HISTORY

In 1869, a Special Meeting was called by James Muir Dowie at the Royal Hotel in Hoylake, to propose the formation of a new Golf Club. Twenty-one gentleman arrived and, after discussion, agreed to the idea and appointed Dowie as the first Captain.

Robert Chambers, son-in-law of Dowie, and George Morris, brother of Old Tom, were commissioned to lay out the original 9-hole course in 1869, which was extended to 18-holes two years later. 1871 was also the year in which the Club was granted its Royal designation, thanks to the patronage of HRH Prince Arthur, the Duke of Connaught.

For the first seven years of its life, the links land still performed its original function, doubling as a golf course and a horse racing track - indeed, echoes of this heritage can be found today in the names of the first and eighteenth holes, Course and Stand, while the original saddling bell still hangs in the clubhouse. Once the horses had been dispatched to pastures new Hoylake began to take its place in the history of golf in general and of the amateur game in particular.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, British golf was dominated by Hoylake’s John Ball Jnr, arguably the greatest, homegrown amateur of all time. Born in 1861, he was the eldest son of John Ball, owner of the Royal Hotel which served as Royal Liverpool’s first clubhouse until 1895. ‘Johnny’  took up the game at an early age and, with a fine, challenging golf course literally on his doorstep, made rapid progress. In 1878, aged just 16, he finished fifth in the Open at Prestwick.

A decade later he won the first of his eight Amateur championship titles and, in 1890, triumphed in both the Open and the Amateur. In January 1891, he was elected a Life Member "as some small mark of the hearty appreciation the members entertain of the great feat performed in 1890 in winning both Championships". It was at this time that the editor of Golf Magazine sent a representative to interview the double winner. Yet Ball is reported to have said to "Tell the editor that I can't think of anything that his readers would find interesting".
 

From 1881 until 1923 he won 92 gold medals at Hoylake and 18 silver. Including in 1887 when he won all six gold medals for that year. Ball’s career was remarkably long - with his first Amateur win at 26, and his last when he was 51.

Royal Liverpool has hosted The Open 13 times, boasting both iconic winners and exciting championships. Some of our winners include J.H. Taylor (1913), Walter Hagen (1924), Fred Daly (1947) and Peter Thomson (1956). But no history of Hoylake would be complete without mention of the legendary Bobby Jones, who can be thought of as Hoylake’s adopted son. In 1930 the Club was privileged to host his winning of the Open Championship, a victory that would become the second leg of his remarkable Grand Slam - the winning in the same year of the Amateur and Open Championships of both Great Britain and the United States.

Roberto De Vicenzo was crowned Champion golfer in 1967 and Hoylake wouldn't host another Championship until 39 years later. Following some hard and thoughtful work by the Club, which involved the purchase of additional land and improvements to the course designed, amongst other things, to meet the demands set by increasingly athletic big hitters.

In 2006 Hoylake proved admirably that it now has what it takes to stage one of the greatest tournaments in the world. The fabled mighty winds did not blow, but there was no denying that another mighty champion was born... in the shape of one Eldrick "Tiger" Woods, who brilliantly navigated his way across a sun baked and lightning fast links.