John Graham. He would go on to write a book called Tales from Links Cottage and the Gate House - it was published just after his death and is a great read. John Behrend published a number of


books, and notable amongst them are The Amateur 1885-1995 and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club. His book on John Ball is also a great account, along with his stories St Andrews Night and Other Golfing Stories. They are Hoylake orientated but do explore them if you have a chance. John was a significant writer on the game in the 80’s and 90’s. In the 1950s some fine books were published and I particularly like A Round of Golf Courses by Patric Dickinson. He writes excellently about 18 courses across the British Isles. His piece on Hoylake contains some of the most wonderful quotes. “Hoylake shares with


cycling the


strange fact that whichever way you turn the wind is plumb against you.” He even compares Hoylake to a book:


“You won’t really enjoy it, but you must read it, it is an experience you will never forget…and it is beautifully written.” Hoylake could be described as the


Under the Volcano of golf courses. Another important book is Robert


Browning’s A History of Golf published in 1955. It’s not a large volume but comprehensive enough


to establish


the facts of early golf. Interestingly, he explains the origin of the motto adopted


hand holding a golf club, along with the motto Far and sure. In other words, buy my boots and you will walk far and sure. I have visited Canongate


but the house stands no


longer, but walking


through an entrance to the back of the premises the escutcheon can still be seen accompanied by the phrase I hate no person - an anagram of John Patersone. Of


course many


writers have mentioned golf in their books. I am particularly fond of P. G. Wodehouse: “There are three things the world he held in


in


P. G. Wodehouse the smallest


esteem - slugs, poets and caddies with hiccups.” “The least thing upset him on the links.


He missed short putts because of the uproar of the butterflies in the adjoining meadows.” And John Updike: “The golf swing is like a suitcase into


which we are trying to pack one too many things.” “Golf camaraderie, like that of


astronauts and Antarctic explorers, is based on a common experience of transcendence, fat or thin, scratch or


Combing his moustache with the sugar tongs


by a number of Clubs including Royal Liverpool: Far and sure. In 1682 a challenge was made in Edinburgh to The Duke of York by two English noblemen to be played over the Leith links. The noblemen would play the Duke and a Scottish partner of his choice. The player recommended to the Duke was a poor shoemaker named John Patersone. The Duke and his partner were


victorious and the shoemaker returned home with an equal share of a very considerable stake wagered on the result. With the money he built a house in the Canongate of Edinburgh. On the wall outside he placed an escutcheon, with the Patersone family crest of a dexter


duffer, we have been somewhere together where non-golfers never go.” Not all golfing journalists have


appreciated the links of Hoylake. By the 1970s Royal Liverpool was entering something of a wilderness. When Peter Dobereiner, who also wrote for The Observer, published a glossy book called The Glorious Game of Golf in 1973, he commented on Hoylake and Sandwich: “By modern standards both these courses seem hopelessly old fashioned and are now off The Open rota because of their inadequate amenities. In many ways it is unfortunate that big golfing occasions of today have to be chosen for such extraneous reasons as parking space rather than golfing excellence. In these


cases, however, we need not regret their absence too deeply”. Thankfully the Club rediscovered its


self confidence and set about restoring itself to its former glory. The return to The Open rota was the reward. Royal


Liverpool welcomes visitors


and journalists to the Hoylake links. The Club takes seriously what Bernard Darwin stated in 1933: “Hoylake belongs primarily to the Members of The Royal Liverpool Golf Club, but it also belongs to the whole world of golf.” That said, not all golfing hacks have been given unconditional


hospitality.


Take the case of Leonard Crawley, Walker Cup player, cricketer, ice skater, and later the golf correspondent for the Daily Telegraph for quarter of a century. While reporting on the 1953 Amateur Championship at Hoylake he stayed with a member. When the lady of the house entered the kitchen for breakfast she witnessed Crawley combing his moustache with the sugar tongs and he was thrown out. Philip Stern, RLGC Captain in 1999, confirmed that his grandmother was the enraged hostess. Given that this story is like something


straight out of a P. G. Wodehouse story, let’s return to ‘Plumb’ for the final word: “Golf...is the infallible test. The man


who can go into a patch of rough alone, with the knowledge that only God is watching him, and play his ball where it lies, is the man who will serve you faithfully and well.” n


ROYAL LIVERPOOL GOLF CLUB 2019–2020 MAGAZINE 47


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