Formby and Formby Ladies Course Review: Just an incredble 36-hole experience

Formby GC Fact File: 

• Location: Ideally positioned between Liverpool and Southport
• Year Established: 1884
• Par: Formby 72 Formby Ladies 71
• Length (yards from yellows/reds): Formby - 6,509 Formby Ladies - 5,356 
• Green Fees (weekdays):  Formby £270 Formby Ladies £110
• Signature Hole: Formby, the par-4 7th which sweeps between the pines. Formby Ladies, the very sassy par-3 5th
• Website: formbygolfclub.co.uk    formbyladiesgolfclub.co.uk

Formby and Formby Ladies golf courses offer something very different and are completely separate clubs but are similarly exceptional. The two were founded within two years of one another, Formby in 1884 and the Ladies 12 years later.

Willie Park Jr, a two-time Open champion, designed the original layout and James Braid would make changes to the last four holes and Harry Colt would make further alterations. Due to shifting sand and coastal erosion Donald Steel would add three holes at 7, 8 and 9 in 1980 and the legacy of those holes is something else.

Situated between Liverpool and Southport, Formby complements this spectacular coastline and it is simply one of the best courses in GB&I, inside the top 50, and comfortably one of the prettiest links on the planet.

As for Formby Ladies that began life as a nine-holer, with Park Jr again the designer, and it was completely independent of Formby before being extended to 18 holes in 1907. Later Harry Colt would make some alterations and by the mid-1920s the Ladies had their own green staff to go with their own clubhouse. These days golfers, men are very welcome here, are quickly cottoning on to quite how good it is.

It's certainly been good enough to host the British Girls' Home Internationals and it recently staged a Rose Ladies Series event. It remains the only golf club in the UK with its own 18-hole course and it is played, from the red tees at 5,356 yards, around the central area of Formby.

Expect tight fairways, links turf, pine trees, well-protected greens and a need for precision and strategy. On the scorecard it might look like a bit of a pushover with seven par 4s of under 330 yards but the reality is very different.

Formby and Formby Ladies Course Review

Let's start with Formby Ladies which we're all going to hear more and more about as golfers realise how the game can be played. There are a handful of holes that would fit into its near neighbour's layout and the four short holes, the longest of which measures 158 yards, are real highlights.

There is the opportunity to take on some of the par 4s but you better have your (long and short) game working with subtle doglegs, small and devilish greens and even a bunker that sits in the middle of one fairway. There are also elevated tees on several holes which give outstanding views across the course and towards the Irish Sea.

If you get the opportunity to play Formby, add on 18 holes here. The prospect of two rounds of Championship links might get the better of most of us, a round on the Ladies will make for something very different before or after tackling Formby.

Then we come to the four-time venue of the Amateur Championship and the home to the 2004 Curtis Cup which involved Paula Creamer and a 14-year-old Michelle Wie. In the clubhouse there are many brilliant photos but the one of Jose Maria Olazabal and Colin Montgomerie before locking horns in the final of the '84 Amateur is particularly special – the Spaniard would win 5&4.

The last time the Amateur visited here Matteo Manassero putted the lights out as he triumphed.

The front nine at Formby stands out more in the memory bank, for the variety and special nature of the holes. The course runs in an anti-clockwise circle around Formby Ladies and the opening three holes follow the railway line and the 6th to the 9th are very special holes.

The 7th is very different in nature to what's gone before and bizarrely can split opinion. For me (and most of us) it's a fantastic looking hole that runs through the pines and up to an elevated green. If you were able to stand on a tee and hit balls all day, then you would probably head here.

The par-5 8th measures under 500 yards but is still the Stroke Index 1. Conversely to the previous hole you might stand on the tee all day and never find the fairway. Then the 9th, with more pine, heather and sand, is visually probably the most classic looking hole and the most satisfying hole to par.

The holes on the back nine seems to blend into one another a bit more though when you unpick them one by one, they quickly become even better. The 13th is decorated by plenty of bunkers off the tee and the 15th is certainly the toughest with the entrance for the approach played between two sand hills.

The closing hole might not be the strongest closing hole but the magnificent clubhouse, voted the 12th most iconic in the world, adds plenty to the climax of the round.

Final Verdict

It's hard to want much more than what Formby offers. Formby Ladies is a very welcome chance to think your way round a brilliant course – the winning score here the last two years in the Rose Ladies Series events has been four under.

There is something very cool about everyone playing the same course and the short holes are the perfect example of why short holes can measure 130 yards and be the highlight of your day.

Then Formby is hard to speak more highly about. We often have the conversation of where, up and down this coastline, which club you would like to be a member of and many of us settle on this course. There never seems the prospect of being blown away by the winds as much of some of the other North West links and it is just a fantastic front nine.

The holes in the pines take the course to new levels, after a very strong start, and there is more than enough to enjoy on the back nine. This feels like a members' club and is a pleasure to visit on every single occasion and, if you can double up and add Formby Ladies, then you've basically got yourself the perfect golfing day. 

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars ️️️️️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

For more information, please visit the club's website here