Wallasey Golf Club

Wallasey's two claims to fame are being the home of Dr. Stableford and where Bobby Jones practiced before winning at Hoylake (Royal Liverpool).

The course deserves some credit for being a proper links. The routing starts in and returns to duneland. The 4th, 5th, 16th and 17th all end or start at the top of a hill with views of the Irish Sea. The course itself does has some flattish parts but the duneland holes are real links. The finishing stretch from 16-18 is quite excellent. The course plays firm/fast and has all of the links strategy/shot options that you could want.

Off the course, they have a putting green, a clubhouse with good catering and they treat their guests well.

I wouldn't put this at the top of a NW England itinerary but it would be a good place to start before heading to the Royals or Formby.

Wallasey was the first of the courses that we played last week in advance of the Open in England. We teed it up right off the plane, with little sleep, and it proved a stern test regardless of when we played it. The rough was thick and lush, and any ball even a little bit off-line was swallowed in the high stuff. I was lucky and only lost one ball; my fellow playing competitors, well, they weren't as fortunate. The view on the par-5 fourth hole is extraordinary -- bring your camera! -- and the par 3 that follows is a gem, too. There is a nice patio behind the 18th green, so make sure you save time for a pint after the round.

Full disclosure, I played this course off the plane immediately after an overnight, 8-hour flight from Orlando to Manchester. So I wasn't necessarily in the tip-top shape required to be at my best on this challenging layout.

But, Wallasey is the home of Stableford scoring, so we played that format on this day, which meant I could pick up the ball whenever it was clear I was going to make a score worse than double bogey.

The rough was extremely thick and severe on this day, which made it difficult to find balls. But if you did find the fairway you'd often be presented with a reasonable chance of making par.

A neat experience, which is not far from Royal Liverpool. Have a pint off the porch when you're done, and watch groups finish up on 18.