Knights and
dark days GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT IS OUR EARLIEST SURVIVING EXAMPLE OF WRITTEN FICTION AND HAS BEEN TRANSLATED FROM ITS MIDDLE ENGLISH BY GREAT WRITERS AND POETS LIKE IAN SERRAILLIER AND SIMON ARMITAGE.
It’s a timeless masterpiece about code, honour, keeping to the rules and admitting without hesitation when a rule has been breached. Being a knight at the Court of King Arthur, it seems, was
and 4th June 2017 THE HAROLD HILTON MEDAL WAS INAUGURATED IN 1997 TO COMMEMORATE THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF HOYLAKE LEGEND HAROLD HILTON’S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP HOME VICTORY.
The 20th Harold Hilton Medal -3rd
It is fitting the event is an Amateur tournament given that Harold Hilton is one of only three Amateur golfers ever to win The Open Championship. It is also telling that all three Amateur winners had strong links to Hoylake. John Ball Jr was a member of the Club and Bobby Jones won the 1930 Open played at Hoylake. Bobby Jones also became an honorary member, so we can claim all as members at one point or another. A qualifying medal round followed by a beautifully engineered
matchplay tournament, which keeps the excitement going until the very end, is played in early June when the course is at its peak and the rough provides tremendous definition. This is a great opportunity for visitors to play competitive golf on the historic Hoylake links. The tournament has quickly become
established on the international stage with players travelling long distances to take part. It also attracts repeat competitors which in part is down to the sociable nature of the event. Perhaps another factor is that entry is limited to players over the age of 30 and with a handicap of 5 or under.
The 19th Harold Hilton Medal was
played on the 4th and 5th of June last year, and a typically international field of nearly 60 mid-Amateurs did battle. The winner was Geoff Harris of Formby Golf Club, who was presented with the illustrious Medal by Captain, David Smith.
ROYAL LIVERPOOL GOLF CLUB 2017 MAGAZINE
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a bit like playing golf. You can be certain the likes of Sir Lancelot and young Gawain would never roll a ball down the leg of their armour to replace one that couldn’t be found. Apart from being a wonderful story well told, the Gawain poem is relevant to Royal Liverpool’s part of the world because of the route Gawain takes to the Green Chapel and what appears to be his date with certain death at the hands of the Green Knight. This extract is taken from Bernard O’Donahue’s
adaptation of the poem. “The islands round Anglesey he held to his left, crossing
the fords along the high headlands by the Holy Head, till he returned to the shore by the wilds of the Wirral, where very few live loved either by God or men of goodwill…At times he fought dragons, sometimes wolves, or trolls of the forest that skulked in the crags. He fought wild bulls and bears and boars as well, and giants who stalked him from the fells above.”
All this and more takes place in the wyldrenesse of wyrale and is notable for being the first time the place name is to be found in our existing literature. Back in the 14th century it’s plain that Wirral was both out of bounds and rough, and the sort of place where you might meet a few hackers.
Below: Pages from the Gawain manuscript, with thanks to the British Library
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