XXXXI: Royal Lytham & St Anne's
Defining a true links has become a decades old, fruitless deliberation as golfers aimlessly talk themselves in circles around the intricacies of proximity to the sea, absence of trees and just how sandy the turf should be. Many of the seaside’s finest define themselves – the likes of Ballybunion, Lahinch, Cruden Bay and Royal St George’s with their idyllic sea views and rolling dunes pushing them firmly to the head of the links continuum.
As we drift further we find courses which straddle the grey area – the Paraparaumu Beach, St Andrew’s Beach and Royal Lythams of the world set a dune ridge and housing development from the sea. In the absence of sea views, golfers perhaps lose sight of the core qualities which make links golf so compelling – firm, fast and sandy turf across varying degrees of lumpy terrain, which these courses deliver in spades.
Gorgeous sandy rolls leave no doubt of Lytham's classification
In lieu of the mighty dunes of Birkdale or seaside romance of Hoylake, with its borders squeezed by a housing estate and a railway line, the historic links of Royal Lytham flies in the face of links golf’s idealisms. It’s a more than common refrain from the travelling golfer that Lytham lacks a certain amount of visual appeal and charm when compared to a handful of the links which share the same coastline, but contrary to others, I found the atmosphere of Lytham to emit a certain charisma – a proper, honest club that knows exactly what it is.
To the tune of its surrounds, Lytham’s links are gritty and working class, free of frills and pageantry, simply a string of solid, testing golf holes which hold interest as well as any.
Gritty, honest links golf
It is no secret that Lytham is defined by its hazards– nasty pots, allegedly in excess of 160 of them are scattered in terrifying clusters. They are relentless, at times overbearing and dictate the majority of Lytham’s strategy, however they also manufacture much of the enjoyment of the test where constantly referencing a yardage book and plotting a path over and around the traps becomes the essence of the examination. As courses clammer for a means of guarding par in the age of distance, Lytham’s hazardous riddle retains relevancy for both the pros and the lay man.
Too often Lytham’s traditional out and back layout is mistaken for being routed across entirely flat land, truthfully it features a great scattering of handsome humps, rolls, hollows and mounds which attributing to the firmness of the turf, present a good amount of linksy randomness and rub of the green golf. It’s variety of green sites sitting gracefully on the land also aren’t spoken of enough, their surrounding run-offs and tilted surfaces loaded with nuance.
Though more subtly than most, Lytham's land bumbles keenly
Heading Out
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Like many links, with the wind in the golfer’s face, Lytham’s opening stretch can inflict a flurry of early blows. Famously, Royal Lytham is the only course on the Open rota which opens with a one-shotter - stretching to over 200-yards and smothered by Lytham’s notorious hazards it puts the discomfort of a long iron in the golfer’s hands immediately.
Looking back down the opening hole
Perhaps no pair of holes sums up the ethos of Royal Lytham quite as keenly as the brutal second and third. Both holes straddle the railway line up the right, their playing corridors muddled by a scattering of 17 traps between them. With both holes rewarding the gutsy tee shot closest to the railway with a cleaner angle of approach, Lytham’s demand for control and precision are pushed to the fore, its tightrope of perfection and demise the slimmest of any course on the rota.
Bunkers and the railway squeeze the third fairway
The Turning Point
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In a very similar nature to Royal Troon, it comes as no coincidence that the most dramatic, eccentric and intriguing stretch of Royal Lytham’s routing occurs at the turn from the 8th to the 10th, where the lone dune ridge of substance bisects the far corner of the property. 30 minutes of the highest echelon of links golf ensues.
The dunes flow between the 8th and the 10th
Number Eight
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Another hole which hugs the railway, the fairway of the eighth is cut off sharply by a belt of bunkers. Beyond the traps the fairway climbs steeply to a crowned putting surface set at the highest point of the course, its run-offs at the heart of the uphill approach’s difficulty and the coffin bunker to the left is the deepest on the course.
The approach into eight is one of Lytham's most intimidating
Number 9
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Tucked into a corner of Lytham’s property, the diminutive ninth and its necklace of seven bunkers makes for a perilously small target. At only 140 yards and with a short iron in hand the layout’s most attractive one-shotter is a wonderful change in pace as the routing switches direction, but is no less exacting in its delivery.
The wonderful green site of the 9th
Number 10
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One of the great holes of the UK, standing atop the 10th tee provides a brief moment of transportation to a completely different strain of linksland. A partially blind drive downhill and between dunes, the fairway is gorgeously rumpled and splitting the two hillocks which front the green is one of the memorable shots of the day.
One of the UK's finest two-shotters comes at 10
Holding on For Home
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Like most of its peers on the rota, Lytham’s closing stretch is stout, leading out with the brawny 15th as it sweeps right and leaves a semi-blind approach. At 16 the golfer is granted a curious opportunity with a completely blind, driveable two-shotter which can escalate in a hurry.
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With 32 bunkers crowding the 870 yards which separate the 17th tee from the clubhouse, Lytham’s final tee shots are like aiming into a sea of landmines. There is absolutely nowhere to hide and once out of position, getting back in the hole is no mean feat – complete and utter tests of execution which rival Carnoustie as championship golf’s toughest finish. Tom Doak anointed the 18th and its rows of bunkers as his favourite home hole on the planet, and finishing at the foot of the iconic clubhouse is a moment of magic.
Lytham's iconic home hole
There is great satisfaction in success at Lytham owing primarily to golfers’ inability to overpower it and the proper execution of a well-considered required to navigate its sand-laden predicaments. With its relentless bunkering Lytham doesn’t look or play like many other links which makes it polarising, though there can be no denying the brilliant pacing to its routing, nor the sheer number of quality holes.
To bypass the history and quality of Royal Lytham in trepidation its hazards would be an ill-considered, misconceived mistake.