designs
left the beholder in no doubt, however, that this was a building of significance serving men of substance, albeit at play. On the links-facing side this sense of
propriety rather melts away with the building coming to life in its celebration of its magnificent setting and relationship with the course. More exuberant elements such as turrets and the clock tower come into play and generous windows give on to its principal first floor Club and dining rooms. Originally a balcony was prominent, a facility later lost but replaced in kind when Owen Ellis architects were to make substantial alterations in preparation for the 2006 Open including the fine new Library above the relocated professional’s shop. For The Open the course with which members and visitors are familiar is re-numbered. Our 16th becomes the Championship 18th. Not only does this offer a
f ini shing
that their smoking rooms are on the first floor. So from each we get fine stretch of view of the links and we can see people putting immediately below us. Those two features – a view over the course and an opportunity of laughing at our friends are to my mind of an importance hard to exaggerate.” I think Darwin illustrates an
hole with the possibility of a death or glory second shot across the internal out of bounds, but also one that places the Clubhouse at the heart of the drama. The elegant first floor rooms
overlooking the course are surely amongst the finest in golf. The doyen of golf writers, Bernard Darwin, was an admirer – noting when comparing Hoylake, Formby and Lytham: “Those three lordy Clubhouses all have one characteristic in common in
understanding which he shared with Hoylake’s membership of 1895 of what golf club architecture should be about: to engage sensitively with the course externally and most importantly to engender camaraderie within. As we welcome visitors from all corners of the globe this year we should not forget the skill and application of Messrs Woodfall and Eccles in their delivery of a fine building which does exactly that. ■
Opposite page: The Royal Hotel
Above: The Clubhouse in 1928
Below: The Clubhouse is ready to welcome the world’s greatest golfers
ROYAL LIVERPOOL GOLF CLUB 2 014 MAGAZINE
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