IN THE hurly-burly existence of modern life in the 21st century, attach the label 'traditional' to some-thing and you may leave yourself open to misinterpretation. As if the ways and means of our forefathers implies being stuck in a time warp. Nothing could be further from the truth at Childwall. The fact that this Liverpool course offers a classic 'traditional' parkland test is something to be proud of, not dismissed as being from a bygone age. Indeed the club owes a debt of gratitude to the people who brought the 18 hole course to its present home in Naylor's Lane. The club started out as Woolton Hall Golf Club, based on a nine-hole course and formed in 1913. The modern-day course planner reports that difficulties over rents and leases saw the club move first to Childwall Hall in 1922 and finally to its present resting place in Gateacre in 1938. Four former Captains of the club found the 200 acre site, bought it for just £8,000 and agreed to sell it back to the members for the same price. The names of Treneman, Sloss, Green and Foreman will forever be an indelible part of Childwall history, no matter how fast the pace of life has become 66 years later. The course is overlooked by a clubhouse which has distinct echoes of Royal Birkdale, which should come as no surprise as the impressive white wedding cake building was designed by the same person. The course has changed since the pre-War days . . . of course. There has been no reluctance to move with the times, but an insistence that the traditions of the past should be married with the demands of the game's evolution. So the tees have been pushed back, several greens relaid to offer a more undulating challenge of bends and curls while the rough is being allowed to swirl in on areas of the fair-way where it was previously mowed back. But so far the temptation to splash out on a water hazard or two to spice up the layout has been resisted. The end result is as pleasing a parkland course as you will find where the dangers come from the many bunkers which nudge at your every shot or the silver birch trees which serve as a magnificent frame to each of the holes. And greens which demand your most thoughtful approach. Like the fifth. At just 314 yards it is one of the shorter par 4s. The tee shot requires you to either take on the corner, and of course the attendant bunkers laid there to catch you out, or go further left and fade your ball round to the right. Then it is a nice shot into the green. But it requires the utmost care. The green has a lip like a surly teenager. Drop short and the pace can be sucked from your shot leaving an awkward putt up the green, which is not so much tablecloth size as napkin. Fire your shot in too strong and it disappears over the back, where a shock awaits as you march up to find its resting place. Sand . . . and with a steep exit route at that. The par 72 course has four short holes, and all share a common thread. They require you to hit the ball just that bit further than you think standing on the tee. Cross fairway bunkers, sitting like sets of dentures, offer an optical illusion that suggests all will be well if you pop the ball over them en route to the flag. But the generous aprons they disguise mean you can often find yourself with a bit more work to do with your short game before you can rescue a par. So after taking stock of your tee shot, pop your club back in your bag and go for one - or two - higher, depending on the state of your game on the day and the direction of the wind. The opening nine holes occupy the land overlooked by the clubhouse and the first tee shot is a perfect introduction to what lies ahead. The 400 yards hole turns right, but trees push in down the elbow of the hole to deter you from hogging the shorter line. Go too far left and you can run out of fair-way before it tilts right while bunkers threaten the more conservative approach. Your second is into a green that tiptoes away from you and is protected by sand on either flank. Two offers the first par 5 at nearly 500 yards from the whites, where keeping to the left lane can give you a shot into a green that could be reached relatively unhindered in two by the bigger hitters. Again pockets of sand await those who miss the fairway. Three is the first of the par 3s, and quickly brings home the importance of hitting past the letter box of a first bunker to post your shot onto the green. Don't be lulled by the 158 yards you must carry from the yellows, or even the 177 from the back. Four is the course index one and at 389 from the back looks innocuous enough. But out of bounds marshals the right hand side over a ditch and with the fairway leaning your shots that way it is important to keep to the left. But a twist to the left and a bunker in the pouch of the turn make accuracy from the tee an essential as the fairway narrows down your approach shot to a two-tiered green. Six is another par 3, is still only 173 yards, but again those bunkers flutter round the green like bridesmaids attending the blushing bride. Seven (352 yards) again needs good position from the tee not to be caught in the wrong position for a second to a green that pushes your shot back at you. Go too strong, though, and you can disappear over the back towards the eighth tee. The next hole stretches past 475 yards from the competition tees to become a par 5 and again the fairway curves like the delivery of a baseball with the shorter hitters faced by bunkers 84 and 53 yards from the green which could catch them out. The back nine is closed out by a 424 yard par four with a run of bunkers, like false eyelashes lined up on Lily Savage's dressing table, protecting the approach to the green. The opening holes of the inward nine take you behind the clubhouse with ten a sweeping downhill 512 yard par 5, where again the bigger hitters will clear the three sandtraps some 90 yards short of the green. However the shorter players will be trou-bled by their presence. At 320 yards and 387 yards, 11 and 12 take the ability to smash the ball huge distances out of the equation, but accuracy is crucial to open up the greens. The next is another par 3 with a huge cross bunker masking the green as if to offer you a wager that you will misread your club choice. It says 156 yards from the back, but you don't want to be short on a green with a step up that can also draw the sting from your shot. The long road down to the 14th green, some 492 yards from the back, ends with a narrow shot into the green, the front edge wedged between two bunkers which demands the utmost accuracy of those who feel they can reach in two. Laying up gives the opportunity for a more precise shot into a green which is nipped in at the waist like a corset. Fifteen offers a straightfor-ward challenge to cover the 408 yards on railroad tracks to take advantage of the generous green while 16 is the final short hole. It is still only 150 yards, but by now those bunkers are positively grinning back at you. The final two holes are played out before the clubhouse again with the 407 yard 17 offering the only real hint of any water with a ditch angling across your path to the green. Again the need is to stay left, out of the lone bunker, and turn right over the ditch with a lovely looking shot into the green which shelters in the arms of trees to the left and rear. Eighteen takes you back to the clubhouse, and after a good drive it's important you don't let your approach work disappear into the sort of hollow that Quatermass would have been interested in. Send your second soaring over the valley in front of the green and avoid being dragged back down and into a scramble for par you were keen to avoid. FINAL VERDICT A true test of your golfing skill, not stamina, in a sumptious parkland setting that gives new life to the word 'traditional'. FACT FILE Address: Naylor's Road, Liverpool, L27 2YB SSS: 71 Par: 72 Yards: 6,470 Ladies: SSS: 72 Par: 73 Yards: 5,611 Signature hole: 17th Description: Classic parkland course Contact Details: Telephone 0151 487 0654 Pro shop 0151 487 9871 Club secretary: Peter Bowen Professional: Nigel Parr Visitors: welcomeweekdays except Tuesday between 9.45am and 2pm. Weekdays £35; weekend £40 Societies: Welcome weekdays excpet Tuesday by prior arrangement Catering: Bar, restaurant and function room facilities available Dress code: No tracksuit bottoms or jeans; shirt with collar and sleeves; proper golf shoes. Website: www.childwallgolfclub.co.uk E-mail address: use contact details on website * Details correct at the time of going to press. | 
