WALLASEY

By Dave Tindall Last updated: 20th October 2009

Before embarking on a recent golf trip to The Wirral, a couple of friends had said the same thing when I'd told them that I would be playing two of the region's star courses.

It went along the lines of: "Hoylake is great, but you'll really love Wallasey."

But there was a rider - "Brace yourself for the wind."

After shooting 90 (four shots better than my handicap) at Hoylake I was certainly in confident mood when making the short hop over to Wallasey and seeing ex-Liverpool star Jason McAteer (I'm a Reds fan) coming out of the club shop added to my good mood.

Before teeing off we sat down with Trevor Barraclough, the secretary at Wallasey since 2002, and, over a pre-round cuppa, Phil Craghill from GMS, who had put this trip together, asked him if we could use play off the white tees.

I exchanged worried glances with Bunkered magazine's Michael McEwen (a fellow high handicapper) and if I'd had a longer leg, I'd have given Phil a "shut up" kick on the shin but Trevor came back with a "yes" and whites it was.

With the wind blowing and an extra 250 yards to negotiate, my confidence started to dip a bit but any negative thoughts started to be replaced by positive ones as I surveyed the scene outside the clubhouse window - spectacular rolling dunes lit up by early morning autumn sunlight (see gallery).

The first hole (right outside the clubhouse) is a shortish par four to ease you into some of the tougher assignments ahead and I was pretty satisfied with a bogey seeing as I was faffing around all over the place stuffing water and various chocolate/energy bars into my bag whilst tying my shoelaces and trying to arrange in which combination of pockets to place my camera, skycaddie, scorecard, wallet, spare ball, short tees, long tees and pencil.

Wallasey's big claim to fame is that it was here that the Stableford scoring system was devised.

And after taking four shots to get out of a pot bunker on the second fairway, it felt like the ghost of Frank Stableford was standing over me. The inspiration for his scoring system had come to him whilst practicing on this very (wind battered) fairway (the hole is called 'Stableford) and I was the latest golfer to feel the benefits of being able to write a hole off without it wrecking their round.

Except that I did actually play the hole out. I was so desperate to register a 72-hole score I kept going until I'd racked up an eight (nil points in Stableford of course), eventually putting out while my playing partners had moved to the next tee. Sorry Frank.

A double bogey at the next had me thinking that I should just stick to Stableford and abandon my attempt to produce a score but I then started to put it together a bit.

The raised fourth hole offers a spectacular view down the coast to North Wales and, with the wind dropping, the fairway down below was simply crying out to be hit. My tee-shot drifted to the right a bit but I was still glad to get one away on such a wonderful hole. A pulled third into thick greenside rough meant another three shots so despite enjoying the beautiful scenery my scorecard looked ugly - 6, 8, 6, 6 and nine over after just four holes.

Despite Frank Stableford's voice in my head pestering me to let go of my strokeplay score, I continued and finally made a par at the tough par three fifth.

This can often require a driver when the wind really blows and I was right on the limit with my hybrid. However, I caught it flush and it just had enough to carry the trouble and kick right off a bank on to the green. The 15 foot birdie putt didn't drop but the par was very welcome.

A bogey, par, bogey run over the next three holes helped rack up some Stableford points for our side and then I plonked an eight-iron at the short downhill par three to around 10 feet and made a two-putt par. Out in 47 but, more encouragingly, just three over for the last six.

The par fours had been the bugbear of Frank Stableford and when I looked at my scorecard after the round I realised I didn't manage a par at any of them! (10 in total).

Rubbish really and just as well I thrived on the short holes.

I made it a prile of par 3s with another at the 12th. It's another wonderful looking hole - a classic short par three surrounded by bunkers - with a high tee offering more excellent views.

A leaked tee-shot somehow managed to land between the two bunkers to the right of the green (see gallery) and despite a rather heavy-handed chip I rolled in an 18 footer for par. A poor 'up' but a good 'down'.

At the par five 13th I finally bowed to the inevitable and lost a ball. The rough is much more punishing than at nearby Hoylake and there are places where searching is almost futile.

I'm pretty straight with my PING G15 driver and, indeed, this marvellous club wasn't the culprit. My crime was commited by a hybrid although to be fair I only missed the fairway by 10 yards. At Wallasey that can be the difference between a good drive and a lost ball.

My target now was to complete an unlikely set of pars at the four shot holes but the 195-yard 16th ('Bank') wouldn't yield.

The Wallasey website has a guide to playing the course and for this hole it says: "A beautiful par 3 set on a ledge, with a sentinel dune on the right and a run-off slope to the left. Usually played into the wind, meaning that only a well-struck shot will do."

But, as I found out, a fairly well-struck shot won't do. My ball stuck on the big dune on the right and despite a decent chop out onto the green I missed my putt for par.

Despite almost losing another ball on the 17th (more great views off the tee) after trying to hit my second over the dogleg I escaped with a six and after a making a bit of a horlicks of 18 I managed to get down in three from a nasty position amongst the dunes for a bogey.

Final score? A 93. Not great but again inside my handicap of 22 (by one shot this time) and playing off the whites definitely added a few shots.

After finishing the round we were given a brief tour of the clubhouse by Trevor and the lovely Eunice Williamson - chairman of social and press officer.

Trevor admitted that the clubhouse did need a 'lick of paint' here and there but any funds they had were always diverted to improve the course. An admirable attitude and one the members and guests should be grateful for.

Eunice also showed us the snooker room where Frank Stableford used to wile away the hours before his eyesight began to go.

A huge fan of both golf and snooker, Frank just couldn't come to terms with his failing eyes and two days after being told he was going blind, he ended it all. He was found slumped in his study from a gunshot wound with a pistol at his side.

At Wallasey they celebrate his memory with an annual open amateur event called "The Stableford" - now a major competition on the golfing calendar.

But, of course, thanks to the Stableford scoring system his legacy can be felt every day on golf courses all over the world.

Wallasey line-ups:

Team 1:Charlie Grimley (England's Golf Coast)
Mark Townsend (National Club Golfer)
Chris Jones (Golf World)
Dave Tindall (Golf365)

Team 2:
Phil Craghill (GMS)
Michael McEwen (Bunkered)
Matt Nicholson (Golf News)
Ben Evans (Golf Business Development

Winners (and now £20 richer): Team 1

Dave Tindall