Dispatch, a highly regarded newspaper of the day, sent their eminent writer Harry Beswick to Hoylake to find out more during the Amateur Championship. After Ball’s narrow victory in the second round he asked after the player by saying, “Who is Johnny?” One imagines the question was met
with silence at best, because Beswick observed: “It was not until the afternoon that
I awoke to the enormity of the
offence. Johnny Ball it appears is the emperor of Hoylake, the lord of its fowl and brute. He is also its golfing Pope, Chief Magistrate, Verger, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Archdeacon, coroner, Presiding Barrister, groom of the back stairs and the Lord High Everything else. Incidentally he is the most popular man in the district.” There is no sign that the journalist
spoke with Ball; presumably the great man, as ever, kept himself to himself. Mention must also be made of the
brilliant fiction writer - and Hoylake member - Malcolm Lowry. Under the Volcano, published in 1947, regularly appears on lists of The 100 Greatest Novels and, in the context of this article, includes touching passages based on the golfing days of his youth. It’s a dark book, but Hoylake provides moments of brightness: “The Taskersons lived in a comfortable
house whose back garden abutted on a beautiful, undulating golf course bounded on the far side by the sea. It looked like the sea; actually it was the estuary, seven miles wide, of a river: white horses westward marked where the real sea began. The Welsh mountains, gaunt and black and cloudy, with occasionally
Above: From Bobby Jones to RLGC
Secretary, Guy Farrar, in 1930
Below: Malcolm Lowry
The golf swing is like a suitcase into which we try to pack one too many things
a snow peak to remind Geoff of India, lay across the river…There was an island in the estuary, with a windmill on it like a curious black flower, which you could ride out to at low tide on a donkey. The smoke of freighters outward bound from Liverpool hung low on the horizon. There was a feeling of space and emptiness.” Henry
Longhurst, like Bernard
Darwin, was a fine golfer who went on to become the first outstanding television commentator on the game. When Roberto De Vicenzo won The Open in 1967, what would be the last at Hoylake for 39 years, Henry’s gentle, admiring and sincere tone as the Champion shook hands with playing partner, Gary Player, perfectly matched a victory Roberto had long aspired to. Like many golf journalists Henry
Longhurst knew Hoylake inside out. While talking to Tom Simpson, a highly respected
golf course architect, and
discussing the finer points of design, Simpson declared that a course simply must have an out-of-bounds feature. “In that case,” asked Henry, with a
nod to Royal Liverpool’s internal out of bounds bordered by the 1st and 16th holes, “I take it you regard Hoylake as the finest in England?” Simpson paused and replied: “Without a doubt.” Characters like Henry Longhurst
46 ROYAL LIVERPOOL GOLF CLUB MAGAZINE 2019–2020
inevitably generate stories, some true, some apocryphal. For instance, it is said that, after being diagnosed with a terminal illness, he decided enough was enough and that he would depart
this
earth on a high. So he took a bottle of pills and a fine bottle of whiskey he had kept for many years and sat himself down in a comfortable chair. On taking his first drop of the Scottish wine he enjoyed it so much he refreshed his glass. This was repeated until, eventually, he awoke in the morning with an empty bottle of whiskey and a full bottle of pills. In addition to Guy Farrar, other
writers have emerged from the Hoylake ranks. In 1969, the Club’s centenary, Leslie Edwards, a founder member of the Association of Golf Writers, compiled a small edition with a green cloth cover, which is now an item well worth keeping. A compilation followed in 1990 by
John Graham and John Behrend. This book gave a new audience insights into the Club, profiling
its most famous
characters and bringing home to me Royal Liverpool’s extraordinary past and the influence it has had on the game of golf. Around this time the Club started to
produce an annual brochure which was the forerunner of this magazine. Many members were inspired to reveal their journalistic skills, and among them was
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
