Formby Ladies Golf Club

Formby Ladies Golf Club: Looking out from Formby's resplendent clubhouse, with its equally impressive clock tower, you cannot help but be enthused at the prospect of a round on these hallowed links. Laid out before you are two excellent 18-hole links courses. The independently run Formby Ladies course (measuring 5,350 yds), is encircled by the highly acclaimed Formby championship course.

Maintained to the same high standards as the championship course, Formby Ladies' is characterised by narrow heather-lined fairways and small greens protected by well positioned pot bunkers. On this smaller scale version of its bigger sibling, golfers need to play with precision rather than length to score well here.

The wonderfully varied collection of four relatively short par-3 holes are amongst the highlights here at Formby Ladies. The plateau-green 5th, and downhill bowl-like 12th, are outstanding. So too are the many revetted bunkers, which add style and menace, especially around the not overly large, subtly sloping greens.

On this "out-and-back" layout, the opening and closing holes occupy flatter terrain, with more substantial elevation changes around the turn. Glimpses of the Irish Sea can be enjoyed from the par-5 10th and par-3 12th tees. This thoroughly enjoyable layout, clearly shows that courses don't need to exceed 7,000 yards (or even 6,000) to present an excellent golfing challenge.

The links at Formby Golf Club were founded in 1884, the Ladies club 12 years later in 1896. Over the years both have been sensitively modernised by some legendary designers, ensuring the courses remains challenging and enjoyable tests of golf.