Morecambe Golf ClubThe Course
Location and History
The Course at Morecambe Golf Club is situated between Happy Mount Park and Hest Bank, on the coastal road exiting Morecambe. With stunning panoramic views of the Bay and Lakeland Hills beyond there can be few courses in the country situated in more beautiful or tranquil surroundings.
With the increasing popularity of golf in the north-west
of England, Morecambe Golf Club was formed in 1905 when members
used to play a nine-hole course nearer the town centre. With the
popularity of Morecambe as a holiday and weekend destination for
many prosperous Lancashire and Yorkshire townsfolk, the nine-hole
course soon proved inadequate and the Club decided to re-locate
to its present site in 1923. The land was leased from the Morecambe
& Heysham Borough Council who had previously let the army use
it for summer training camps. It is interesting to note that "Scalestone
Point", the small promontory of land adjacent to the second
tee, was formally a mounting emplacement for a large gun covering
the approaches to Morecambe Bay during the First World War.
The course has the distinction of being designed by Dr Alister MacKenzie, most famous as the architect of Augusta National, home of the U.S. Masters. After several changes to the sequence of holes played, mainly as a result of land acquisition for food production during the Second World War, the course has now virtually the same layout as originally designed by Dr MacKenzie.
Since its original set-up, the course has undergone other inevitable changes, brought about by expectations of golfers and improvements in design of course maintenance equipment and golfclub and ball technology. Ultimately the boundaries of every course are finite and Morecambe, in common with other courses, has looked to retaining the golfing challenge by tightening holes through careful placement of bunkers, trees and water hazards.
Because of the low-lying nature of some holes the recent introduction of drainage dykes, crossing several fairways, and the extension of existing ponds has added a new dimension to the course. Additionally an extensive tree planting programme, has seen the course evolve into Parkland, whilst still retaining the feel and style of Links Golf and, we think, gives it a unique character. Nonetheless the course has never lost its reputation for being an interesting and challenging test of golf, particularly when a strong westerly wind drives in from the Irish Sea.
Statistics
Card of the course (Click to download in PDF)
The course length totals 5765 yards from the competition tees for men and 5420 yards for ladies. The Par is 67 for men and 72 for ladies, however an indication of difficulty is given by a men's competition standard scratch value of 69.
Click here to start your tour of individual holes complete with graphics, statistics, descriptions and playing tips
You can also click on any specific hole shown on the Golf Course Plan at the top of this page.
If you wish to view the Local Rules for the course, just Click for Local Rules. [top]