areas, to have any chance of a decent score. Bunkers continually need to be avoided, while the holes constant- ly change direction. The back nine begins with one of the best par 3s I’ve played ( pictured on previous spread ), close to 200 metres to a green which falls steeply away on the right. I was sur- prised by the sight of a halfway house after the 11th hole, where a coffee and hot pie fortified me for a demanding stretch of holes to the finish. Evidence of the challenge at Formby is that the course rating from the back (6 500 metres) is 76.6 with a slope of 142, and off those tees I would receive seven extra shots on top of my index. A scratch handicap would play off 5. Willie Park was the original designer in 1912, with further alterations by James Braid and Harry Colt in subsequent decades. The par-4 18th plays side-on to the large double-storey clubhouse, anoth- er unusual feature, with an enormous green the same length as the front of the clubhouse, which has a clock tower on one corner. It dates from 1901. It is an imposing edifice, named one of the most iconic clubhouses in world golf, filled with a variety of interesting rooms. Upstairs in the dormy house are en-suite bedrooms where members and visitors can stay overnight. The club has a link to the ill-fated RMS Titanic. The clock was presented to the club in 1909 by Bruce Ismay, chairman of the White Star Lane which built the ocean liner. He survived Titanic’s sinking on her maiden voyage in the Atlantic three years later but was called a coward by the press for desert- ing the ship while women and children remained on board. FIVE OF THE BEST Five links on this West Lancashire coast close to Formby and Royal Birkdale are ranked among the Top 100 Courses in Britain & Ireland. Royal Birkdale No 9, Formby No 46, Hillside No 66, West Lancashire No 71, Southport & Ainsdale No 94. And Formby Ladies is surprisingly high at No 175.
Green of the par-4 15th.
The par-5 eighth is stroke 1 on the card.
erwise it’s a succession of strong 4s. The seventh plays to a raised sloping green where anything short rolls back down a slope some 50 metres. The eighth is a fabulous par 5, curving left and un- dulating to another raised green, a de- served stroke 1 on the card. An unusual aspect of the design is the presence of just three par 3s and three par 5s, so you have 12 par 4s, of which only one is under 400 yards off the back tees. It does place a premium on solid tee shots to narrow landing
Formby itself is a well-heeled town, with smart shops, cafes and restau- rants, and was evidently home to Ju- rgen Klopp when he was managing Liverpool in the Premier League. The opening three holes run paral- lel to a railway line, then the course begins a winding anti-clockwise pas- sage through forests towards the coast. You’re conscious of the vast empty land around you, the stillness on a calm day. There’s just one par 3 on the front nine, the daunting fifth, and one short 4, oth-
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF FORMBY GOLF CLUB
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 105
MAY 2026
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