Formby Golf Club

Formby was founded in 1884 with a nine-hole course, which got extended to 18 by Willie park in 1912. This was then altered by James Braid in 1922 and Harry Colt in 1933, with Donald Steel revising and extending the course in the 1980s. Today you have a wonderful experience mixing links with parkland and amazing scenery.

Visitors receive a very warm welcome and are assured a golf course in superb condition, as well as an impressive clubhouse that dates back to 1901. When inside you should look out for the ‘hippo’, which is a hunting trophy from a trip to Africa won by two of the club’s earliest members.

Formby Golf Course overview

A true championship links course with a unique mix of mature sand dunes and pinewoods, Formby is often regarded as the prettiest of the top-notch courses on this spectacular stretch of links coastline in northeast England. Routed in a huge anti-clockwise circle around the Formby Ladies Club, the men’s course is a par-72 and measures over 7000 yards from the tips, with the first three holes hugging the railway line before you change direction and head into the dunes.

Formby offers respite from the other windy links courses in this area, but don’t be fooled into thinking that this is an easy course. The undulating fairways are very linksy, however, the pines provide an element of park-like protection from the wind.

Bunkering is strategic and the rough is strewn with heather and very punishing. A great links and parkland mix that ranks amongst England’s top 20 courses and top 50 across the British Isles.

Signature hole

The 419-yard par-4 7th hole is such a great hole and needs some thought. Your tee shot ideally needs to reach the top of the hill in order to give you the best view of the sloping green. Then it’s all about giving yourself an uphill putt otherwise you may well be hitting 3 or more with the flat stick.

Did You Know?

The British Amateur Championship was first held at Formby in 1984 and Jose Maria Olazabal won. It returned in 2009 for a third time and produced the youngest champion in history…Italian 16 year old sensation Matteo Manassero.