Golf in England: The Northwest

Royal Lytham & St. Annes

I make it a habit not to write about places I haven't visited, but I'm going to make an exception on what is being marketed as England's Golf Coast.

At the recent PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando (late January) I met an engaging chap named Geoff Harris, whose job is to promote golf travel in this area of northwest England.

I informed Mr. Harris that I had traveled to southwest England and enjoyed it immensely. Courses like St. Enodoc, Royal North Devon and Saunton still dance in my mind as fabulous golf experiences.

Mr. Harris assured me that visiting the northwest part of the country would be equally rewarding.

Here are his main selling points:

• You can conveniently fly into Manchester.
• Seven of the world's Top 100 courses are located in close proximity
• The area has Three Open Championship courses (Royal Liverpool, Royal Birkdale and Royal Lytham & St. Annes)
• There are more than 160 golf courses to play in the northwest region. The England's Golf Coast area has 20 top notch courses.
• Many of the courses have hosted competitions like the Ryder Cup, PGA Championships, Women's Open, Curtis Cup and UK's major amateur events.
• Royal Liverpool, founded in 1869, is one of the oldest seaside courses in England.
• Popular areas for accommodations, include Liverpool, Southport, Wirral, Cumbria, Lancashire and Cheshire.

You can conveniently book packages online and the website, England's Golf Coast, is thorough and informative with lots of information on courses to play and accommodations.

Formby Golf Club

If you're looking for a new golf travel frontier, this area of the U.K. appears to be a less publicized gem worth examining.

10 Reasons The Open Championship is the Best Major

Tiger Woods just called it “my favorite major.” While I don’t condone some of Mr. Woods’, uh, questionable off-the-course activities, I agree with second best golfer never to have won 18 majors.

Here’s why I love the Open Championship:

1. You absolutely have no idea who’s going to win. While so and so might be playing great going into the tournament, it’s the player that adjusts to the conditions and course the best who ultimately wins. It’s not necessarily a big name, either. Ask Todd Hamilton, Paul Lawrie and Ben Curtis.
2. It’s not played on some tricked up U.S. Open course that constantly has announcers saying, “Ya know, par is a great score on this hole.”
3. With ESPN’s early morning coverage (starts at 5 a.m. Thursday and Friday) you get to rise in darkness and relive your old newspaper delivering days.
4. It encourages golfers to hit a variety of shots rather than driver, short iron, over and over again.
5. You receive lots of history from announcers and commentators but not the annoying lovefest you get when they drone on about Augusta National and the Masters.
6. It’s so enjoyable to see how peeved the Brits get when us Yanks refer to their Open Championship as the British Open.
7. Different weather conditions make golfers change strategy on a day-to-day basis.
8. Something about the Claret Jug. Is it me, or is it the best looking  trophy in sports?
9. We get to hear British golf commentators like Peter Alliss use terms like brolly (umbrella), buggy (golf cart) and trolley (pull cart).
10. Watching British Open Courses on television is inspiring and makes me want to practice and play more golf.