St Annes Old Links: If you like links golf, you will love the Old Links
St Annes Old Links was founded in 1901 and is one of the finest championship links courses of England’s north-west coast.
It has hosted Final Qualifying for The Open Championship on several occasions most recently from 2018 to 2022, as well as qualifying for the Women’s British Open and the Senior Open. In addition in 2022 they co-hosted The Amateur Championship with their neighbours Royal Lytham & St Annes.
The Old Links is regularly voted in the Top 100 courses in England. The great Bobby Jones said ‘’it’s difficult to see how you could improve on this’’.
If you like links golf, you will love the Old Links.
History
St Anne’s Old Links Golf Club was established in 1901 on land that since 1886 had previously been the home of the Lytham & St. Anne’s Golf Club. The Lytham and St. Anne’s Golf Club had relocated two miles away to the south side of the town to what is now the present championship course of the Royal Lytham and St.Anne’s Golf Club in 1897, after failing to obtain an assurance from their landlord regarding the future tenure of their course.
However, by 1901 the entrance fee to be a member of the newly located Lytham and St. Anne’s Golf Club had risen to 5 guineas and according to the Lytham Times, ‘The Club had become too exclusive for many of the shopkeepers and traders who desired to play the game.’
The popularity of golf was growing and the land, upon which the recently vacated golf course had laid, remained mainly undeveloped – prompting George Lowe, the Lytham & St.Anne’s professional to seek permission to return it to its former purpose. He felt that the natural features of this barren windswept strip of Lancashire coast, composed of sand dunes and wild grasses beaten down to an extent that even the few trees that survived the wild winds leant low in sympathy to the prevailing westerlies were too precious to be allowed to go to waste.
On the 24th June 1901, a meeting was attended by 22 local businessmen who agreed to establish a golf course on part of the remaining land that had been left tenantless by the departure of the Lytham and St. Anne’s Golf Club and that the entrance fee should be one guinea. George Lowe informed the meeting that two men in a fortnight could make the ground into fair condition and that he himself would give his services to assist in laying out the course free of charge.
It was also proposed that considering that the club was to be formed on the old links vacated by the Lytham & St. Anne’s Club that the name of the club should be “The Old Links Golf Club, St. Anne’s on the Sea.”
The weakness of the club’s position remained in the fact that they did not have security of tenure and as the town flourished and developed, land was swallowed up and the course constantly modified. In 1909 the club secured a 40 year lease for 90 acres of land to what is the Club’s present location and with this prospect of security of tenure, commenced to re-design the course.
Alex (Sandy) Herd, the 1902 Open Championship winner and George Lowe, who was now the Old Links professional, submitted joint schemes to the Council. The layout of the course included the original 10th and 11th greens of the old Lytham & St.Anne’s Golf Club, which are now the 17th and 10th greens respectively and can justifiably lay claim to be the oldest in the locality.
What makes it special
The hallmark of the Old Links is its fantastic greens all year round. They drain superbly well and putt true and fast whatever the weather. Many a visiting golfer has bemoaned the fact that the Old Links has far better greens in the winter than their home club does in the summer!
Where does it rank?
157th in GB&I, 90th in Value, 69th in England.
Where is it?
The Club is situated less than 4 miles from the end of the M55; in addition it is easily accessed by rail, with St Annes on Sea station being less than 1 mile from the course.
Get in touch with St Annes Old Links
For more information about the club and course, visit its website or call them on 01253 723597.
Have you played St Annes Old Links before? Let us know in the comments, or tweet us.
Ben Outhwaite
Ben is National Club Golfer's Marketing Editor and the latest addition to our golf equipment review team.
He specialises in testing golf bags, beginner golf club sets, apparel and golf accessories. He also collates our buying guides so you know which are the latest and greatest bits of golf equipment on the market.
Ben picked up his first golf club when he was five years old – which was in fact a left-handed set of clubs!
He is a member at Rudding Park Golf Club and has a handicap of fifteen.
