Hesketh Golf Club

Set amidst the towering Victorian villas of Southport’s premier residential area – Hesketh Park – is The Hesketh Golf Club, the town’s oldest golf club, founded in 1885. Standing alone on the crest of a tall sandhill, the clubhouse dominates the golf course, and the surrounding district. The course is at the northern end of southwest Lancashire’s sand dune system, which is the home of so many great golf courses. Professional championship golf has been played on these famous old links from the club’s earliest days, and the course is regularly used as a final qualifying course when The Open is played at Royal Birkdale. The course sets a unique challenge with half of the holes threaded through tall sand dunes; whilst the other holes border the Ribble estuary. Here the course`s neighbour is a nationally renowned bird reserve, where winter visitors are rewarded by seeing great flocks of migrant geese, swans and waders. Across the estuary the mountains of Lancashire, Cumbria and Yorkshire provide an unforgettable backdrop. The ambience in the clubhouse and on the course is that of a traditional town golf club. The English Golf Union has its roots in The Hesketh Golf Club. The initiative to form the Union came from a former Hesketh Captain, who became the Union’s first president. The Club’s two most famous members were the Bentley brothers - Harry and Arnold – who were possibly the most illustrious pair of brothers in the history of amateur golf. Significantly, as boys, they could have driven a golf ball from their garden or their school playground onto the Hesketh course. The drive up to the clubhouse is alongside a short hole that Henry Cotton described as the best short hole in Lancashire. What is beyond doubt is that emerging from Southport’s urban landscape and driving alongside this picturesque hole to approach the clubhouse, will fill a visitor with anticipation at the prospect of playing on these fine links. The Club is renowned for its friendly welcome of visitors.

Pictures

Clubhouse Pictures

Course Pictures

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