West Lancashire - shining bright from the dark ages

There's a popular theory which essentially says the quality of golf courses travelled on an ascending arc until being brutally derailed by the 1930s Depression and World War 2. Thereafter, goes the theory, technology combined with the American economic juggernaut led to a dominant form of course design whereby both unsuitable land and marginal climatic conditions could be manipulated to create 'greatness'. The apotheosis of this trend, goes the theory, was Robert Trent Jones.

I've only played one RTJ course (Moor Allerton, mediocre, but perhaps he did better) but I am interested in the people that came between the Golden Agers and the new breed.
One was Ken Cotton, who worked with the UK's leading minimalist architect Donald Steel in the sixties and seventies.

Around that time (Peter Allen says "recently" in his 1973 Play The Great Courses) Cotton took a respected but unheralded links layout at Blundellsands, ditched the flat holes furthest from the sea, went further into the dunes, re-arranged things into two loops of nine and created a test fair for the elite playing for a living but fun for all.

Characteristics such as the two loops, large number of doglegs, the striving for fairness and fairly large greens to spread the wear were typical of the time and distinguish West Lancs from older links. Similarly there are only a couple of blind drives and no blind shots to the green - if you put your tee shot in the right position, easier said than done. Some visitors may wish for more quirk but others will like the honesty of the challenge.

Fashions have definitely changed - I suspect Allen hated the clubhouse, but discreetly settled upon "strikingly modern". The course itself has worn much better.

Because it is one of the few links greater now than it was back in the day, but was excused the 'new build' publicity drive, West Lancs has had very few pictures taken, at least on the web. Even the entry in Steel's book , though laudatory, is only illustrated by one general shot of the links by Brian Morgan.

All this is a roundabout way of saying that my visit in November 2004, in as FLAT as light gets, doesn't show the course at its best.
The first two holes set the tone, both dog-leg, requiring precisely played shots for a par, superbly played shots for a birdie (perhaps with help from the conditions and pin placements) but allowing bogeys after an intelligent recovery from one mishit/misconceived shot.
However, in case you think this too formulaic, forget intelligent and try the crazy recovery shots from crazy angles - they probably won't work but it's fun trying.

Here's the 2nd from behind the green:


3rd is the first of a fine set of par 3s:



4th green:


12th is a great par 3, green angled across the player. When the rough behind grows in the summer that apron front left could be the better part of valour.

You certainly don't want to be in these bunkers:


Imagine what this view from the 13th tee is like on a brighter day. Wales is over there somewhere:


14th looks less links-like, but is the hardest green to hit on the course:


I've not listed the hole lengths because the effective playing yardages will vary so much depending on the wind strength and direction. But there's a card and other information on the club website