In the beginning was the Word.

Joe Pinnington has been re-reading Royal Liverpool’s first venture into magazine publishing.

The first edition of the RLGC annual magazine rather

like this one was published in 1986. However, in 1978 a newsletter was sent to the members on sheets of foolscap paper, (a little larger than A4 we use today). Foolscap is so called because on each sheet was a watermark representing a fool’s cap and bells – not much to do with golf but a fact none the less. The newsletters were of a chatty nature

and described as the “Club Bulletin”. Subject matter included Hoylake’s promising young golfers of that time and included Jeremy Monroe and John Norbury. The latter had won the Club Championship with scores of 74 and 73 = 147. I bet he could not do that today. Hips were among other intriguing topic.

Though today this operation is far from out of the ordinary, in 1978 it was a minor miracle and oh! how it has prolonged the careers of many grateful golfers over the years. There was also a provocative section named

Acid Drop Corner. The eternal question of the old Dowie was raised naturally. Thank heavens we eventually changed the hole in 1993; if nothing else it has curtailed the never-ending debate about the out of bounds beside the green. Golfers can go on chewing a bone longer than any other sportsmen. It’s good to relate that the OOB and the practice

ground are rarely mentioned, though the little gully on top of the cop would make the issue even less complicated. Some golfing sage’s believe that the rough on the practice side should be cut. This would certainly save time when a drive has trickled over the cop, as a great deal of time can be spent looking for golf balls with the consequence of holding up play on the first hole.

The Acid Drop Corner also asked searching questions. For example: “The clubroom is the heart of the club. Is our heart in the

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