In May 2019, The Royal Liverpool Golf Club celebrated its 150th anniversary. This world famous club, home of numerous champions and venue of historic matches including the precursor for the Walker Cup, memorable Opens, Curtis Cup and British Womens’ Open, wanted to mark this grand occasion with a book.
Several books already exist that tell the illustrious history of this great club, so authors Blyth Bell and Roger Greenway were keen that this was not merely another history book, but one that offered fresh insights into the Club, the legacies of its famous members, its pioneering initiatives in amateur golf, recent events, the inspiration the club and course have had on writers and artists, the Club’s involvement with the community, the ongoing impact on the environment, and their vision for the future.
“The Links of Hoylake belongs primarily, of course, to the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, but it also belongs to the whole world of golf, for it has played a great part of the history of the game.” Bernard Darwin, 1933
Hoylake’s amateur golfing triumvirate of (from the left) Harold Hilton, Jack Graham and John Ball dominated the game of golf from the latter part of the 19th century until after WW1.
Between them, they won 3 Open Championships, 12 Amateur Championships and 7 Irish Amateur Championships.
Chapter 17 recalls the year that eight American players, across in the UK to play the Amateur Championship, took on eight British players in an informal match at Hoylake, which was to be the precursor for the Walker Cup.
Recollections from champions at Hoylake are plentiful throughout the book.
The history and evolution of the Hoylake course is intertwined with the story of the golf architecture, the land, the sea, the weather, wild life and changing climate. All are addressed in these chapters.
More recent events, people, milestones and future champions are all included in later chapters of the book …
… including Rory McIlroy’s famous Open victory in 2014.
There are two editions: the cloth hardback edition (on the right), and the leather edition that has a cloth covered slip sleeve. Both are available through the Secretary at The Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake.