Golf Cheshire

The Wirral Peninsula is home to some of the finest links golf courses in the country. Royal Liverpool – AKA Hoylake – played host to The Open Championship in 2023, and Wallasey (where the stableford scoring format was invented, donchaknow) ranks #3 in Cheshire, and #61 in England. But not everyone has over £200 for a round of golf (£310 at Hoylake), or the talent to get around courses of that calibre… at least without a series of embarrassing situations. 

Peeking from beneath the shadows of these prestigious clubs, is Warren, a municipal 9 holer, just 8 miles from Hoylake, and just over the road from Wallasey. Facilities are unsurprisingly ‘modest’, but this is accessible golf, with no airs and graces or stuffy dress code, and it’s great to see a broad spectrum of golfers on arrival. Plus, for those requiring a sense of privilege when playing a course, there’s always the convoluted booking process, entailing creating an account on the council’s website.

Still, if the course is a patch on recently reviewed Leasowe, it will be time well invested, and with green fees running at as little as 4% of their most prestigious neighbours, a few compromises are inevitable. So onto our round, and as we stride towards the first tee, we’re struck by what a beautiful spot it inhabits. The natural beauty of the links fairways are fringed by imposing houses, a coastal trainline, and the Irish Sea beyond; decorated by the Burbo Bank wind farm in the distance. 

Stepping onto the first tee box, and it’s quickly apparent that things are a little ‘tight’, with the first fairway flanked by that of the second and seventh. Whilst this would make for reassuring sight when the course is empty, with errant shots easily recovered, on a busy summer Saturday it makes for an anxious opener, with a procession of groups zigzagging their way towards you. Suffice to say you can take it from us, when we say it’s worth being patient, even if the queue behind is building.

If you really can’t wait, then make sure that if you miss your fairway, you miss right… you really do not want a mortifying near miss situation with the group that you’ll be following round for two hours, trust us! But as the threat of violence subsides, we start to really appreciate what this course has to offer. Despite seven of the nine holes being in the same field, there’s undulations to provide some separation, with the third giving the first glimpse of drama; a blind tee shot over the brow, to the hidden green below.

This serves as an amuse bouche for the two holes that follow, and our clear highlights, which lie over the road and nearest to the coastline. Tee shots are taken over hills towards mysterious valleys beyond, through the most gorgeous landscape. We’re fascinated to understand what course maintenance is involved in upholding a course like Warren, with tee boxes showing little hint of care, fairway grass that’s looks self-sufficient, then greens that look and play superbly.

Sadly, we’re starved of such insights, with the club information online limited to under 70 words, as just one of an array of council services. But regardless, perhaps it was the fact we scored well – no doubt helped by a short course, with few hazards, and firm fairways that run and run – but we finished the round with broad smiles, and a burning desire to come back at the earliest opportunity, and do it all over again!