Just back from 9 rounds in 6 days in NW England. A fabulous 16-person father-son trip. Handicaps were 8-22 and the wind was up, so scores were high but we had a blast. DNP Hillside or Formby Ladies for scheduling reasons but did play some great ones. We stayed at The Vincent in Southport, which was a very solid modern hotel in an elegant small city...convenient location and some good food. The golf was a blur. Golf itinerary as follows:
1. Southport & Ainsdale - great terrain but very narrow driving corridors and the flat greens were running 5-6
2. Wallasey - several spectacular holes combined with quality holes on flatter terrain
3. West Lancs - a blur - I recall liking it but can't remember much!
4. Silloth on Solway - played without caddies on a dark, rainy, windy day but that couldn't hide the great terrain and interest provided
5. Formby - quality golf all the way - fantastic greens, a few distinctive wooded holes that wouldn't be out of place at Spyglass - a posh club
6. Royal Birkdale - world-class but I struggled to enjoy as I was in my pocket much of the afternoon
7. Royal Liverpool x2 - played in a 3-club wind but played well enough to avoid the internal out-of-bounds - some really interesting diverse golf
8. Royal Lytham & St. Annes - quality all the way around - fantastic bunkering, strong greens, first class all the way
The consensus #1 was certainly Royal Birkdale but I played poorly there so it's down my list a bit. Formby and Royal Liverpool would be tops on my list if I were to join a club over there. Wallasey and Silloth had the best views, but overall the scenery is less dramatic than in SW Ireland or parts of Scotland. Logistics are pretty straight-forward for this region - non-stop flights into Manchester from many airports and, other than Silloth, all courses within 10-60 minutes of a central location like Southport. Many locals consider Hillside the best of the non-Royals so it's too bad we couldn't fit that in.