The early years of any golf club are always interesting and they usually bear testimony to the endeavour and enthusiasm of a small group of golfers. It is easy to forget that although golf was seen to be an elitist sport when most of our clubs were formed there were not many people with deep pockets to finance the purchase and upkeep of a course and clubhouse. Most, if not all, of our clubs are indebted to an original “few” and Ashton is no exception.

The co-founders of Ashton-in-Makerfield were Tom Mayall and Andrew Molyneux who set up a 9 hole course for the staff of Garswood Hall Collieries. Their chosen site was adjacent to the Colliery at Old Bryn and in 1902 a meeting of 15 enthusiasts agreed to proceed. All went well until 1906 when their clubhouse, the size of a small bungalow, was burnt down but nothing daunted, they built a larger one and carried on playing. In 1946 the members had the good fortune and good sense to buy the land from the Colliery for £750 and this decision was to prove to be the salvation of the club.

Those old enough to remember the World War of 1939/45 will recall the post-war years when everything was in short supply and essential goods were rationed. Coal was particularly in demand and not enough could be produced from the mines to meet the needs of our homes and industry. It was discovered that coal could be retrieved from just below the surface in certain areas and this led to a widespread devastation of the landscape when open cast mining was introduced. Old Bryn was a natural target and in the late 1950s a golf course was deemed easy pickings. The 9 holes were reduced to 6 and the final bombshell arrived in 1961 when Lancashire County Council threatened a Compulsory Purchase Order for the whole site. Like many such disasters, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Careful negotiations with the County Council produced a compensation package of £28,900 and an even better bargain was achieved when Lord Gerard agreed to sell 60 acres of his Garswood Hall Estate for £5,000. This enabled the members to construct a new 9 hole course on the present site which was opened when the Captain drove in on 16 October 1965. Hawtree & Son were the Golf Course Architects and they were also appointed in 1974 when the course was extended to 18 holes. The extra 50 acres of land had previously been leased to the National Coal Board who agreed a surrender, thus allowing the club to buy it from Lord Gerard. A major building project saw the present Clubhouse completed in 1996 at a cost of £340,000 - far removed from it’s original form in 1902 and showing the effects of inflation because the tender for the Garswood Park Clubhouse in 1965 was only £14,900. Current members can now enjoy the benefits laid down by Lord Gerard in the 19th century when he planted species of trees from every country in the British Empire. His legacy is a golf course often described as a miniature Wentworth where precision driving is essential.

In April 1953 the club applied and was admitted into the Society of Liverpool Golf Captains. Harold Winstanley, Captain of Ashton in 1966, was the first from his club to be appointed Captain of the Society in 1985/86 and was later President of the Lancashire Union of Golf Clubs in 1988/89. Dennis Boardman, Captain of Ashton in 1987, was the second from his Club to be appointed Captain of the Society in 2003/04.

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On 24 May 1913 a meeting took place at the Grove Hotel, Wallasey where members of three local golfing societies, Grove, Warren and West Wirral, met to discuss their logistical problems of having to play their golf on the congested 9 holes of the Warren Municipal.  They agreed to combine their resources and lease a piece of land between Leasowe Road and the River Fender to form a new 9 hole course. Within three months the new club was ready for action and on 16 August 1913 the first Captain, S Forsythe, drove off to inaugurate Bidston Golf Club.

Ten years later the club leased a further piece of land between the railway and the River Fender and in 1924 the course was extended to 15 holes. In the following year the course became a full 18 holes which was to remain unchanged until World War II. Like many other courses Bidston had to sacrifice some of its land for farming and 15 acres were given over to the local farmers for ploughing and sowing oats. In the early 1950s the construction of the Leasowe housing estate caused the loss of the view over the sand-hills but, conversely, provided an access which alleviated the problem of members relying on railway staff to open the level crossing gates at Bidston station.

The construction of the M53 Motorway in the late 1960’s deprived the club of 20 acres of land and the course layout had to be changed. Compensation for the loss of the land helped the club to maintain its facilities which had taken a serious blow following a disastrous clubhouse fire in 1972. However, the future of the club was secured in 1992 when the members were able to purchase the lease of the land and in the following year a new entrance from Bidston Link Road was opened. This allowed the club to close off the Scoresby Road access to all but pedestrians thus eliminating the annoyance of vehicular traffic crossing the course. The development of several plantations of trees has helped to restore the character and definition of the course.

Bidston was not amongst the 20 clubs listed in the Society records for 1939 and it is assumed that they joined around 1949. They have had strong links with the administration of the Society in two eras, the most recent being through the Immediate Past Honorary Secretary and Treasurer, Eddy Hampson. The Society is indebted to Eddy for his hard work and also to the staff of Bidston Golf Club who provided the back-up secretarial facilities. Bill Lodge was Captain of Bidston in 1950 and 1951 and served as the Society Treasurer for 7 years before he was elected Society Captain in 1958/59. Doug Cox was the second Bidston Captain to serve as Captain of the Society in 1998/99 and has served on the Committee for many years.

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Like many golf clubs, the early days of Bromborough are not accurately recorded. Their Centenary book refers to a meeting at a Bromborough school in 1903 at which a plan was agreed to form a club on a 9 hole course that had been built by the Hassall family who were local farmers. It was decided that the annual subscription should be one guinea and the initial membership target of 100 was soon reached. In 1904 a local landowner, Major Herbert Lancelyn Green, was elected as the first Captain and in the following year his daughter became the first Captain of the Ladies Section.

The Hassall family were tenants of the Earl of Shrewsbury who owned the land and who subsequently sold it to William Hesketh Lever in 1911. He later became the first Viscount Leverhulme whose interest in golf continued through three successive Viscount Leverhulmes until the death of the last holder of the title in 2000. William Hesketh Lever was elected the first club President in 1912 and the Presidency continued through William Hulme Lever and Philip William Bryce Lever the second and third Viscounts. William Hulme Lever was Captain for three successive years from 1920 to 1922 and Philip William Lever was Captain in 1949. The latter generously donated two acres of land to the club on which to build a new Clubhouse. The Leverhulme estates still own most of the land through a family Trust.

Golf was suspended during the first World War and in 1915 the old clubhouse was converted by the Red Cross into a military hospital. It was fitted out with some of the most modern equipment available at that time with accommodation for an average of 160 beds. A total of 1,245 patients were treated at the hospital before it was handed back to the golf club in 1919.

The restoration of the golf course after the war coincided with its expansion from 9 to 18 holes and the clubhouse, built after the original had been destroyed by fire in 1910, was extended and improved. The club enjoyed a period of relative stability until war again intervened in 1939. This time the impact was even more severe due to its proximity to Hooton aerodrome and the whole course was lost to the war effort. Concrete roads were constructed to build a base for the American forces and the course was used as a build-up for the D-Day landings in France.

Britain’s first motorways were built in 1955 and golf courses were prime targets for the new routes. In the late 1960’s Huyton & Prescot and Bromborough simultaneously lost land to their respective local authorities and both were fortunate to be compensated with new land and new holes designed by Hawtree & Son. Bromborough lost four holes to the M53 and was temporarily reduced to 15 holes until re-opening in its present form in 1972. Good course management and tree planting since then have created one of the most testing courses on the Wirral, producing some outstanding men and women golfers and being regularly used by The Cheshire County Union for its competitions.

Bromborough was a founder member of the Society and has produced three Captains, Frank Hayes (1964/65), Harry Wellings (1981/82) and David Kerr (1994/95).

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Caldy Manor Estate Limited was formed in 1906 to purchase and develop the 600 acres of heath and farmland known as Caldy Manor. The Company planned to create a pleasant residential village with only one shop and individual building plots of at least one acre. A golf course was deemed to be an attractive amenity for residents and their friends and Jack Morris, the first professional at the nearby Royal Liverpool Golf Club, was paid a fee of one and a half guineas to design the 9 holes. All of the holes were to the West of the railway line with the River Dee as the other main boundary.

The first meeting of the Golf Committee was held on 31 July 1907 and it decided that the club should be a private one and that the original shareholders should be Life Members. Ladies should be permitted to use the course under the usual conditions imposed by local clubs. Sunday play was not permitted for many years and then only after 12.30pm and the clubhouse was not open for refreshments. It was 25 years before the first bar was introduced in 1932 for the sale of intoxicating liquors.

In 1908 a cottage style clubhouse was built near to the present 6th green and is still clearly recognisable as part of the private house now adjacent to the 7th tee. In 1909 the club contributed to the cost of building a new railway station nearby and this was to prove a popular means of transport for members and visitors. It was not until 1925 that the men had the use of a locker room, built as a separate structure to the east of the clubhouse.  The ladies had to wait until the early 1950s to get theirs on the opposite side.

By 1920 the Estate Company had agreed to allow the golfers to run their own affairs and o ered to rent the land to them. The following year a private Members club was formed with membership limited to 200 Full Members and 100 Lady Associates. In 1923 the Estate Company offered to sell the 50 acres of land and the clubhouse and this offer was accepted. A further 50 acres on the other side of the railway were bought in 1929 and James Braid was commissioned to design an additional 9 holes. His fee of 10 guineas proved to be money well spent and in 1931 the club became an 18 hole course.

The crumbling cliffs along the River Dee boundary have been a concern for many years and remedial work has been expensive and, hopefully, successful. A further protection for the future has been the astute purchase of extra land which also enabled the clubhouse to be moved to its present site in 1974. A major upgrade in 1998 created a fine clubhouse to match an enjoyable golf course in a superb location.

Although the club celebrated its Centenary in 2007 its Captains are only listed from 1920 when it became a private Members club. Prior to that date it would appear that the office of Captain was not filled annually and only two names are recorded.  There is also uncertainty as to when the club joined the Society of Liverpool Golf Captains and the first time that Caldy appears in the Minute Book is 1949. Despite this late entry into the Society, Caldy has made up for lost time having produced four Society Captains, Ken Adams (1961/62), David Evans (1977/78), Jack Ormrod (1991/92) and most recently Philip Bailey (2015/16).

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Childwall Golf Club has occupied three sites and has undergone three name changes since its formation in 1912. It started life as a nine hole course on the meadows bounded by Speke Road, Watergate Lane and Macketts Lane. The course was owned by Peter McGuffie, a wealthy ship owner, who had bought Woolton Hall, a former Molyneux family country house and opened it as the Woolton Hall Hydro Hotel. He built the golf course for the benefit of his family and the Hotel guests and in 1912 a group known as the Hydro Links players was formed and were allowed to use some rooms in the stable block. On 15 March 1913 they changed their name to the Woolton Hall Hydro Golf Club.

When the Hotel closed in 1915 the golfers operated the course under licence and in 1917 they obtained a five year lease and dropped the word Hydro from the title. At the expiry of the lease on 31 December 1921 the Council was unable to agree satisfactory terms with the McGuffie family and in the following year they found a new site leasing 52 acres from the Marquess of Salisbury. In May 1922 the name was changed to The Childwall Golf Club and twelve holes were opened followed by another six holes constructed two years later on an extra 24 acres of land.

In 1935 a new Town Planning scheme, plus the desire of Lord Salisbury to dedicate part of the course as a site for a voluntary Hospital, caused another change of location. This proved to be the defining moment in the club’s history because the members were able to raise £8,000 to purchase the 204 acres Holt Hall Farm estate and to instruct James Braid to design the 18 hole layout. In 1938 W H Baines, the Town Clerk of Liverpool, laid the foundation stone of the new Art Deco style clubhouse which was formally opened by the Lord Mayor on 10 June 1939. The forecast at that time was that one day the course would be one of the finest parkland courses in the area, an accurate prediction.

Childwall’s initial application to join the Society was rebuffed on 17 June 1926 when the Committee met at 6 pm on the day of the Annual Competition.  The record in the Minute Book states “It was regretted that the application from Childwall GC for membership could not be entertained.  The Committee did not see their way to increase the numbers”. As only 45 cards were taken out that day and 36 men sat down to dinner this would appear to have been a surprising decision. One can only speculate that the Committee might have been anxious to get back to the bar rather than have a long deliberation on the merits of Childwall’s case! However, a second application coupled with Grange Park on 2 May 1931 met with a more favourable response.

Childwall has produced three Society Captains, Jack Stanway Johnson (1962/63), George Morrow (1978/79) and John McAuley (2004/05). Jack Stanway Johnson played a signifcant role in the development of the Society having served as Honorary Secretary/Treasurer for a period of 35 years. Following his retirement he was elected as Honorary Life President of the Society and in the following year he presented a trophy bearing his name.

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On 4 January 1922 a meeting took place in the Orrell Council Offices when it was resolved that a golf club be formed and that it should be known as the Dean Wood Golf Club.

Later meetings took place in the more informal surroundings of the Abbey Lakes Hotel and the Stag Inn. Subscriptions were initially fixed at £2 for men and £1 for ladies. The Chairman of the first meeting was Mr R O Hall who subsequently became the first Captain of the club.

In the absence of proper facilities the original members had to make do with nails driven into an oak tree but fairly soon a wooden clubhouse was built at a cost of £175. It was constructed on the site of the present greenkeeper’s bungalow by the 13th tee but was later replaced by a new two storey clubhouse off Lafford Lane. This in turn was demolished in the late 1980s to make way for the present clubhouse.

Like many golf courses Dean Wood was constructed with 9 holes which started on the present 13th hole and finished at the present 12th. In 1932 it was decided to extend the course to 18 holes and James Braid was commissioned to design the extra 9 holes. It is said that he saved the life of the crucial oak tree on the second hole for which he should be remembered with gratitude.

A handbook published in 1933 described the course and its surroundings as follows:

“The course itself offers an excellent day’s golf made all the more enjoyable by some splendid views and a bracing atmosphere. For the first few holes the quaint old village of Upholland is constantly in view but beyond number 5 one feels that the real open country has been reached and with it some of the finest views in the district. On the one hand is rolling well-wooded country stretching to Rivington and its surrounding hills of Anglezarke, whilst on the other hand is the Billinge-Ashurst Ridge, with St Joseph’s College standing out prominently. In between, the Douglas Valley presents a pretty picture.”

Tony Coop served as club professional for 45 years until his retirement in 1999 when he was elected as an Honorary Life Member. He achieved national fame in the 1960s with his performances in the Open Championship and he has played an active part in the Liverpool and District Golfing Alliance.

On 22 April 1954 the Society Committee accepted the application from Dean Wood to join the Society of Liverpool Golf Captains. The club has been a staunch supporter of the Society and its Captains have won the Leverhulme Salver on four occasions to date. In 1990 Norman Whittaker was elected as the first Captain of the Society from the Dean Wood club and has since been followed by David Morris in 2009.

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For many embryo golf courses the railway provided a connection with the outside world and Freshfield Station was the link that helped to establish Formby Golf Club. Uniquely, it also divided the club from its neighbour, Freshfield Golf Club which was situated on the other side of the line. Both clubs are featured in the early Minute Book of the Society with Formby as a founder member hosting the Annual Competition in 1927 and fielding a strong team including four Past Captains (all in single figures) in the top 10 scores. Freshfield Golf Club was converted into an aerodrome in 1941 and was not rebuilt after World War II.

The History of Formby Golf Club,written by Ivor Thomas in 1972, attributes the formation of the club to John Bushby who convened the first meeting on 11 December 1884 and acted as Hon Secretary for the first two years. He was never Captain, the honour of the first holder of that office going to William MacIver. The first members were 21 gentlemen who allowed ladies who were related to a member to play, except on Saturdays. The 9 hole course was on Mr William Halewood’s Warren and he was elected an Honorary Life Member and received £10 per “season” as rent. The season ran from 1st October to the Saturday nearest the following 15th April but the conception of golf as a part time activity was soon abandoned and in 1886 it was decided to rent the links for a whole year at a cost of £30 per annum.

The original clubhouse was primitive with a thatched roof and cost less than £3. It was enlarged five years later at a cost of £30 to provide a self-service “cellar cool” bar accessed by a trap door. In 1891 the Council authorised £2,000 to be spent on a permanent clubhouse which was further extended in 1895 but then destroyed by fire in 1899. Undeterred, the 483 members raised £7,000 to build an even better clubhouse which was opened on 4 May 1901. This included residential accommodation and set the standard for the future. A more recent refurbishment and extension has created a clubhouse to match the grandeur of the course.

By the early nineties the course had been extended to 18 holes and in 1896 Formby Ladies Golf Club was formed with a membership of 120. A separate pavilion clubhouse was built for the ladies and, uniquely, they have their own 18 hole course constructed inside the circle of the men’s 18. The men’s course has undergone changes over the years with the well known names of Braid, Willie Park Jnr, Hawtree, Taylor, Pennink and Steele all making their contributions. The club became a Limited company in 1948 and the future of the course was secured in 1963 with the purchase of the freehold interest of 400 acres for £24,500.

Formby has a long association with amateur golf and has staged the Amateur, the Brabazon, the English Close and the British Ladies’ Championships and in 2004 hosted the biennial match between the USA and GB&I for the Curtis Cup. It has supported junior golf through the Boys’ Championship and the Liverpool & District Colts, and the Formby Hare provides an open scratch competition for low handicap golfers. As a founder member of the Society Formby has had two Captains, F Stanley Morris (1951/52) and Peter Wilson (1973/74). Peter has also served as President of the Lancashire and of the English Golf Unions and in 2008 he was awarded the Gerald Micklem Award for services to golf. P B S (Sands) Johnson, to whom Geoffrey Leece passes considerable thanks for his assistance in this research, has also served as President of the Lancashire Union of Golf Clubs.

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The four founding fathers of Gathurst Golf Club were Alfred Broach, William Griffin, Matthew Taylor and Ernest Brooks (EB) Naylor, all neighbours living in Gathurst Lane, Shevington. They convened a meeting on 18 December 1913 at which 15 men decided to form the club and to sign a lease for a plot of land owned by a local farmer, John Ball. The land measured 13 acres, 3 roods and 26 perches (how many of us remember these old measurements?). William Griffin was appointed the first Captain for 1914 and Matthew Taylor was President. The first reference to lady members relates to a prize presented to the ladies in 1917 by the Captain, E B Naylor.

One can only speculate as to the condition of the course which was opened to play 5 days after the inaugural meeting. Of the 9 holes, the longest was no more than 150 yards and three were less than 50 yards so by present standards it was more like a pitch and putt course. The part-time greenkeeper was assisted by a boy fitted with a halter to pull the mower. The only “clubhouse” facility for the early years was a barn at Naylor’s Farm until a disused cricket pavilion was acquired but even this had no basic amenities. The greenkeeper also had the less than pleasant task of emptying the contents of the outside privy pail into the open ditch at Liptrot’s Wood. Health and safety was not a consideration in those days!

The playing area was doubled in 1922 when an additional 15 acres were leased from Mr Liptrot. The members still had to contend with grazing animals and playing over hedgerows but at least they had 9 holes of reasonable length on which to play. In 1927 the club had its first custom-designed clubhouse situated on Gathurst Lane but further trouble was looming after a dispute with the landlord. The outcome was the purchase of the freehold in 1937 and this was to provide some much needed stability until the arrival of the M6 in 1959. The motorway bisected the course affecting 8 out of the 9 holes and left the clubhouse on the “wrong” side of the motorway. Fortunately, a local farmer was in the same situation and a swap deal was arranged. Compensation money enabled the course to be re-planned and a new clubhouse erected on the present site.

In the years between 1959 and 1989 the course was extended to 12 holes as a step towards the creation of an 18 hole course. In 1991 Mr J Wilkinson, a local landowner, agreed to sell 26 hectares of land on the west side of the course thus allowing a further 6 holes to be created. The proposals were approved by the membership and in December 1993 the contract for purchase was signed. Mr M Pearson was appointed to design the layout of the new holes and the 18 hole course was formally opened on 22 July 1995.

Gathurst joined the Society on 28 November 1968 and Frank Smith, Captain of Gathurst in 1966, was elected Society Captain for 1997/98. Tom King, who had been Club Captain in 2004, became the second Society Captain from the club when he was elected for 2017/18.

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In his Centenary book the late Bert Fairclough referred to the theft of the original Minute Books which left historians with little information regarding the first 26 years of Grange Park Golf Club. Newspaper articles from that time have helped to establish that the first meeting of interested parties took place in 1890 at the home of Mr Benjamin Bradshaw Glover who was appointed Captain when the club was formed in the following year. The task of finding a suitable plot for a 9 hole golf course was given to Mr C H Jolliffe and he eventually located a 42 acre site on the south side of Prescot Road, opposite to the entrance of the present course. After using 24 Lugsmore Lane as a clubhouse for the first 10 years the men moved into the upper rooms of the Grange Park Hotel with the ladies in Grange Park Farmhouse.

The course was “marked out” by the Hoylake professional, John Morris, with the holes varying between 185 and 220 yards in length. The fortunes of the club suffered fluctuations during the early years with falling membership and shortage of funds which tempted the club Council in 1900 to accept a fee of £25 to allow the Royal Lancashire Agricultural Show to use the site. The success of the show was not shared by the club which was left with a major reconstruction problem after 15,000 spectators had trampled all over the tees and greens to watch horse jumping and similar activities.

On 22 April 1911 the club was incorporated into a Company Limited by Guarantee with a unique clause in its constitution. This stated that in the event of a winding-up any surplus assets would not be distributed among the members but would be given to some institution having similar objects, thus ensuring that the funds would be ploughed back into the game of golf. Two years later an extra 9 holes were added of which 8 were on the other side of Prescot Road and required the golfers to cross the road twice. The 1913 course of 18 holes would undergo a further 6 major transformations over the next 78 years. Changes of location and layout in 1923, 1927, 1957,1967, 1969 and 1991 have now established the course on the north side of Prescot Road with two loops of 9 holes.

The clubhouse from 1926 to 1957 was the Sycamores, an old Victorian Building in Prescot Road. The present clubhouse, built in 1957 at a cost of £25,000, has since been extended and refurbished. The land on which it stands was purchased from Pilkington Brothers and no mention of Grange Park would be complete without reference to this family. Having grown to be one of the world’s leading producers of flat and safety glasses as well as providing employment to the local population, Pilkington Brothers has also been generous to the golf club. In 1968 Lord Pilkington agreed that his Company would sell the leasehold interest in the course for £40,000 and for the ensuing 999 years the club will hand over a red rose as “rent” each Midsummer. Following the death of Lord Pilkington, the Chairman of the Company is now the regular recipient of this traditional gift.

Grange Park joined the Society in 1931 and has produced three Captains, Ben Spaven (1960/61), Leslie Stewart(1975/76) and John Currie (1999/2000). Leslie Stewart also served as President of the Lancashire Union of Golf Clubs and in the 1952 Open Championship John William Jones was the leading Amateur and Silver medallist.

In 1977 Ben Spaven presented a trophy for the over 65s which is competed for at the Annual Competition.

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On 5 January 1877 with Queen Victoria on the throne and Disraeli as Prime Minister Haydock Park Golf Club was formed. Records from that era report that there were only ten golf clubs in the whole of England at that time so Haydock could well have been the eleventh. Another early record from the local newspaper, The Wigan Observer and District Advertiser, reports on the first Captain’s Prize provided by Dr Lister and held on 12 May 1877. It was reportedly played over 22 holes but as the course in 1877 was either 9 or 12 holes there is some mystery as to the number of holes played that day.

Unfortunately, some of the club records for the next thirty years are missing. However, there is an Ordnance Survey map which shows the location of the course approximately half a mile to the west of the present course. An entry in the Victorian History of the Counties of England states “  The course of the Haydock Park Golf Club adjoins the well-known racecourse at Dean Dam Moor, Newton-le-Willows. The club was founded in January 1877 by Dr Lister, Dr Watkins, the Rev H Siddall and others and its original links of nine holes have never been extended to the regulation eighteen. The links are charmingly situated in a wooded district and the pasture land on which they are laid out is slightly undulating”. The list of founders should also include the Rev.Pym Williamson whose medal is still competed for to this day.

The move to Golborne Park was taken at very short notice in December 1921 and seven months later Fred Green drove himself into the Captain’s office on the new 18 hole course. The club was also reconstituted as a Limited Liability Company with an 18th century mansion for a clubhouse instead of the previous humble sports pavilion.

The club suffered more devastation than most golf clubs as a result of World War II. The course was closed for play and part of the land was turned over for grazing. In 1943 the course was requisitioned for military purposes to billet American troops preparing for the invasion of Europe. It was not until Easter of 1948 that it was restored for the benefit of members and on 29 July 1951 the Captain drove off to reopen the course as 18 holes.

In May 1961 four Ex-Captains of the club, whose names are not known, applied to join the Society and were duly admitted. Thus, Haydock Park became a member of the Society and the club has since produced two Society Captains, Tom Boydell (1980/81) and Derek Walkden (2007/08).

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Southport Golf Club was founded on 3 January 1885 at the instigation of Captain J Hardy Welsby “and a few friends”. He was one of 29 founder members some of whom, including John Dun a Past Captain of Royal Liverpool, were members of other clubs. Membership and involvement in a number of clubs was a common feature of the early golfers and part of the mechanism that resulted in the spread of the game. The land for the course at Marshside was leased from Colonel Edward Fleetwood Hesketh and the 12 holes were soon increased to 18 later in the year.

Until 1891 the course was known as the New Inn Links, named after the nearby Inn which provided a club room for the members. The golfers had to negotiate their way around the scattered cottages of fishermen and shrimpers and along the tracks on which they travelled and a further impediment were squatters who inhabited the nearby hamlet of Little Ireland. They numbered about 500 and lived in slum dwellings situated near to the present clubhouse and the problems they created motivated the club to move inland to Moss Lane in 1892. The Moss Lane Links were leased from the Scarisbrick Estates, Charles Scarisbrick having been one of the original founding members. The new course had 18 holes, one being a monster 546 yards, and membership flourished with a ceiling of 250 members imposed in 1894.

However, by 1901 the Hesketh family had sorted out their problems at Marshside having cleared out the unwelcome squatters. The Hesketh Estate decided to restore the former New Inn Links to its former glory with additional land and a new clubhouse and Charles Hesketh Bibby Hesketh issued a prospectus setting out his plans. Furthermore, he invited the Southport Club to join him back at Marshside and despite having signed a new lease at Moss Lane the members agreed to return to their original home. Thus in 1902 the name was changed to Hesketh Golf Club using the splendid clubhouse sitting on top of the old beach cliff which still serves the present members, albeit somewhat extended over the years.

The 1920s were troubled times for the club following several attempts by the landlord to sell the land. The course was saved when Southport Corporation bought the land in 1936 and granted a 99 year lease to the club. There were conditions attached but the club survived and the future was finally secured by a later 999 year lease. There have been a number of changes to the course layout over the years but the essential links features have remained.

In 1908 the possibility of a Golf Union for Lancashire had been debated and this led to 29 clubs deciding to go ahead and form the Union. The inaugural Lancashire Championship was played at Hesketh in 1910, the winner being Hesketh’s G F Smith. The brothers Arnold and Harry Bentley also played 82 times for the County and 70 times for England. The club played an even bigger part on the national scene when a Past-Captain, J Rayner Batty, convened a meeting in 1924 that was to lead to the formation of the English Golf Union and also to his appointment as its first President. Derek Holden, a twice Captain of Hesketh in 1967 and 1985, served as President of the Lancashire Union of Golf Clubs in 1997.

As a founder member of the Society, Hesketh has provided four Captains in Bryce Hanmer (1950/51), Norman Thorpe (1970/71), Peter Jones (1993/94) and Colin Roberts (2016/17).

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The Hotel Victoria, now demolished, was the venue on 12 June 1902 for a meeting of prospective Heswall Golf Club members. The meeting was summoned by Mr G Bradstock Lockett and following the unanimous decision to form the club he was appointed Honorary Secretary. By 31 July 1902 a total of 66 Members and 45 Lady Associates had joined. As with many other courses, the railway was a major factor as regards location and Heswall station on the old London & North Western Railway provided a convenient access for the members. Today the old line, now a public footpath known as the Wirral Way, acts as a barrier between the East and West sections of the course and must be crossed to complete the round. Unlike most courses Heswall started as 18 holes and although new holes have been added and the layout changed over the years the essential parkland features have remained. The original course was designed by Jack Morris, the professional at Royal Liverpool, who was involved in the layout of many local courses during that era.

Lady Associates were encouraged from the start and at the course opening on 6 September 1902 the first Captain, Mr E Twigge, stated “One of the objects of the club is the abolition of golfing widows in the district.” His philosophy has endured to this day as Heswall still has one of the largest ladies sections in the locality. Gladys Temple Dobell (nee Ravenscroft) is by far the best remembered lady member having won the English and the American Ladies Championships in 1912/13 as well as featuring in many other international golfing events.

In the early days rooms were rented from Gayton Hall farm but these were soon given up following several outbreaks of diphtheria. On 13 February 1904 the members approved plans for the construction of a wood and iron clubhouse on a brick foundation at a cost of £1,500 and they also approved a new 21 year lease for the course. This clubhouse, together with all club records, was destroyed by fire on 20 January 1924 and two years later the first stage of the present building was constructed. There are few golf courses that can boast a location that the Heswall clubhouse enjoys. Sitting on rising land above the 18th green with views down to the River Dee and the mountains of Wales, the present clubhouse has been extended over the years. Its most popular feature is the outside terrace, sheltered from the winds, where an evening drink can be taken whilst watching the sun set over the Clwyd hills.

On 21 December 1948 the Council took the opportunity to buy the freehold of the land nanced by promissory notes from members. Frank Pennink reviewed the course in 1968 and made suggestions for improvement including the construction of new holes. More recently, Donald Steel drew up and supervised the plans for the new land purchased in 2000 and opened for play in 2007.

On the administrative side, Heswall has had two Presidents of the English Golf Union, Stuart Cookson in 1994 and Fred Caroe in 2006 and both have also served as President of the Cheshire Union of Golf Clubs. Other Cheshire Presidents have been Frank Harkins and Stuart Gorman. As far as the Society is concerned, Frank Harkins in 1988 and Robert J Carter in 2013 have served as Captain. 

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Hillside is the tasty meat in the sandwich between Royal Birkdale and Southport & Ainsdale on a superb stretch of coastal sand dunes. These three courses sit side by side, divided only by the electric railway that links Southport with the City of Liverpool. The railway line is uppermost in the mind of a golfer standing on the first tee at Hillside where a hooked shot is not the recommended route.

The absence of club records prior to 1923 hinders the research into the early history which is believed to have started with a meeting at the Portland Hotel in the summer of 1911. Those present decided to make use of the 9 holes that had been laid out by the Blundell Golf Club which had moved to Ainsdale that year and which disbanded in the 1930s. The course was on land leased from Hillside Farm and situated to the East of the railway but by 1922 more space was required to accommodate the increasing membership. New housing development in that area meant that a move to the other side of the railway was a preferred option and discussions were opened with the Weld Blundell Estate to lease a stretch of land suitable for an 18 hole course. A 21 year lease was agreed and the new course was opened to play on 4 August 1923. The first Captain was R Mook in 1919 and he held office again in 1922.

On 28 February 1923 a Limited Liability Company was formed with a share capital of £3,000 and each founder member was issued with a share certificate and a commemorative mug. The early meetings were not without discord as some members objected to the move and to the proposed construction of an “expensive” clubhouse which was specially designed to allow it to be sold as a house if the club should be forced out of business. The clubhouse was opened on 19 December 1924 and the structure still forms the nucleus of the present building. Finances were stretched but under the Chairmanship of Louis Rowlandson with Hugh Davies as Honorary Secretary the Board was able to provide the financial stability to steer the club through a di fficult period of transition.

In October 1957 the respected golf course architect, Fred Hawtree, produced his plans which were to take Hillside into the top flight of courses throughout the world. It involved the release to Southport Corporation of 4 holes at the far end of the course in exchange for unused land between the Hillside and Birkdale courses. A unique feature of the exchange was that the construction of the new holes would be financed by the sale of 200,000 tons of sand taken from the new area. Hawtree subsequently reconstructed the front 9 holes and the new Championship course was opened in June 1967. Only 4 of the holes now bear any close resemblance to the holes of the original course.

Hillside has hosted the Amateur, English Amateur, European Amateur and Boys Amateur Championships as well as the Ladies British Open and a host of professional events. It is regularly used as a qualifying course when the Open Championship is played next door at Royal Birkdale. The Club joined the Society in 1934 and has produced two Captains, Bert Collinge (1959/60) and Bryan Greenwood (2000/01).

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The first 35 years of the club appear to have run smoothly, possibly masked by the loss of all records, trophies and honours boards. Huyton Golf Club was formed in 1905 at the instigation of the Atherton family who owned and lived on the estate. Hurst House had been a rural retreat in the early 1700s having originally been constructed as a square manor house with later additions in 1879 including the clock tower with its five bell chime. The Atherton family were founders of the nearby British Insulated Wire Company, later to become BICC, and their family home was the first domestic property to be wired for electricity using the paper insulated wiring that they had introduced to Britain. The two Atherton brothers who lived at Hurst House did not get on together as evidenced during the 1961 clubhouse refurbishment when it was discovered that part of the house was wired for alternating current (AC) and the other part for direct current (DC).

James Braid directed the layout for the 18 hole course and Herbert Baxter was appointed Captain and the Hon. Arthur Stanley, the son of Lord Derby, elected as President. Lord Derby was a friend of the Athertons and would sometimes bring the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII, to play at Huyton. Deer donated by Lord Derby roamed the park until one of them attacked a local golfing vicar and his Lordship was asked to take them back to Knowsley. The initial membership was 77 men and 45 ladies with the latter having the same voting rights as the men - an enlightened philosophy that was extended to the mixed use of the clubhouse, thus setting the standard for future social relations within the club.

The year 1939 brought bad news to the club, not only for the outbreak of World War II when it became a convalescent home, but also because the Athertons served notice that the lease would not be renewed. They set up Huyton Golf Links Ltd to manage the course on a “pay as you go” basis and many members left to join other clubs.Those who remained formed Huyton & District Golf Club paying green fees until 1945 when they formed Hurst Park Golf Club with a scheme to sign a new lease. However, before they could do so the Athertons announced their plan to sell the estate and that they had received a firm offer. A determined group of 62 members managed to raise and borrow £29,000 to buy the course and clubhouse. Thus on 26 August 1948 Huyton & Prescot Golf Club Ltd was formed and the other bidders graciously withdrew and went o to build Lee Park. Bob Knowles was elected Captain with Jack Vaughan as Secretary, a position he held for 34 years. His daughter, Sheila Maher, a former international golfer, was Captain of the Lancashire Ladies Golf Union in 2007.

There was welcome financial relief in 1954 when land at the paddock was sold for building. A major reconstruction of the clubhouse in 1961 was followed by an even greater upheaval in 1969 when the M57 motorway removed a quarter of the land. Compensatory land from BICC enabled the course to be re-planned under the guidance of Fred Hawtree and Dave Smith’s Development Committee. As a member of that Committee Geoffrey Leece enjoyed a unique opportunity to plan a new golf course and his lasting epitaph is that he can claim the 5th hole as his idea.

Harold Hayco was one of the four men who attended the first recorded Committee meeting of the Society in 1923 and in the following year he presented the trophy that still bears his name. Walter Coombs was Society Captain in 1965/66 and Geoffrey Leece  followed him in 1987/88.

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Leasowe Golf Club started in 1891 and has steadfastly remained “men only” throughout its existence. It was formed as a 9 hole course situated adjacent to Leasowe Lighthouse and moved along the coast to the present site in 1894. The original course was taken over by Moreton Ladies Golf Club but their tenure there lasted only 10 years until the outbreak of the first World War when it was requisitioned for agricultural purposes and never rebuilt.

The legendary John Ball Jnr. was instrumental in the formation of the club and served as Captain for the first four years of its existence. He was 29 when the club was formed having in the previous year won the British Amateur Championship at his home club, Royal Liverpool, and the Open Championship at Prestwick. This feat has never been repeated and in total he won the Amateur Championship eight times. In between playing competitive golf and internationals all over the country he still found time to play in Leasowe competitions off a handicap of +10 and to serve in the Boer War with the Denbighshire Yeomanry.

A room at the Lighthouse served as the changing room until the move in 1894 when an approach to the adjacent Leasowe Castle was rejected. An issue of 4% debentures to the members raised the £455 required to build a clubhouse situated on the present site. The new course of 9 holes was laid out by the Royal Liverpool professional, Jack Morris, and John Ball Jnr. The Leasowe Committee resolved that all members should be asked to wear red coats with slate grey collars when playing on the links - now only worn formally by Captains and Past Captains.

Another innovation from 1894 was the arrangement with the Wirral Railway Company for the opening of a new station at Leasowe together with the provision of pony and trap transport to the course. By 1904 the course had been extended to 18 holes, some of which would have been seaward of the present course. Erosion of the sand dunes plus a period of controlled sand removal has changed the contours over the years but the sea defences have now been secured with the construction of a coastal walk and seaside park.

As most of the original golf clubhouses were constructed of timber perhaps it is not surprising how many of them were destroyed by fire. Leasowe’s loss occurred on 18 August 1963 when only the steward’s house remained after the clubhouse and all it’s records and trophies were burnt. Fortunately, the club had just increased its insurance cover and was able to rebuild the clubhouse and supply the members with brand new golf clubs.

By 1984 a land switch had been completed which left the club as owners of all its land and with no further responsibility for the sea defences. Two years later the members approved plans for an extension of the clubhouse which was completed and occupied in 1986. Landscaping with soil from Everton’s old football pitch has helped to enhance the course appearance.

Leasowe was a founder member of the Society and has produced four Captains - G Dudley West (1955/56), Bill Gillmore (1968/69), Ron Ceha (1984/85) and latterly David Laidlaw (2010/11). Ian Fraser (Captain 1975), who died in the Society's Centenary year, was awarded the Victoria Cross in World War II for sinking a Japanese Cruiser from a midget submarine.

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In the mid 1940s the Merseyside Jewish Golfing Society decided to establish its own course in the Liverpool area along the lines of similar clubs in Leeds, Manchester and London. The first opportunity came in 1945 when the Executors of the Atherton Estate, owners of the course at Hurst Park, Huyton, intimated their wish to sell. Sol Bennett, a member of Hurst Park at that time, summoned a meeting of Jewish golfers who agreed to offer £29,000 against the asking price of £30,000. Indecision by the Athertons caused the situation to drag on until late in 1948 by which time the Hurst Park members had managed to organise the finance and match the offer under the name of Huyton & Prescot Golf Club. Not wishing to get involved in a damaging auction, Sol and his friends withdrew their offer.

Their time had not been wasted because there was now a committed band of enthusiasts ready to respond to the next attempt, also organised by Sol Bennett. The 1954 - 2004 history of Lee Park Golf Club, compiled by Geoffrey Swift, quotes verbatim from Sol’s memoirs in which he tells of the trials and tribulations he and his friends endured before the club came into existence in 1954. Space here does not permit a full account of their efforts but it started in the Spring of 1950 when Sol spotted Lee Hall, a tumble-down mansion at Netherley and knocked on the door of the nearby farmhouse. To his delight he discovered that the farm, comprising 225 acres, was for sale and his offer to buy 75 acres was subsequently accepted with the remaining land to be sold at auction. By March 1953 the planning consents and funding were in place and Lee Park Golf Club held its first Directors Meeting. Jack Tarsh served as Captain for the first two years and Sol Bennett for the third. The first 12 holes were opened in 1954 and the remaining 6 in 1956.

Whilst Lee Hall, in its day, would have been a splendid clubhouse its condition was so poor that it was demolished and all that remains is the coach house by the 10th tee. The old farmhouse served as the first clubhouse until replaced by a new purpose built one which has been extended and refurbished over the years. After the initial euphoria, problems that had not been envisaged started to manifest themselves. The construction of four large tenement blocks were not only a blight on the landscape but also brought the unwelcome attention of children and youths bent on destruction. Despite the strenuous efforts of the greenkeeper, Terry Holmes assisted by his alsation dogs, trespass and vandalism was a constant problem which affected both the course and the clubhouse. Fish were removed from the ponds in the hope of deterring the children who gathered there and eventually the ponds were filled in. It was a great relief when the flats were demolished in 1992 thus restoring the rural landscape and the present day peaceful enjoyment of the members.

The original membership was almost entirely Jewish with a few Jewish friends. However, by the late 1970s it was obvious to the Council that falling membership was taking the club on a downward spiral and the decision was taken to actively recruit members from all faiths. It has always been a club policy to accept members from any persuasion. The success of this campaign has restored the financial stability of the club and approximately 80% of the present members are not Jewish. Lee Park is a Jewish club and observes the Jewish holy days and dietary rules. It joined the Society in 1956 and has provided two Captains, Dr Harold Cantor (1969/70) and Geoffrey Swift (1995/96).

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Situated in Lathom Park, a former seat of the Derby family, Ormskirk Golf Club came into being on 14 April 1899 when six local gentlemen promoted a meeting at the Ormskirk Workingmen’s Institute. They were all members of Southport (later changed to Hesketh) Golf Club which at that time had moved inland to Moss Lane and it is possible that the unsettled state of this club had influenced their decision to form Ormskirk. The outcome was that the founder members who attended the meeting quickly got down to business and declared the club duly constituted and proceeded to elect a Council, Trustees, Secretary, Treasurer and to name Mr H Brighouse as Captain. As he served for only part of the year he enjoyed a second term in 1900. The final decision taken at the inaugural meeting was the act of faith by 17 founder members in guaranteeing a total of £150 towards the erection of a clubhouse which was built later that year at a cost, including the furnishings, of £700.

The chosen site for the first 9 holes was New Park which at one time had been part of Lord Derby’s deer park. The course was leased from the Stanley Estates and was constructed under the direction of the former Open Champion, Harold Hilton, who played in the exhibition match when the course was opened on 2 December 1899. Hilton also supervised the construction of the second 9 holes in the adjacent Top Park which enabled the 18 hole course to be formally opened on 30 May 1903. Nine years later in 1912 the members grasped the opportunity to buy the freehold of the entire 125 acres for £5,700. The foresight of such members has to be applauded because whilst the deal appears to be incredibly cheap by today’s standards the £7,655 they had to borrow must have caused some sleepless nights.

The original clubhouse served the members until 1914 when a more substantial structure was built on the present site at a cost of £2,827. Electricity was installed in 1934, followed shortly afterwards by the addition of living accommodation for the Steward and there have been various other extensions over the years. In 1991 a new professional’s shop was built and if the cost of £75,000 seems expensive it is only a reflection on the impact of inflation. Parking problems were resolved in 1998 when the club spent £180,000 to buy and landscape an extra piece of land on which to lay a new car park on the opposite side of Cranes Lane, helpfully subsidised by a substantial refund of VAT.

Two major reconstructions have taken place since the course became 18 holes although the basic layout has not fundamentally changed. The parkland setting is now a stern but fair test of golf which has been used as a regional qualifying course for the Open Championship and to host County matches for the men and the ladies. The original 23 Lady Subscribers have now increased signi ficantly and the ladies section is well known for its support of County golf and the Liverpool Society of Lady Golf Captains.

Ormskirk was a founder member of the Society and Danny Garforth was elected as Society Captain in 1983/84, and also served as President of the Lancashire Union of Golf Clubs in 2004. Ian Gregson was the Captain of the Society for 2012, thus being the second from the club to hold this office.

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The 2005 Centenary book for Prenton Golf Club lists 50 other clubs in the British Isles that share their year of celebration which testi fies to the pace of interest in the game in 1905. Like many other clubs it was an informal meeting that started the ball rolling and in Prenton’s case it was a gathering on 18 February 1905 when 7 men formed themselves into a Committee and elected a President, Secretary and Treasurer. Their resolution “ that a small golfing club be formed” may in hindsight appear somewhat lacking in ambition but this perception was quickly changed when keen local interest caused the initial limit of 40 men and 20 ladies to be increased. Somewhat surprisingly, the first Captain appointed in the following year was not one of the original 7 founders, the honour going to P Harvey Dodd.

The first course of 9 holes, ranging from 130 to 280 yards, was set out in two fields that now form Waterpark Road and Elm Road. For the months of May to August the golfers had exclusive use of the land but for the rest of the year they had to give preference to other users. The rudimentary nature of the course can be gauged from the reward of one shilling given to a junior member for his suggestion that the water-filled jam jars that were sunk into the ground to mark the holes should be replaced by tin cans with holes punched in the base.

By 1908 the club had moved to a larger site nearer to Landican and had also built a substantial clubhouse. Further reconstruction of the course was interrupted by the Great War of 1914/18 when much of the course was given over to sheep and cattle grazing. On 4 May 1923 the course was formally opened with 18 holes, celebrated by an exhibition match between A G Havers and Abe Mitchell. A 40 year lease gave the club security of tenure and this was later consolidated when the club was able to purchase the freehold of the land.

German bombing raids during World War II caused damage to the clubhouse and the course. In the 1941 blitz the close proximity to the river Mersey exposed the club to attacks from land mines and incendiary bombs intended for the docks and shipyards at Birkenhead. The damage to the clubhouse was not repaired until after the war and the large cavity to the right of the present 8th green is a reminder of the damage a land mine can do, even with a controlled explosion. The making of Golf Links Road in the late 1950s left the main entrance to the clubhouse facing the wrong way and necessitating a reorganisation of the building layout. The new clubhouse was opened in 1966 and there were further alterations in the year 2000.

The Lees family played significant roles both for Prenton Golf Club and also for the Society. Father and son, G F Lees and Fred J Lees, both Captained Prenton and the latter served as Hon. Secretary and Treasurer of the Society for a period of 9 years until he was appointed its second Captain in 1948/49. Peter Dutton was Captain of the Society in 1972/73 and has played an active part in the affairs of the Cheshire and the English Golf Unions. He served as President of the Cheshire Union of Golf Clubs in 1971 and was President of the English Golf Union in 1989. Arthur Thelwell was President of the Cheshire Union in 1991 and Graham Hurton became the third Prenton member to Captain the Society in 2002/03.

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Birkdale Golf Club was formed on 30 July 1889 when nine gentlemen met at the house of Mr J C Barrett and agreed to rent a piece of land at Shaw Hills, close to the junction of Liverpool Road and Bedford Road. An annual rent of £5 was accepted by the landlord, Mr Weld Blundell, who was invited to become the first President. With a budget of £5.50, which overran by 16s 3d (81p), for preparing the nine holes one can only speculate on the state of the course which opened on 5 October 1889 with Mr R G Hayward as the first Captain.

The rules of the West Lancashire Golf Club were adopted as a model for the constitution but the model omitted any provision for non-resident members. At a Special Meeting on 23 December 1889 it was discovered that there was no power to change the rules except at the Annual Meeting so those present simply dissolved the club and immediately formed another one using exactly the same name. Ladies were then permitted to use the links three days a week but not on Saturdays or Bank Holidays. A room in Mr Barrett’s house in Bedford Road was rented as a club room for the men until January 1890 when they took rooms at the adjacent Portland Hotel and the ladies were allocated the room in Mr Barrett’s house.

The landscape at Birkdale in that era was quite different from the present and all land to the West of the Southport to Liverpool railway was sandhills, apart from the Cheshire Lines railway. Waterloo Road was not connected to Liverpool Road, ending south of Grosvenor Road, and there was no station at Hillside. It was a bold decision by the members to build an 18 hole course on the present site in 1897 and agree a twenty-one year tenancy for 190 acres. A Limited Company was formed and a temporary clubhouse constructed adjacent to the present 4th green. It was subsequently discovered that the clubhouse was built on land outside the tenancy and it had to be demolished and replaced in 1904. This remained in service until 1935 when the present Art Deco style clubhouse was built.

Southport Corporation must take some credit for the club’s present standing in world golf. Having purchased the land from the Weld Blundell Estate the Corporation offered the club a 99 (now 999) years lease on condition that they remodel the course to championship standard and build a clubhouse worthy of the course. In 1931 the members approved the proposals and architects F G Hawtree and J H Taylor combined to reconstruct the course. Their plan was to lay out each hole in its own valley between the sandhills thus avoiding blind shots and they should be commended for producing one of the fairest of the Championship courses.

The club received its Royal patronage in 1951 and was awarded the Open Championship for the first time in 1954. It has hosted nine Opens including 2008, the Society's Centenary year. It has been the venue for an impressive list of major golfing events both professional and amateur, men and ladies, including a memorable Ryder Cup in 1969 when Nicklaus conceded a putt to Jacklin to halve the match on the final green. Royal Birkdale has never been afraid to move with the times and the result is a course renowned throughout the golfing world.

As a founder member, the club has produced two Society Captains, Norman Stewart (1956/57) and John Benstead (1986/87). Sadly, John died in his year of office but left a legacy in the salver that bears his name. Gordon Jeffrey has served as Captain of the R&A.

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In 1869 the hamlet of Hoylake was a summer resort for the local gentry whose activities centred around the Royal Hotel and the Warren on which the Liverpool Hunt Club raced its horses. Both of these establishments exerted influence in the formative years of one of the most prestigious golf clubs in the world. It started when Mr J Muir Dowie called a meeting at the Royal Hotel and a month later in June 1869 the Liverpool Golf Club had been formed and Mr Dowie elected as Captain. In the following year the name was changed to the West Lancashire and Cheshire Golf Club but at the first general meeting the new name was vetoed and the former one restored. Perhaps it was the hunting connection that encouraged the members to wear a red coat with a green collar and plain gilt buttons inscribed LGC. The club still retains the unique tradition whereby the retiring Captain passes to his successor the club’s wand of office. This carved ivory baton had been used to conduct the community singing which frequently followed club dinners. The second Captain was Col. E H Kennard and in 1871 he was instrumental in gaining the Royal prefix through the Duke of Connaught.

The Royal Hotel in Stanley Road was the first headquarters for the club and was the scene of many a convivial post-golf dinner. The Hotel was owned by the father of John Ball who went on to become part of a triumvirate with Harold Hilton and Jack Graham who dominated amateur golf in their era. The stables at the rear of the Hotel were offered to Jack Morris who was installed as the first professional and who stayed for over fifty years. His father George, brother of the legendary old Tom Morris, had come down from Scotland to help lay out the nine hole links. Fortunately for the golfers the racing had finished by the mid 1870s by which time the course had been extended to 18 named holes of which Course and Stand are reminders of the racing connotations.

The starting point was changed in 1895 when the present clubhouse was built. The Royal hole (the present 17th) was initially designated as the first followed by the present 18th as the second but this was not deemed to be a success so the present layout was adopted with the Course hole as the first. However, the original layout was temporarily restored for logistical reasons in 2006 when the Open Championship, won by Tiger Woods, returned to Hoylake. Following the Championship the members decided to return to the traditional layout.

The connection with the Open Championship started in 1897 and the club has hosted the event 11 times, including the Grand Slam by Bobby Jones in 1930. However, it is for amateur golf that Hoylake is most recognised having held the Amateur Championship 18 times including the first in 1885. It also held the first England v Scotland international, the first match between Great Britain and the USA, the first English Amateur Championship and the Walker and Curtis Cups. Its restoration to the rota for the Open Championship keeps the club in the top flight of golf clubs throughout the world.

The club was a founder member of the Society and W B Stoddart, Captain of Royal Liverpool in 1910, chaired the first recorded Society Committee Meeting on 2 July 1923. He also hosted the annual competition at Hoylake on 3 October 1923 but not as Captain as this office was not created until 1939. Roland Marshall (1949/50) and Alan Booth (1974/75) have been Captains of the Society and John Behrend served as Captain of the R&A.