I am sure others took a boat load of Hoylake. The day I was there the light was terrible so I didn't bother with the camera.
Located on the 2nd tee.
The chip to the very difficult 2nd. A hard legger right which measures about 440 yards into the prevailing wind.
The lovely 3rd from the tee. Probably the narrowest fairway on the course.
After the constrained feeling of the 3rd the player walks through a gap in the dunes to discover the 4th tee. The serpentine cops strikes me as a tribute to Hoylake. It looks odd from the tee, but works well at ground level. It is a shame the club continued this cops idea with mounding between 7th and 14th. Totally unnecessary handiwork which IMO lessens the effect of some well placed bunkers. Perhaps somebody will post pix of the offending lumps.
The 2nd shot of the 4th. This photo demonstrates some of the odd variances in bunker styling at Wallasey.
Looking back to the tee.
The approach to the 4th.
The 4th green from the 5th tee. This photo shows the cool ridge which is right of the flag for the approach (beyond the flag in this pic). The photo also highlites the the differences between these greenside bunkers and the fairways bunkers referenced in the earlier photo.
One of the advantages Wallasey has over Hoylake is more dramatic shots due to elevation change. The short 5th is a mild example.
The 5th taken from the 6th tee. The massive dune range which contains at least parts of Wallasey's best holes is in the background.
Craig Disher escaping nicely from bunker on the 7th. The bunkering is generally not as severe as it may appear on the photos. They are deep enough to cause concern, but so much as to avoid at all costs.
The all-world 11th.
One of the great features of Wallasey are it's many plateau greens. The 11th is perhaps the best of the lot. The green is long and narrow, sloping back to front and at an odd angle to the fairway. It is easy to spin an approach off the green and back into the greenside bunkers.
The short 12th. The background shows just how urban Wallasey is!
The approach to the par 5 13th.
This angle reveals the hidden bunker.
The approach to the 15th. Another plateau green. The pic also shows the bizarre difference of bunker design.
A closer look at one of the bigger bunkers on the course and plateau green.
IMO the best short hole at Wallasey - the 16th.
Tee shot at #17. Another good hole with the green tucked hard right into a cutaway dune.
An oustanding drive leaves this approach to #17.
The haphazard 18th. A dune essentially breaks the fairway about 125 yards from the green. There is an alley to the left for the brave.
The 18th green from atop the dune mentioned with the previous photo. The church serves as the target for the well placed drive out to the right. For many this approach is blind.
I spose comparing Hoylake and Wallasey is inevitable. Wallasey wins the variety of holes contest hands down. This is due to a large dune area which is used very well. Wallasey also wins the routing battle. Not that Hoylake's routing is poor, it isn't, but Wallasey goes from the dunes to the sea to the flat to the dunes to the flat to the dunes to the sea and finishes in the dunes. It also has two loops of nine. The routing is unquestionably great. Hoylake wins the battle of flat holes hands down. This may sound quite strange as I think the holes near the estuary are the cream of the course. However, as something like half the course can be described as fairly flat it is no mean feat to create interest and challenge as many courses with similar terrain fail to do. Hoylake also has the distinct advantage of superior turf quality which is no small matter. I think the best of Wallasey is better than the best of Hoylake, but the reverse is also true. The worst of Wallasey is worse than the worst of Hoylake. Curiously, neither course scores very highly on short par 4s. None are really reachable even for fairly good players unless there are very extreme weather conditions. I would be interested to hear opinions from others on this subject. For those that care it is clear that Hoylake has a club pedigree which Wallasey or in fact few clubs can match. Finally, for those that care, Wallasey is about half the price of Hoylake. In the end though, I don't think there is much between the two courses, but I am sure to be in the minority on this. This is no great surprise.
Ciao
Sean