. It also served as home to both Harold Hilton and John Ball who between them won three Open and eleven Amateur titles.

The original 18-hole course at Hoylake has recently been upgraded by the architect Donald Steel and will present a fearsome challenge to the world's best golfers a this year's Open.. Nowadays, the course measures a substantial 7,200 yards from the Championship tees. Bobby Jones once said that it was a long hitter's paradise and that might be as applicable in 2006 as it was 84 years before. However, the good putters will also surely prosper because Hoylake greens remain almost incomparably pure. It used to be said that "the man who cannot putt at Hoylake cannot putt" and that remains as true today as it ever was.

Birkdale, Lytham and St Annes and Hoylake are all special courses but they are by no means the only ones to be found in an area where even the most pernickety golfer is quite literally spoilt for choice. Most commentators would also put Caldy, De Vere Carden Park, Fairhaven, Formby, Hesketh, Hillside, Mere, Ormskirk, St Annes Old Links, Silloth-on-Solway, Southport and Ainsdale, Wallasey, West Lancashire and Windermere in the same category and there are numerous other courses that will give you a flavour of how good the golf can be.

Greg Norman once suggested that Hillside had the best back nine holes in Britain and for sustained excellence Formby and West Lancashire are equally hard to beat. Southport and Ainsdale is sometimes overshadowed by some of its more illustrious neighbours but it is also a wonderful test and shares with Moortown, Lindrick and The Belfry the distinction of being the only British clubs to witness home Ryder Cup victories.

Silloth-on-Solway is a little further away from the core of England's Golf Coast but is well worth the trip. Here, in this enchanting corner of England, visitors will find an admirable golf links that has recently been voted the best value course in the whole of the British Isles by Golf Monthly magazine. It is hard to disagree with that summation. The course is splendid, the hospitality is legendary and on a good day you have the bonus of a great view, northwards over the Solway, westwards towards the Isle of Man and southwards to the mountains of the Lake District.

Then, of course, there is the splendid links at Wallasey, home of the Stableford competition. Founded in 1891 and originally designed by Tom Morris Senior, it offers a marvellous test and one that is considerably more strenuous than its 6,503 yardage suggests.

Bobby Jones, who played in the 1930 Open Qualifier at Wallasey, is one of the many famous golfers to have trod the links at Wallasey and, while there, he was painted by a local artist and the picture still hangs proudly in the lounge of the club. Interestingly, a copy can also be found at Augusta National Golf Club, Jones' spiritual home, acting as a wonderful advert for one of the finest golfing areas found anywhere in the world.

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England's Northwest