Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake is hosting the 2012 Ricoh Ladies British Open Golf Championships this week. The competition started yesterday but play was suspended all day today due to high winds.
I took these photos on Wednesday, the last practice day. If I’d had more time I would have taken a walk around the course as tickets were free for all the practice days.
As you can see from some of the photos in the gallery the train line at the end of Morpeth Road was covered over and gave access to the practice greens over the municipal course. All trains to/from West Kirby are currently starting and terminating at Hoylake. The cinder path is also closed.
Several local business owners have expressed disappoint that visitors arriving at Hoylake Station to attend the competition are being directed on a route to the course that bypasses The Quadrant and Market Street. Volunteers from Hoylake Village Life have I understand been handing out promotional leaflets to let people know of the shops, cafes, bars etc that are available in Hoylake.
What do you think of Hoylake hosting international golf championships? Visitors, residents, shopkeepers, business owners please have your say and leave a comment below.
Whilst holding these competitions in the area is good for the local economy ie hotels, bars, restaraunts etc., to say nothing of the presige for the town, I think it is totally unfair on the people whose livelihoods depend on them getting to work on time, so why inconvenience them to the extent that the trains are off for 2 weeks from West Kirby? The replacement bus service is no substiute for the trains and judging by the comments I hear from a lot of people, this situation is not a bit welcome. Worth bearing in mind that it will happen again in 2 years when the men’s open comes here again. RLGC – you have made a fortune from these events so maybe you can afford to dig a tunnel under the road now instead of (selfishly) changing people’s lives to suit your own ends!!
This competiotn and the Men’s crazy (errm, open) golf two years ago did nothing for the businesses in town, Bill, and indeed over 40 have logged a complaint this time. At the Mens we had half Market Street prettied up, with some very strange results, and this time we hoped that the next bit after Melrose Ave would be done. No such luck.
Perhaps the RLGC could think of other people next time and (a) ban any refreshment tents on site UNLESS they were put there by Hoylake / West Kirby people, (b) stop directing people away from the town and through side streets and (c) stop messing with the trains and building temporary bridges – we can all cross the line on the existing footbridge which has been no problem since 1938 – yes, that includes golfers, too.
Jim
Is it really the contention that the temporary, well-advertised suspension for 2 weeks of the West Kirby/Hoylake section twice every decade at most, is too much of a cross to bear for the good citizens of (primarily) West Kirby? And so we’d be better of shutting the main arterial route for a few months and building a tunnel? Interesting.
As for the existing bridge I guess that could be used. But it’d almost certainly mean shutting the road, especially with 60,000 coming in each day for the men’s – a fair chunk of whom will come by train. No doubt the train users will be happy; but there’s risk it’s be similarly too much for the road users twice a decade. I can’t think of a major sporting event anywhere that doesn’t involve the temporary suspension of local travel routes, or the shutting of roads, or the marshalling of crowds, or all three.
There’s a sensible discussion to be had and on the true value to Hoylake of the tournaments, and the ‘role’ of the RLGC in the town. But concerns on the suspension of the train lines?
Jim O’Neil comments:
I was told this morning by one of my (adult) students, who is a golf fan, that at least one of the caterers on the links came from Nottingham! WHAAAAT!!!?? In a town such as Hoylake, with a plethora of food places and a thriving IE group? is it simply that money talks?
In reply to Richard’s comments regarding the tunnel – in case you didnt realize it, this was said with “tounge in cheek”. However, I am still of the mind that our transport should not have to be disrupted to the extent that it is, and no Richard, it is NOT fair to (especially) the reisidents of West Kirby who still have to go to work during these times. Seriously, surely it shouldnt be beyond financial constraints to be able to put a temporary bridge over the railway line so the golfers can get to the practice ground? That way, no travellers would be inconvenienced on the train and visitors will still be able travel here by that method. With regard to Jim’s comments, I entirely agree with him in that a lot more local suppliers / caterers should be given the chance to price for the supply of food and drink, and any other services whch can be sourced locally. However, I feel that given the “big bucks” involved and the usual back scratching, local trades wont even be considered!
Interesting to read these discussions.
I think it’s important to focus on the positives and look at ways of avoiding the pitfalls and negatives in future.
The positives include:
– Hoylake is back on the map – people from outside the area have actually heard of it again due solely to the high profile golf events
– RLGC have done a fantastic job in building on its wonderful heritage and creating a modern world-class sporting venue in Hoylake and creating the opportunity for Hoylake to become an English St. Andrews attracting visitors year-round not just when there’s a tournament on
– there has already been investment in Hoylake that wouldn’t have happened otherwise e.g. public realm improvements, hotels, etc.
– further investments that are in the pipeline include more public realm improvements next to the station
– further down the track are aspirations on the table for upgrading the run-down promenades (which can’t come soon enough) and establishing a golf resort
– The re-emergence of Liverpool as a dynamic economic hub with planned major investments in new container and passenger port facilities and office/retail/trade centres in Liverpool/Birkenhead by Peel provides an opportunity for Hoylake to attract new residents and businesses in future.
When a tournament is on the biggest challenge is to make sure that Hoylake businesses can benefit from the influx of visitors and discussions will need to be had to plan better for this aspect so that it is a key aim of the overall plan for each tournament. Some occasional disruption for local residents is inevitable – I live in Edinburgh where roads are frequently closed for weeks at a time to facilitate all sorts of events such as the Edinburgh Festivals but these are what make Edinburgh a place in which people aspire to live, work and to visit.
Any Hoylake golf resort must be closely linked to the town and not just bear its name. it needs to be designed so as to maximise the business benefits to Hoylake town centre and to provide additional leisure spaces for non-golfing activities – open green space, walking & cycling routes, new wetland wildlife habitats, water features, etc. – that will make Hoylake a better place in which to live and attract visitors.
With the revitalisation of the Merseyside economy and well planned public and private investments in infrastructure it should be possible to re-establish Hoylake as a premier residential area and specialised visitor destination (golf, wildlife, walking/cycling, sand yachting, etc.) with good quality hotels, cafes, restaurants and specialist shopping.
This is a 10-20-year project, a good start has been made but much remains to be done. It is important not to be disheartened by disappointments but to learn from them and continue moving forward.
I remember the last previous Open in 1966, when one of the greens was struck by lightening during the tournament. There was sheet lightening and our Lakeland terrier spent the night quivering under the bed, after chewing a hole in a very solid Victorian door fram. The green was repaired with new turf after the rain stopped and the fun continued after the rain stopped. These days, they’d want a full public enquiry that a lightening strike had been permitted by the powers that be.
There was no closure whatsoever, of roads, railways, or anything else. However, free periscopes were available – very pretty with the name Peter Stuyvesant on them – presumable one of the sponsors were freely available.
Then, organisations that run national events – like the Open Golf Championship, pick up their tents and leave, muttering in disgust that there isn’t enough room for their hot dog stands. This happened after 1966.
The Stanley Hotel – 2 star AA hotel with a silver service restaurant couldn’t survive without this sort of custom, and the change from Cheshire to Merseyside inflicted by Edward Heath added insult to injury.There was a hotel, specifically for the course, called the Royal – it’ was off Stanley Road, and was replaced by a road of ‘executive detached houses’ after it was destroyed by fire sometime before 1960. Perhaps it was underinsured and was written off, and the land sold.
So, just from my knowledge, which dates back only to the early 1960s, Hoylake has a history of ups and downs.
The companies that run hotels and restaurants do so to make a profit, not just out of the kindness of their hearts to divert some tourists who breeze in every once in a while, and turn their noses up at what is available.
The Hoylake area suffered tremendously when the UDC was replaced by the MBC, and during subsequent recessions, and is beginning to regain the self-confidence it lost after 1974.