Hillside Golf Club

Golf Course Profile

18-Hole (Private)
Hillside Golf Club
Hastings Road GB Hillside, Southport
Hillside, England PR8 2LU
United Kingdom
Phone: +44-(0)1704-567169

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About the Club

Year built:	1911
Designer:	Martin Hawtree
Club type:	Private
Season:	Open all year
Guest Policy:	Open Handicap Certificate required.
Dress Code:	Smart casuals, golfing clothing, no jeans
Metal Spikes:	--
Fivesomes:	--
Green Fees:

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About the course

Hillside's course is rated #31 of "The 100 Greatest Courses in the British Isles", Golf World 11/96. If Royal Birkdale is the finest golf links in England (and every modern commentator seems to think it is) then Hillside must surely be number two. Why so? Well, firstly they occupy the very same magnificent golfing country being laid out literally side by side amid a vast stretch of sandhills near Southport. and, secondly, when analysing the quality of the individual golf holes people find it very difficult to separate the two courses. Perhaps it is only Birkdale's Open championship history which accords it precedence. And why hasn't Hillside staged the 'Big One'? Presumably it's because it is only since 1967 when Hillside's back nine holes were completely reshaped that it has deserved to be ranked alongside its more illustrious neighbour. The front nine at Hillside has long been highly regarded, but the newer second nine is really outstanding and indeed very spectacular - a bit like Ballybunion minus the Atlantic Ocean. Since 1967 Hillside has hosted a number of important championships. In the late 1970s both the British Ladies Championship and the amateur Championship were held here and in 1982 came the European Tour's prestigious PGA Championship. A great course and a great event produced a great winner when Tony Jacklin defeated the up-and-coming Bernhard Langer in a thrilling play-off after the German had 'opened the door' by four-putting the 16th in the final round. It was Jacklin's last hurrah - thereafter he turned his attention towards winning Ryder Cups! Golfers wishing to visit Hillside should find the Club welcoming, although arrangements are best planned some time in advance. All players must be in possession of a current handicap. A quick look at the scorecard tells you that Hillside scores ten out of ten for its design balance: the two nines are of a very similar length and each comprises two par threes, two par fives and five par fours. From the back markers the links measures 6,850 yards/6,263 metres, although from the forward tees the course is less daunting. The first two holes at Hillside are fairly straightforward - provided you don't hook on to the railway line! The 3rd is a really first class dogleg hole where the approach must be played over a brook to a green that is well protected by deep traps: stray to the right at the next, the short 4th and your ball will be greeted by one of three bunkers that are just as devilish as those on the 3rd. The 5th is a real teaser. It is a par five that can be reached with two good blows, and you can see everything from there by virtue of a gap in the dunes fifty yards short of the green, the problem is that a seemingly magnetic sleepered bunker has been placed in the gap . . . . The 7th is the breather - a lovely par three played downhill towards a generous green backed by some magnificent tall pines. The second nine commences with another outstanding short hole, the 147 yards/134 metres 10th. Distance-wise it may not sound much but it's a much tougher green to hit than most and is ringed by a series of alarmingly cavernous bunkers - yes, Hillside is inundated with them! Of the next four holes only the 12th could be described as anything less than superb, with the par five 11th, which is played from an elevated tee through a wonderful dune-lined valley, being possibly the best hole of the entire round. The 15th is where Tony Jacklin defeated Langer in the 1982 PGA play-off (there was little the German could do when Jacklin almost holed this second shot); the 16th is a big and impressive par three; the 17th, a huge par five, which some rate as good as the 11th and the 18th makes for a very demanding finishing hole, no thanks to the line of bunkers that traverse the fairway 250 yards/225 metres from the tee.