Championship VenueLinks Classic

Formby Golf Club

Formby, Merseyside · Designed by Founded 1884; Willie Park Jr & Harry Colt · Est. 1884

Formby is one of the most distinctive of the great English links — a championship course that runs not only through classic duneland but also, unusually, through stands of tall pine woodland, home to a famous colony of red squirrels. Founded in 1884, and shaped over the years by Willie Park Jr and Harry Colt among others, it sits on “England’s Golf Coast” between Southport and Liverpool.

The mix of dune and pine gives Formby a character all its own: sheltered, beautiful stretches through the trees alternate with exposed, rolling links holes among the sandhills. It plays to around 7,000 yards, par 72, and rewards thoughtful, accurate golf. Within its boundary sits Formby Ladies, one of the few entirely separate ladies' golf clubs in the world.

A long-time Amateur Championship, Curtis Cup and final-qualifying venue, Formby is a serious test wrapped in a genuinely lovely setting, and it welcomes visitors through the week.

Holes worth knowing

1The pinewood holes — Formby's stretches through tall pines are unlike anything on a normal links, sheltered and beautiful, before the course breaks back out into the dunes.
2The dune holes by the shore — exposed, rolling links golf that contrasts sharply with the wooded interior.

Highlights

Links through both dunes and pine woodland
Home to a famous red squirrel colony
Amateur Championship & Curtis Cup venue
Formby Ladies — a rare separate ladies' club — within it

Good to know

→Watch for the red squirrels — Formby's pinewoods are one of their last English strongholds, and the National Trust reserve next door is a lovely walk to find them.
→The course swings between sheltered pine avenues and exposed dunes, so the wind only hits you on parts of the round; adjust your ball flight as you move between the two.
→Formby Ladies, within the same boundary, is one of very few completely independent ladies' golf clubs in the world — a genuine curiosity.
→Formby's beach and pinewoods, with Antony Gormley's "Another Place" iron men on nearby Crosby beach, make a fine family half-day.
→It is the most convenient of the great Southport links to Liverpool — 25 minutes from the city and its airport — and pairs with Birkdale and Hillside up the coast.