Formby Golf Club - England

Formby Golf Club lies on the Lancashire coast, a course of rich turf nestled in the sandhills and piney woods, just 14 miles north of Liverpool and five miles south of Southport. The club was formed when 10 gentlemen met at the Reverend Lonsdale Formby's reading from on December 11, 1884, and resolved to name it the Formby Golf Club. Nine holes were then laid out over the rough, sandy terrain of a rabbit warren, expanded to 18 by 1893, with the imposing club­house opened by Lord Derby in 1901. The present course is largely the work of Willie Park, Jr. carried out in 1907. The opening holes are laid out on the flat ground, with the railway line running along the first, before the course begins to funnel through the formidable sandhills. Unlike most seaside links, Formby is bordered on three sides by forests of firs, creating a strong sense of seclusion. The threat of coastal erosion caused the club in the early 1980s to replace the old seventh through 10th holes with holes that run through the woodlands. Formby has hosted three British Amateurs, including 1984 when Jose Maria Ohlzabal beat Colin Montgomerie in a memorable final. As Frank Pennink once wrote: "It is easy to fall in love with Formby at first sight, for it has that rare trait of real charm to a very high degree."

Royal Liverpool Golf Club - England

Royal Liverpool Golf Club, or Hoylake, as it is better known, is widely considered one of the sternest and truest of the great links courses. Golf at Hoylake dates all the way back to 1869, making it one of the oldest clubs in England. The existing course took shape in 1895 after the club moved from the now-defunct Royal Hotel to its present clubhouse, and was updated by Harry Colt in 1923. Laid out near the estuary of the River Dee, the course is famed for the knee-high banks of turf known as the Cops that serve as out of bounds, the quality of its greens, and fierce rough fretted with dwarf rose and blackberry. Sir Peter Allen described Hoylake as "the Final Honour School, together with Muirfield perhaps, of British golf, where luck enters into it to the minimum and justice is not only done but manifestly seen to be done." Hoylake has hosted 10 British Opens, the first in 1897, and was the site of Bobby Jones's victory in the 1930 Open on his way to the Grand Slam. After 1967, when Roberto de Vicenzo captured the claret jug, Hoylake was dropped from the Open "rota" because of logistical considerations, but it has been selected to host the championship again in 2006.