Links Gate
Lytham St. Annes
Lancashire, FY8 3LQ
Phone: +44 (0)1253 724206Fax: +44 (0)1253 780946
Website: www.royallytham.org
E-mail: bookings@royallytham.org
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Tee Yardage Rating Slope Par
Blue 7,118 - - 70
Red 6,731 - - 71Green 6,360 - - 71 Gold 5,854 - - 75 |
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The layout of Royal Lytham & St Annes
has remained faithful to the original created by the Club's first
Professional, George Lowe, over a century ago. The only significant
changes were made in 1919 when the club asked Harry Colt, the
pre-eminent Course Designer of the time to make recommendations for
improvement.
It is not a conventionally beautiful golf
course, surrounded as it is by suburban housing and flanked by a
railway line, but it has a charm all of its own. It is a Links Course
that is a long way from the sea yet close enough for the sea breeze to
have an effect on one's game and was aptly described by Bernard Darwin,
the leading golf writer of the thirties, as 'a beast of a Course, but a
just beast'. He went on to say that 'no one could fail to be impressed
by its difficulties, which sets a golfer just about as ruthless as an
examination as any Course of my acquaintance'.
It is renowned as a course on which is it
hard to scramble a good score, after all, there are 206 bunkers
peppering the fairways and surrounding the greens. It may not be the
longest of courses but it is one where careful thought and accurate
shots are required.
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Key Dates in the History of Royal Lytham & St Annes
1886
On
February 23 J T and JS Fair sign a letter sent to members of the local
gentry suggesting a golf club to be called The Lytham & St Annes
Golf Club should be formed on land adjacent to Lytham station.
On
February 27 the club is instituted at a meeting at St Annes Hotel and
the annual subscription is fixed at a guinea. Ladies’ “introduced by
members and subject to the will of the council” are allowed to use the
links “on payment of five shillings per annum.
A. Wykeham Clifton is nominated as the club’s first President while Sidney Hermon is elected as the first Captain.
The
proprietor of the Links Hotels puts a room in his establishment aside
for use as the clubhouse free of any charge except for the cost of fires
and gas.
On April 17 J Mugliston wins the club’s first medal with a score of 123. It attracted 12 of the 19 founder members of the club.
In
September “Lewis” was employed as the club’s groundsman at a salary of
14 shillings a week on condition he “starts work at 8.00am and devotes
his whole time to work till dusk, one hour being allowed for lunch.”
1887
The club holds its first open competition which is won by Open and Amateur champion John Ball from Royal Liverpool.
1888
Exiled
Scot Alexander H Doleman is elected as Captain. He is often described
as the real instigator behind the formation of the club.
An entrance fee of two guineas is introduced when the membership rises to 182.
George
Lowe becomes the club’s first professional. He is engaged as Custodian
of the Links and Clubmaster at 15 shillings a week and is to play a
significant role in many of the subsequent course changes. Lowe was born
near Carnoustie in 1856 and as a youngster had once been an apprentice
club maker to Tom Morris.
A 9-hole ladies’ course is laid out to the east of the original links.
1889
The first club match is played against Formby J T Clifton (aged 21) replaces his uncle A. Wykeham Clifton as President.
The club’s first complaint book is introduced on August 13.
1890
The
club stages its first professional event which is won by Willie Fernie
from Troon in a field that includes Willie Park, Tom Morris Snr, Alex
Herd and Andra’ Kirkaldy.
Tom
Vardon, a younger brother of Harry, the six-times Open champion, is
taken on as an assistant to George Lowe. He stays at the club for three
years.
1893
Lady Margaret Scott wins the inaugural Ladies’ British Amateur Championship, staged at Lytham.
1894
The
club abandons its own set of rules in favour of adopting the rules laid
down by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.
A
rudimentary ladies’ clubhouse is built for £118. It comprises a 30 x 15
feet corrugated iron hut complete with chairs, a desk, a stove, a
washbasin, an earth closet and tee-making facilities. It is replaced two
years later by a more palatial facility.
1897
In
March it is agreed the club should set aside £7,000 for building a new
clubhouse. The sum of £200 is also allocated to furnishings.
Messrs
Woolfall & Eccles from Liverpool, who had just completed the new
clubhouse at Royal Liverpool, win the tender to design the new edifice.
1898
The
new clubhouse is formally opened by the Marquis of Lorne (later Duke of
Argyll) after delays caused by problems with the main sewers and access
road. It remains in use to this day.
The
club draws up plans to extend the original links from 4,292-yards to
5,633-yards which means it is similar to Formby (5,525-yards), Prestwick
(5,732-yards) and Muirfield (5,890-yards) but still lagging behind St
Andrews (6,323-yards) and Sandwich (6,012-yards). New tees and greens
are added on several holes and other earth moving work undertaken. 1886
and ’87 Amateur champion, Horace Hutchison, described the new lay-out as
a cross between Prestwick and Hoylake. The par is 80.
1899
The Oxford and Cambridge Golfing Society embarks on its first tour which takes in visits to Lytham, Royal Liverpool and Formby.
The
club opens its original dormy house overlooking the first tee and
charges 4 shillings a night for a room plus bath which undercuts the
local St Annes Hotel by 5 shillings. The Aga Khan is among the numerous
famous personages to subsequently to stay on site at the club.
1900
158 golfers from 45 different clubs take part in a Lytham & St Annes Ladies’ Open to mark the new millennium.
1902
The
arrival of the new Haskell ball means the new course is already
considered to be out-dated but no changes are made until after the First
World War.
The
club employs the long-serving “Pattirson” as its new Hall Porter. He is
to stay in the job for almost 50 years but it is said no-one ever
learned his Christian name. His successor Neville Parkinson goes on to
serve the club for 25 years.
1903
T.
Pym Williamson is appointed as club secretary on a salary of £175 per
annum plus lunch and is to remain in the job for 38 years. When he died,
in November 1941, Bernard Darwin described his as “an admirable
secretary” who “made everyone very welcome” and “was intensely patriotic
and ambitious on behalf of the club.”
1905
Lytham
is one of four courses used for a famous international foursomes match
labelled as “the Battles of the Thistle and the Rose” which pitted
Englishmen, Harry Vardon and J. H. Taylor, against Scots, Sandy Herd
and James Braid. 6,000 spectators watch the match at Lytham despite an
entrance fee of 2/6. The English duo win the series 8 up.
1913
Suffragettes
threaten to damage the course when Lytham hosts its second Ladies’
Amateur Championship and the Army and a group of Boy Scouts are called
in to protect it during the night. Muriel Dodd, from Cheshire, goes on
to win the title. England claim the Miller Trophy at the subsequent
International Matches, a precursor to the women’s Home Internationals.
1914
During the war the ladies’ course is ploughed up and given over to the cultivation of crops.
1919
Harry Colt is brought in to make recommendations on improving the course. He oversees the building of new greens on the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 10th, 14th and 17th and several new tees. Colt was also called back to advise on changes ahead of the 1935 Amateur Championship.
1920
Between
1920 and 1939 the membership dropped from 540 to 398 thanks mainly to
the Great Depression during which the Lancashire cotton industry was hit
very hard. In 1929, to counter this trend, the club introduced a new
Country members category open to residents outside the county.
1921
19
year-old Joyce Wethered wins the 1921 English Ladies’ Close
Championship. She went on to play in eleven national Championships,
winning nine, losing one in the final and another in the semi-finals.
1922
Lytham’s
lady members are allowed to play medals on the “long links” for the
first time. The following year separate ladies’ tees are constructed.
1923
Ted Ray wins the £1,000 Daily Mail Tournament by a shot from Abe Mitchell and Len Holland.
Reigning
US Open champion, Gene Sarazen, beats Walter Hagen by two shots in the
North of England Professional Championship. H A Gaudin (Royal Jersey) is
fourth and breaks the course record with a 67 in the second round.
1925
The
club is invited to stage the 1926 Open Championship after the
completion of the course alterations made by Harry Colt. It asks the
R&A if it could charge spectators an admission fee but this was
initially turned down before the decision is reversed after crowd
conjestion at the 1925 Open at Prestwick.
1925
Abe Mitchell wins the North of England Professional Championship at Lytham.
1926
Lytham
is conferred royal status by His Majesty King George V and henceforth
is to be known as Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club.
The
great America amateur Bobby Jones wins the first Open Championship
staged at Royal Lytham. He had scored a miraculous 66 in Qualifying at
Sunningdale and then produces rounds of 72, 72, 73 and 74 to finish two
shots ahead of compatriot, Al Watrous. The event attracts a crowd of
10,923 charged 2/6 each to watch the action unfold.
Archie Compston wins a long-driving contest held in conjunction with The Open. His winning drive measured 288 yards.
1928
Royal
Lytham hosts its first English Amateur Championship won by long-hitting
J. A. Stout who in one round hits his drive through the green on the
386-yard 14th hole.
1931
Lytham stages a Ryder Cup trial in which the British squad experimented with the larger 1.68-inch US golf ball.
1932
I S Macdonald wins the first Boys’ Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham.
1934
Ryder Cup player, Reg Whitcombe, winner of the 1938 Open Championship, wins the Penfold Tournament at Lytham.
1935
America’s W. Lawson Little wins the first Amateur Championship staged at Royal Lytham.
The Men’s Home internationals are staged at Lytham for the first time. They are to return in 1951, ’59, ’63 and ’73.
1937
The
club’s financial situation was such that it was discussed whether the
club should sell its course to the Corporation of Lytham & St Annes
for £20,000 and then lease it back at £115 p.a. The idea was abandoned
the following year.
1938
Lytham
member, Elsie Corlett, wins the English Close Championship at
Aldeburgh. She reaches the final of the Ladies’ Amateur Championship the
same year, plays in the first unofficial Curtis Cup match and later
goes on to Captain both England and GB&I.
1939
The International Matches due to be staged at Royal Lytham were abandoned due to the onset of the Second World War.
1944
Henry Cotton takes part in an exhibition match at Lytham which raised £2,000 for various charities.
Legendary
American amateur, Bobby Jones, returns to the scene of his 1926 Open
triumph to play several rounds over Lytham while stationed at Warton
Aerodrome, used as a US airforce base during the Second World War.
1946
Alf Padgham claims the Daily Mail Tournament at Lytham.
1947
Ireland’s Fred Daly, wins the first of two successive PGA Match Play Championships. He was also to win at Walton Heath in 1952.
1948
The
full US Curtis Cup squad take part in the Ladies’ Amateur Championship.
The Championship is won by Louise Suggs, the reigning US champion,
beating Jean Donald, the Scottish champion, on the 36th hole in the final.
Amateur,
Gerald Micklem, and his professional partner, Charlie Ward, claim the
honours at the Daily Telegraph Amateur Professional Foursomes event.
Lytham stages its first Ladies’ Home Internationals. The contest returns in 1972.
1950
John
Glover became the second Irish competitor to win the Boys’ Championship
when he defeated Ian Young of Lanarkshire 2&1 in the 36-hole
final.
1952
Bobby
Locke defeats great rival, Peter Thomson, in the second Open
Championship staged at Royal Lytham. The BBC’s radio coverage was
transmitted through Post office lines at a cost of £6 pounds, 7 shilling
and 6 pence.
1955
America’s
Joe Conrad wins the Amateur Championship at Lytham, defeating
Yorkshire’s Alan Slater in the final. Among a strong US entry were 64
year-old Charles “Chick” Evans, one of the few amateurs to win the US
Open, and Ed Lowry, who as a 12 year-old caddied for Francis Ouimet when
he won the 1913 US Open.
1956
Guy Wolstenholme defeats Harry Bennett in the final of the English Amateur Championship at Lytham.
1958
C K Cotton makes significant changes to the course including new back tees on the 2nd, 5th, 6th, 11th, 12th and 17th ahead of that year’s Open Championship.
Australia’s
Peter Thomson goes one better than six years earlier when he wins his
fourth Open title at Lytham. He defeats his protégé, Dave Thomas, in a
play-off.
1960
Ann
Irvin, a left-hander from Fleetwood joins Lytham. She goes on to win
two Ladies’ Amateur Championships and almost every other leading ladies’
competition.
1961
Royal
Lytham becomes the first Open Championship venue to stage the Ryder
Cup. An American team, including Arnold Palmer and Billy Casper, but not
Sam Snead, who was serving a suspension from the PGA of America, wins
14 ½ - 9 ½.
1963
New
Zealand’s Bob Charles becomes the first left-hander to win a major when
claims the Open Championship after defeating Phil Rodgers in a
play-off.
1964
Mrs Marley Spearman defeats Mrs Angela Bonallack in the final of the English Ladies’ Close Championship.
1965
Michael Bonallack and Clive Clark share the honours at the inaugural Lytham Trophy.
1966
Michael
Lunt defeats Dudley Millenstead in the finals of the English Amateur
Championship, despite being four down at lunch and five down after 24
holes. He goes on to win eight of the next ten holes to secure a
dramatic victory.
1967
The Continent of Europe defeats GB&I by a single point in the biennial Vagliano Trophy match.
Tony Jacklin warms up for his win in the 1969 Open with victory in the Pringle Professionals tournament.
1968
Rodney Foster becomes the first man to win successive Lytham Trophy titles.
1969
Tony
Jacklin becomes the first British winner for 18 years when he relegates
1963 champion, Bob Charles, into second place at the Open Championship.
1970
Welshman, Brian Huggett, wins the Dunlop Masters tournament.
1971
David
Vaughan joins the likes of Guy Hunt, Peter Oosterhuis and Sam Torrance
as a winner of Lord Derby’s Under-23 Professional tournament.
1974
South
Africa’s Gary Player wins his third Open title when he defeats
Britain’s Peter Oosterhuis by four shots. It was the first Championship
in which use of the bigger 1.68-inch ball was mandatory.
1975
Nick
Faldo became the youngest ever winner of the English Amateur
Championship, just four years and eight days after picking up a golf
club for the first time. Coincidentally, earlier in the year, he had
been balloted out of the Lytham Trophy.
1976
An
American team, led by Barbara McIntyre, playing in her seventh match,
defeats GB&I 11 ½ - 6 ½ in the Curtis Cup. The visiting team
includes both Nancy Lopez and Beth Daniel.
1977
GB
& I loses the second Ryder Cup staged at Royal Lytham. The Golden
Jubilee match is attended by HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent and her
husband, Mr Angus Ogilvy.
1979
Spaniard,
Seve Ballesteros, wins his first of two Open titles at Lytham,
finishing three shots ahead of Americans Jack Nicklaus and Ben Crenshaw.
Another American, Hale Irwin, labelled Ballesteros “the car park
champion” after hitting his ball out of a car park onto the green at the
16th hole in the final round.
1984
John
Hawksworth (Royal Lytham and Fairhaven) becomes the first Fylde golfer
to win the Lytham Trophy. He is later selected for the 1985 Walker Cup
team.
1986
Royal
Lytham celebrates its centenary by hosting The Amateur Championship,
won by David Curry. The club also stages a series of celebratory matches
against other Royal clubs, including Liverpool, Calcutta, Montreal,
Aberdeen, Troon, Burgess and the Cape.
1988
Seve
Ballesteros cards a sensational final round 65 to claim his second Open
title at Lytham. He wields the same clubs as he used to win the title
in 1979.
1991
Gary Evan replicates Rodney Foster’s feat by securing back-to-back wins in Lytham Trophy.
Gary Player’s brother-in-law, Bobby Verwey, wins the first Senior Open Championship staged at Lytham.
1992
South
African, John Fourie, succeeds compatriot, Bobby Verwey, as winner of
the Senior British Open. Local member, Michael Noon, scores a 66 on his
way to just missing out on winning the Amateur Medal.
1993
New
Zealand’s Bob Charles claims a unique Lytham double when he wins the
Senior British Open to add to the Open title he won at the same
Lancashire course in 1963. He finishes one shot ahead of England’s Tommy
Horton and another Lytham Open champion, Gary Player.
Scot,
Catriona Lambert (nee Matthew) wins the 1993 Ladies’ British Amateur at
Lytham. Sixteen years later, she returns to claim her first
professional major title at the 2009 Ricoh Women’s British Open.
1994
America’s Tom Wargo is the surprise winner of the Senior British Open at Lytham.
1996
Tom
Lehman becomes the first American since 1926 to win The Open
Championship at Lytham. He closes with a 73 to finish two shots ahead of
Ernie Els and Mark McCumber. Tiger Woods wins the Silver Medal, awarded
to the leading amateur in the field.
1998
America’s
Sherri Steinhauer wins the first Ricoh Women’s British Open to be
staged at Lytham. Louise Suggs, winner of the 1948 Amateur Ladies’
Championship, who later founded the LPGA Tour and became a successful
professional, attends the event.
1999
Tino Schuster from Germany becomes the first overseas winner of the Lytham Trophy.
2001
David
Duval becomes the third American to win The Open at Lytham when he
closes with a 67 to finish three shots ahead of Sweden’s Niclas Fasth.
2004
21
year-old James Heath beats the Lytham Trophy record by no less than 10
shots. He produces rounds of 67, 68, 66 and 65 to finish eight shots in
front of Ross Fisher and nine ahead of Gary Wolstenholme.
2006
America’s Sherri Steinhauer claims an historic Lytham double when she wins her second Ricoh Women’s British Open.
2007
American, Drew Weaver, defeats Australia’s Tom Stewart in the final of The amateur Championship.
2008
Martin
Ebert of Mackenzie Ebert is brought in to make a number of changes to
the course ahead of the 2012 Open at Lytham. It is agreed it should be a
two phase operation to accommodate the playing of the 2009 Ricoh
Women’s Open. The biggest change is the building of a new green on the
par-5 7th hole.
2009
Scotland’s
Catriona Matthew achieves her own memorable Lytham double when she adds
the Ricoh Women’s British Open title to the Ladies’ British Amateur she
won at the same venue in 1993.
Lytham’s Open Championships
Jones Sets a Trend
Royal
Lytham & St Annes has always been regarded as a course which
produces fine champions and that was a trend which started back in 1926
when the great American amateur, Bobby Jones, won the first Open
Championship staged over the rugged Lancashire course.
Jones
came into the Championship fresh from carding a spectacular 66 at the
Southern Qualifying event at Sunningdale and then put together rounds of
72, 72, 73 and 74 to finish two shots head of compatriot Al Watrous and
four in front of Walter Hagen to win the title and continue a purple
patch that was to see him win three Open Championships (1926, ’27 and
’30), four US Opens (1923, ’26, ’29 and ’30), five US Amateurs (1924,
’25, ’27, ’28 and ’30) and one Amateur Championship (1930) in the space
of a magical eight year spell starting in 1923.
Jones
was approaching the peak of his powers in 1926 and his victory was all
the more impressive because he suffered something of a scare between the
third and fourth rounds (played on the same day during that period)
after he forgot to take his players’ badge with him when he left the
course at lunchtime and then was refused admission by an officious
gateman who did not realise who he was.
The
American had to pay an admission fee to get back onto the site but he
proved it was 2/6 well spent by confirming victory with a majestic
175-yard mashie niblick shot struck from a bunker over deep rough to the
centre of the green on the penultimate hole. One Scottish writer
labelled it as “the great shot in the history of golf” and it is still
commemorated by a plaque to this day.
At
the end of the Championship Jones presented the club in question to
writer, Charles B McFarlane, and he went on to donate it to the club
where it can still be seen hanging in the Clubroom beneath an impressive
portrait of the champion.
Bobby is Almost Locked Out in 1952
Bobby
Locke emerged as the winner of Lytham’s second Open Championship staged
in 1952 but, like Jones before him, the South African had to overcome
more than his share of anxious moments before claiming his third title
in the space of four years.
Locke
awoke on the final morning of the Championship to find that his car
containing his clubs were locked up in a secured garage and he had to
endure a bumpy ride on a milk float in order to wake the garage owner
before reaching the first tee for the start of the third round with
literally seconds to spare.
The
South African had no time to practise before starting the penultimate
round and that was not the end of his problems because he was also
warned for slow play at lunch time although he put the pace of play down
to the fact that both he and his amateur partner, J W Jones, had been
hindered by a large and unruly crowd.
Under
the circumstances, Locke did very well to post rounds of 74 and 73 to
defeat his great rival Peter Thomson by a single shot. The South African
and the Australian were to go on to win the title a total of nine times
between 1949 and 1965 with the latter claiming five victories compared
to the former’s four.
Locke
was clearly overjoyed to claim a hat-trick of victories in the oldest
Championship in world golf. “My ambition to win the British Open three
times has been achieved,” he said after collecting the first prize of
£300. “I cannot describe my feelings at winning what is the blue riband
of golf or what it meant to see my name inscribed on the Open trophy
alongside names dating back to 1872…names that are golf history.”
Thomson Confirms his Class
Australia’s
Peter Thomson claimed his fourth Open title in the space of five years
when he won the 1958 Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
The
talented Australian secured the first of three consecutive titles back
in 1954 before finishing runner-up to Bobby Locke in the 1957
Championship at St Andrews and then got back onto the winning trail in
Lancashire 12 months later where he put together rounds of 66, 72, 67
and 73 to tie Dave Thomas on 278 and then claim the £1,000 first prize
after beating the Welshman in the subsequent 36-hole play-off.
Thomson
is often regarded as the ultimate links player and that is confirmed by
the fact that from 1952 until his win at Lytham in 1958 he never
finished worse than equal second in the Championship. He also went on to
clinch a fifth title in 1965 when he overcame all the top American
golfers at Royal Birkdale in 1965.
The
winner started his bid for the 1958 title with a wonderful 63 in the
first Qualifying round at Lytham and that performance was all the more
impressive because he was suffering from a serious asthma attack at the
time.
“I
honestly felt terrible,” he admitted later. “I knew that to withdraw
was a drastic step but that was how bad I felt. I was tired and listless
but thought that if I could just control my breathing I could give it a
go. I didn’t want to give up. The only way I could get through it was
by taking my time.
“That round virtually won the open for me,” he added. “It not only boosted my confidence but dismayed the opposition too.”
Charles Creates a Major Slice of History
Bob
Charles became the first left-hander to win one of golf’s four major
Championships when he won the 1963 Open Championship at Royal Lytham
& St Annes.
The
New Zealander opened with a fine 68 and then added rounds of 72, 66 and
71 to tie Phil Rodgers on 277 and then defeat the American by eight
shots in the subsequent 36-hole play-off. He won £1,500 from a total
prize purse of £8,500.
Charles
and Rodgers played together in the final group on Sunday and both
needed par fours to edge out Jack Nicklaus by a single stroke. The
American was the first to register a par and he was followed by Charles
who holed out from four feet to tie.
Their
277 total was just one shot outside the previous Championship record,
set by Arnold Palmer the previous year at Royal Troon, and was not to be
beaten again until Tom Weiskopf emulated Palmer by registering a 276
total while winning the 1973 title back at Troon.
The
subsequent play-off (the last played over 36-holes) turned out to be
something of an anti-climax. Charles has always been known for
possessing a silky putting stroke and he used it to fine effect when he
single-putted eleven times during the first round. That gave him a three
stroke lead at lunch and he went on to conclude the extra holes in a
total of 140 to finish eight ahead of his rival who ballooned to a 76 in
the afternoon.
The
first round of the 1963 Championship saw a new Championship nine hole
record being set, with both Australia’s Peter Thomson and England’s Tom
Haliburton scoring 29 over the opening nine holes. That record was
surpassed when England’s Denis Durnian registered an opening nine of 28
in the second round of the 1983 Championship at Royal Birkdale.
Jacklin Becomes a Home Hero
Tony
Jacklin became the first British golfer to win The Open for 18 years
when he won the 1969 Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
The
British golfing public had last witnessed a home triumph when Max
Faulkner won the 1951 Open at Royal Portrush but that lengthy winless
drought came to an end when Jacklin produced rounds of `68, 70, 70 and
72 to finish two shots ahead of 1963 champion, Bob Charles, on 280.
Australia’s
Peter Thomson and Argentina’s Roberto de Vicenzo finished tied third on
283 while Jack Nicklaus continued a run of near misses at Lytham by
finishing in a share of sixth place with Davis Love 11.
Jacklin
had finished fifth behind de Vicenzo at Hoylake in 1967 and had started
among the favourites after a fine run of form in States.
The
Englishman took the lead after his third round 70 and the following day
went out in 33 to extend his advantage to four shots over Charles. The
New Zealander pulled two shots back on the 10th and 13th but Jacklin still had a two shot advantage playing the last and he secured the title with a regulation par-four.
Jacklin
went on to achieve the trans-Atlantic double when he won the US Open at
Hazeltine the following year. His victory at Lytham was worth £4,250
out of a total purse of £30,000.
Player Wins The Open in a Third Decade
South Africa’s Gary Player won his first Open title when he claimed the 1959 Championship at Muirfield.
The
diminutive Player also won the 1968 Open at Carnoustie and he completed
an impressive hat-trick of successes in three different decades when he
won the 1974 Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
The
South African had won the 1974 Masters and he extended his run of fine
form when he put together rounds of 69, 68, 75 and 70 at Lytham to
finish four shots ahead of England’s Peter Oosterhuis on 282.
Jack Nicklaus was a further shot back on 287.
Player,
who won £5,500, shared the first round lead with England’s John Morgan
and was still out in front despite a scrappy 75 two days later. At that
stage, the South African remained three in front of Oosterhuis and four
ahead of Nicklaus but he quickly dispelled any lingering thoughts they
might catch him when he raced to the turn in 32 with birdies on the 1st and second and eagles on the 6th and 7th.
The South African looked for a while as if he might lose his ball after pulling his second on the 17th
but he found it just before the allotted five minutes were up and then
secured his trio of Open victories after putting left-handed from close
to the clubhouse wall on the final hole.
The
1974 Open Championship was the first at which use of the larger 1.68
inch ball was made mandatory. Player was the only competitor to finish
under par.
Ballesteros Wins in Style
Seve Ballesteros became the youngest Open champion of the 20th century when he won the 1979 Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes at the age of 22 years and three months and 12 days.
The
Spaniard also became the first Continental player to lift the Claret
Jug since Frenchman Arnaud Massy in 1907 and he did it with a style that
was to make him arguably the most popular golfer of the modern era.
Ballesteros
had finished tied second behind America’s Johnny Miller on his
Championshipdebut at Birkdale in 1976 and three years he went one better
when he posted rounds of 73, 65, 75 and 70 to finish three shots ahead
of Ben Crenshaw and Jack Nicklaus on 283. The win was worth £15,000.
The
Spaniard was the only man to break par that year at Lytham but that
considerable achievement is sometimes forgotten amidst tales of his
incredible escapes from some of the more distant corners of the golf
course.
That
year, much of the Championship was played in a strong northwest wind
which made the back nine a merciless test. In the second round
Ballesteros played the last five holes in 3, 3, 4, 3, 3 when many
competitors felt the effective par was 4, 5, 4, 5, 4 and he did it with a
chip in on the 15th, several up-and-downs and a remarkable recovery from a wayward drive on the last.
That
finish to his second round was to set the tone for what was to follow
and his performance was defined when he hit a glorious recovery shot
from a car park adjacent to the 16th hole in the final round.
That shot resulted in Hale Irwin labelling the Spaniard “the Car Park
Champion”. Somewhat unfairly, it was a reputation which was to stick
with him for many years to come.
Ballesteros Does the Double at Lytham
Seve
Ballesteros claimed his first Major title when he won the 1979 Open
Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes and, nine years year, he
returned to the scene of his previous triumph to win what turned out to
be his last.
The Spaniard’s two victories at Lytham could scarcely be more different or more exciting.
During
that first appearance at Lytham in 1979 he required a series of
remarkable recovery shots to defeat Ben Crenshaw and Jack Nicklaus by
three shots. However, on his return in 1988 he produced a magnificent
display of controlled golf to post rounds of 67, 71, 70 and 65 and
overcome the spirited challenge from Zimbabwe’s Nick Price. He won
£80,000, £75,000 more than for his first victory at Lytham nine years
before.
Seve’s
closing 65 remains one of the finest rounds in Open Championship
history and right up to his untimely death was regarded by Ballesteros
himself as the best he ever played.
Four moments stand out. Ballesteros eagled the 7th and then on the par-5 12th
he watched his nearest rival hit a 2-iron to 5-feet before responding
with his own 5-iron to 6-feet. The impressive Price got back to level
with a birdie on the 13th before the Spaniard struck the decisive blow on the 16th
when hit a 1-iron off the tee and a 9-iron to three inches from the
hole to set up the decisive birdie. Two holes later he went on to seal
victory with a glorious 60-foot pitch that all but dropped in the hole.
“I didn’t find any cars this time,” he quipped at the end, in reference to his escape at the 16th in 1979. “I think I played about as well as I can play.”
Lehman Ends America’s Long Wait for an Open Victory at Lytham
Tom
Lehman followed in the footsteps of the great Bobby Jones when he won
the 1996 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Jones
won the first Open to be staged at Lytham back in 1926 but his
countrymen then had to wait exactly 70 years before Lehman repeated that
feat when he put together rounds of 67, 67, 64 and 73 to finish two
shots in front of Ernie Els and Mark McCumber and three ahead of Nick
Faldo.
Lehman
came into the 1996 Championship having finished second behind Steve
Jones at that year’s US Open and he confirmed his status as one of the
favourites when he claimed a share of the half-way lead alongside
Ireland’s Paul McGinley.
The
American went on to achieve an Open record by scoring a 64 for a three
round total of 198 (beating Nick Faldo’s 199 at St Andrews in 1990) and
then hung on to defy the spirited challenges made by both Els and
McCumber.
Tom
Lehman won a first prize of £200,000 out of a total prize purse of
£1,400,000. It is also interesting to note that a total of 170,000
spectators watched the week’s action unfold compared to just 11,000 when
Jones had prevailed 70 years before.
Tiger Woods won the Silver Medal awarded to the leading amateur after finishing in a tie for 22nd place on 281.
Duval Becomes the Third American to Win The Open at Lytham
David
Duval shed the unwanted tag as “the best player in the world without a
major title” when he posted rounds of 69, 73, 65 and 67 to win the 2001
Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
The
American, then the world’s top ranked golfer, finished three shots
ahead of Sweden’s Niclas Fasth and four in front of an eclectic
international sextet comprising Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke, South
Africa’s Ernie Els, Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, Germany’s Bernard
Langer, America’s Billy Mayfair and Welshman, Ian Woosnam with a
10-under par aggregate of 270.
The
victory earned Duval a first prize of £600,000 from a total purse of
£3,300,000 and also made him the third American to win The Open at Royal
Lytham after Bobby Jones in 1926 and Tom Lehman in 1996.
Duval
started the final round in a share of the lead with Langer, Woosnam and
Alex Cejka but soon fell behind Fasth who produced four birdies on the
outward nine and another on the 12th to open a two shot lead.
However, Duval was not to be denied on a day that started with no less
than 23 players bunched within four shots of the lead. The 29 year-old’s
18-foot putt for a birdie at the 3rd trimmed Fasth’s lead to one and he produced further birdies on the 6th, 7th, 11th and 13th which ultimately helped him to him romp home with three shots to spare.
The
final day of the 2001 Championship will also always be remembered for
the mishap which ended Ian Woosnam’s hopes of a first Open victory.
The
1991 Masters champion started the final round with what he thought was a
birdie 2 but then discovered he had an extra club in his bag and was
assessed a two shot penalty. The episode clearly rattled the Welshman
who proceeded to drop further strokes at the 3rd and 4th before regaining his composure to card a creditable 71 to join the six-way tie at six under par.
“I
did not really get it out of my head all the way round,” he said. “I
kept thinking that if I hadn’t had a two shot penalty I could have been
leader or joint leader. I never shook it off.”
Royal Lytham’s Other Claims to Fame
Royal
Lytham & St Annes can lay claim to the fact that it is the only
Open Championship venue to have been accorded the honour of staging two
Ryder Cup matches.
It
hosted its first Ryder Cup match back in 1961 when a GB & I team,
led by Welshman Dai Rees, lost 14 ½ - 9 ½ to an American side containing
Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Gene Littler and Jerry Barber. Then, 16
years later, the home side once again proved second best when a US team
featuring Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Ray Floyd, Lanny Wadkins and Hale
Irwin ran out comprehensive 12 ½ - 7 ½ in 1977.
Lytham
has a proud history of staging a wide variety of leading professional
and amateur events. In addition to staging 10 Open Championships, the
R&A has also invited it to host four Amateur Championships, in 1935,
1955,1986 and 2007 and also the Boys’ Amateur Championship in both 1932
and 1950. It has been used as the venue for the men’s Home
Internationals on four occasions, in 1951, ’59, ’63 and ’73, and the
English Amateur in 1928, ’56, ’66 and ’75.
Like
several other Open Championship venues, Royal Lytham & St Annes has
also staged the Senior Open Championship on several occasions. South
Africa’s Bobby Verwey, the brother-in-law of Gary Player, winner of the
1974 Open at Lytham, won the Championship on its first visit to the
course in 1991. The following year, Verwey’s compatriot, John Fourie,
claimed the title before being superseded as champion 12 months later by
Bob Charles, who completed a unique Lytham double having also won The
Open Championship on the same course in 1963. The last of Lytham’s four
Senior Open Championships was won by American, Tom Wargo, in 1994.
A Brief History of the Lytham Trophy
Back
in 1965 the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club launched the
inaugural Lytham Trophy and subsequently this annual 72-hole amateur
scratch competition has developed into one of the premier events on the
amateur calendar in GB&I.
The
legendary Michael Bonallack shared the inaugural title with Clive Clark
and the four-time Amateur Champion, who would later go on to become the
Secretary of the R&A, would repeat that success seven years later
by which time the event was already attracting most of the leading
amateurs in the land.
In
those days, Bonallack was one of a sizeable number of what would now be
referred to as career amateurs to lift the handsome silver “Sputnik”
Trophy. He was joined by the likes of Rodney Foster (1967-68), Tom
Craddock (1969) Charlie Green (1970 and ’74), George MacGregor (1975),
Peter McEvoy (1979) and Ian Hutcheon (1980). In 2003, Scotland’s Stuart
Wilson, The Amateur champion in 2004, who is now Secretary at his home
club in Forfar, would also lift the trophy but by that time he was in a
small minority and the tournament had begun to dominated by wannabe
professionals.
If
truth be told, that process had started in the 1970s and early 1980s
when the likes of Warren Humphreys (1971) Michael King (1973) and Brian
Marchbank (1978) claimed the title but it was to gather pace thereafter
and become the norm over the past two decades.
One
of the closest competitions to date came back in 1981 when Roger
Chapman, Ronan Rafferty and Nigel Mitchell tied on 221 (one round having
been washed out by torrential rain) before Chapman won by hitting his
tee shot to three inches on the first extra hole. The current European
Senior Tour player was to be followed into the winners’ circle by Steve
McAllister (1983), John Hawksworth (1984), Paul Broadhurst (1988), Gary
Evans (1990-’91), Stuart Cage (1992), Warren Bennett (1994), Stephen
Gallacher (1996), Graeme Rankin (1997) and Lorne Kelly (1998), all of
whom turned professional with varying degrees of success.
Germany’s
Tino Schuster became the event’s first overseas winner in 1999 and it
has since been won by a succession of other players who have
subsequently joined the paid ranks, including David Dixon, the winner in
2000, Richard McEvoy (’01), and Lee Corfield (’02).
McEvoy
set a new Championship record with his 276 aggregate score in 2001 but
three years later 21 year-old James Heath, from Coombe Wood in Surrey,
shredded that mark by no less than ten shots when he posted rounds of
67, 68, 66 and 65 to finish eight shots ahead of Ross Fisher and eleven
shots in front of Gary Wolstenholme.
That
total was also five shots better than the Open Championship record at
Lytham, set by Tom Lehman in 1996, and it clearly impressed Walker Cup
captain, Garth McGimpsey and his English counterpart, Cecil Bloice, both
of whom were there to watch the action unfold.
McGimpsey
described Heath’s closing 65 as “the best amateur golf I have ever
seen” adding that, “he had complete control of the ball all day.”
Bloice,
who had omitted Heath from the English squad to face France at Royal St
George’s the following weekend, admitted: “He was awesome.
“Scoring like that would win any Open round here.”
Heath
elected to turn professional straight after his triumph at Lytham and
he was joined in the paid ranks by subsequent champions Gary Lockerbie
(2005), Jamie Moul (2006), Lloyd Saltman (2007), Matt Haines (2008),
James Robinson (2009), Paul Cutler (2010) and 2011 winner, Jack Senior,
the last two of whom both took the plunge after playing in the GB &
I’s winning Walker Cup side at Royal Aberdeen last September.
Lytham - A Strong Supporter of the Ladies’ Game
Royal
Lytham & St Annes Golf Club can lay claim to the proud boast that
it was the first club ever invited to host the Ladies’ British Open
Amateur Championship.
The
club – then without its Royal prefix – was asked to stage the inaugural
Championship, won by Lady Margaret Scott, in 1893 and has subsequently
staged it on three other occasions in 1913, 1948 and 1993.
On
that last occasion the title was won by Scotland’s Catriona Lambert and
she was to return some 16 years later when, under her married name of
Matthew, she won the third Ricoh Women’s British Open played at the
Lancashire links. On the previous two occasions, in 1998 and 2006, the
title went to American, Sherri Steinhauer.
Royal
Lytham & St Annes also played host to 1976 Curtis Cup matches when a
strong American team, including both Nancy Lopez and Beth Daniel,
defeated GB & I by 11 ½ points to 6 ½. It has also staged two
Ladies’ Home International matches, in 1948 and 1972, and two English
Ladies’ Close Championships, the first won by Joyce Wethered in 1924 and
the second by Mrs Marley Spearman in 1964.
Royal Lytham & St Annes to Host 2015 Walker Cup
The R&A has invited Royal Lytham & St Annes to host the Walker Cup in 2015.
It
is the first time Lytham has asked to stage the biennial transatlantic
contest but the club is no stranger to international matches, having the
Ryder Cup in 1967 and 1977, with the USA beating GB & I on both
occasions.
“We
are delighted that Royal Lytham & St Annes has agreed to host the
Walker Cup in 2015,” said David Hill, the R&A’s Director of
Championship at the time of the announcement. “As one of Great Britain
and Ireland’s premier links courses, it will undoubtedly provide a stern
test befitting a contest that has come to represent the pinnacle of
amateur achievement.”
A Course to Test the Best
Royal
Lytham & St Annes Golf Club is widely regarded as possessing one of
GB&I’s finest golf and its course has been given a major overhaul
ahead of staging its eleventh Open Championship this summer.
The
work was undertaken by Tom Mackenzie and Martin Ebert of Mackenzie and
Ebert Golf Course Design during a two phase operation undertaken both
before and after the playing of the 2009 Ricoh Women’s British Open and
it has resulted in a number of sweeping changes ahead of the arrival of
the best players in the world in July.
The
changes were made after a thorough analysis of the scores at previous
Opens and amateur events at Lytham with particular emphasis on the
par-5s. Overall the course has been lengthened by some 213 yards ahead
of this year’s Championship and will now measure some 7,118-yards as
compared to 6,905-yards when David Duval claimed the Claret Jug in 2001.
This year the 6th has been categorised as par-4 rather than a par-5 and a new green has been built on the par-5 7th adding 32 yards to the hole. The course will have a par of 70 (34-36) for this year’s Championship.
A brief description of the alterations and confirmation of the new yardages follows.
Hole No. 1
206 Yards
Par 3
This
is the only par-3 opening hole on the Open rota and is one of the few
holes not to have been altered ahead of this year’s Championship.
However some trees have been removed from the left of the hole and this
will give it a slightly different appearance.
Hole No. 2
481yards
Par 4
Two
new tees have been added which will add a maximum of 43 yards to the
hole and will bring the bunkers to the right-hand side of the fairway
right back into play. In the past some competitors elected to hit their
drives down the left hand side of the fairway in order to stay well away
from these bunkers but a new low dune system has been added in this
area and means that players who bail out in this manner will no longer
be guaranteed a flat lie for their second shots.
Hole No. 3
477 Yards
Par 4
The 3rd
tee has also been extended backwards by a maximum of 19 yards and the
dune behind the tee has been remodelled. Two of the bunkers to the right
of the landing area have been repositioned leaving the players with the
choice of trying to hit over them or bale out to the left and leave a
much longer approach shot into the green. A new low dune system has also
been created on this hole.
Hole No. 4
391 Yards
Par 4
A
new bunker has been added in the right-hand side of the landing area
meaning the drive will be tighter in calm or downwind conditions. New
dunes between the 3rd and the 4th will also
tighten the tee shot. The bunker to the right of the green has been
edged in closer to the putting surface and the green itself has been
reshaped at the front to introduce some more testing flag positions.
Hole No. 5
218 Yards
Par 3
The
back tee has been reconstructed and enlarged and the approach to one of
the bunkers on the right of the green has been lowered. The view of the
green has been enhanced by reshaping a dune.
Hole No. 6
494Yards
Par 4
This
hole has been reduced from a par-4 to a par-5 in time for the 2012 Open
and it has also been toughened by the addition of two new bunkers to
the right of the landing area. The drive has also been made more
treacherous by recontouring the flat rough behind the left-hand bunker.
Hole No. 7
589 Yards
Par 5
The 7th
has seen the most dramatic change since 2001 with the introduction of a
new green 32 yards behind and to the left of the previous green. The
fairway bunkering has also been changed to make it tighter and create a
hole where a sound strategy will be required.
Hole No. 8
417 Yards
Par 4
The
raised green is still the main feature on this hole. A new bunker has
been added to the right of the landing area to force the player to
decide whether to lay up or go for the carry.
Hole No. 9
164 Yards
Par 3
The 9th
is surrounded by properties and remains one of the finest and most
distinctive short holes on the Open rota. No changes have been made for
2012.
Hole No. 10
385 Yards
Par 4
The
hole has been lengthened by 50 yards thanks to the addition of a new
tee requiring the player to make a long carry in order to reach the
fairway. Two new fairway bunkers have also been added to the left and
the right of the landing area.
Hole No. 11
601 Yards
Par 5
The longest hole at Lytham has been lengthened by 59 yards with the introduction of a panoramic new tee between the 8th and 10th
holes. The drive will need to be hit about 285 yards to clear the
reconfigured fairway bunkering and an approach bunker has been moved
more into the fairway to tighten the shot to the green. The trees behind
the green have been replaced by gorse.
Hole No. 12
196 Yards
Par 3
No changes have been made to this well-bunkered short hole.
Hole No. 13
357 Yards
Par 4
The
tee has been moved back by 15 yards but this hole should remain a
genuine birdie opportunity for golfers who miss the bunkers that guard
the fairway and both sides of the green.
Hole No. 14
443 Yards
Par 4
A
new fairway bunker has been added on the left in order to tighten the
tee shot. A swale has also been added to catch approach shots that come
up short of the green.
Hole No. 15
464 Yards
Par 4
No changes have been made on what is considered to be one of the toughest par-4s on the course.
Hole No. 16
358 Yards
Par 4
Considerable
accuracy will be required to thread what is a blind drive over a sand
dune to a fairway protected by a new bunker to the left of the landing
area. An old bunker has also been reinstated to the right of the fairway
and has been covered by marram grass rather than being riveted. It adds
to the natural appearance of the hole.
Hole No. 17
467 Yards
Par 4
This
is one of the most iconic holes on the Open rota and remains a tough
test for all those players attempting to win the Claret Jug. Minimal
changes have been made for 2012. One bunker has been filled in between
the two sections of fairway and another of the bunkers closer to the
green has been lowered to improve visibility.
Hole No. 18
410 Yards
Par 4
Henry Longhurst once said the competitor is faced with a sea of sand from the 18th
tee at Lytham and that challenge has been increased by the addition of
two new bunkers to the right of the landing area. The approach bunker
has been moved closer to the line of play and the right one lowered to
make the hazards behind it more visible.
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1913 British Ladies Amateur
1926 British Open 1935 British Amateur 1948 British Ladies Amateur 1952 British Open 1955 British Amateur 1958 British Open
1961 Ryder Cup
1963 British Open 1969 British Open 1974 British Open 1976 Curtis Cup
1977 Ryder Cup
1979 British Open
1986 British Amateur 1988 British Open 1993 British Ladies Amateur 1996 British Open 1998 Women's British Open 2001 British Open 2003 Women's British Open 2006 British Open 2007 British Amateur 2009 Women's British Open 2012 British Open
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