Hoylake municipal golf course given stay of execution - Royal Liverpool and The R&A proposal goes to next stage

Last night, a meeting of Wirral council's committee for tourism, communities, culture and leisure moved ahead with several proposals that could give council-run sites threatened by budget cuts the chance to be saved by community asset transfers.

Among the expressions of interest accepted was one by Royal Liverpool Golf Club and The R&A, organisers of The Open championship, to take on the Hoylake municipal course which closed on April the 1st.

If the project, still in its very early stages, goes ahead, the course's 43 hectares of land will be acquired and redeveloped.

The RLGC / R&A bid imagines a course reduced from its present 18 holes to 9, with some of the remaining land given over to wildlife and nature trails accessible to the community and visitors to the Hoylake area.

There could also be a driving range available to grassroot golfers, beginners and elite golfers alike, along with a shop and cafe.

When cuts to leisure services were first discussed as Wirral began the long process of trying to balance its books, the borough's four municipal golf couses were quickly placed in the cross-hairs. 

However, it was assumed by many that Hoylake was bullet-proof because of its importance to the staging of The Open - which returns to Royal Liverpool next year - so it came as a shock when closure was announced and took place on March the 31st.

The municipal golf course is vital to The Open because part of it serves as the practice range for the world's greatest players.

But Hoylake, along with Brackenwood, had lost out to Arrowe Park near Birkenhead and the 9 hole Warren in Wallasey, as the former were the two least viable operations.

The Open 18th green at Royal Liverpool back in 2014

So the Royal Liverpool and R&A proposal makes a lot of sense. Some estimates put the value of The Open to the Liverpool City Region at as much as £100 million, as every few years the tournament puts Hoylake, Wirral and Merseyside under a global spotlight.

And, as someone who plays golf at Royal Liverpool, it goes without saying that the club has the expertise required to fashion and maintain a new, freshly designed 9 hole course, and promote it.

The commitment of the new set-up and associated facilities to the grassroots game is also welcome: golf really does need places where beginners, especially youngsters, can go to cut their teeth and see if the game is for them.

In this light, it was welcome to hear yesterday that Brackenwood golf course has also been thrown a lifeline.

After months of grim foreboding, at least there's news that's positive for local sport in general, and golf in particular.

Incidentally, the ticket ballot for the 151st Open at Hoylake launches on Tuesday. To find out more about how it works, please click or tap here.

Hope, too, for closed Brackenwood golf course