The 18th is a perfect end, a 368-yard par-4. The tee is again on the high ground with, below, the now familiar dips and hollows of the more gentle dunes, a hole that was described as the 'jewel among the dunes.'
It is not long or demanding after the tests which have gone before. But even if the drive finishes on the fairway, the green in front of the clubhouse is out of sight. So it helps to be able to judge distances. But the finishing hole, like so many at Wallasey, will stay in the memory.
The welcoming clubhouse has pictures in the bar of Old Tom Morris, four times Open champion and designer of the original course in 1891, Harold Hilton, twice Open champion, four times Amateur champion who designed the 15th and was made a life member and of John Ball, Open champion and another life member.
The great portrait of 'Stablie' is in the bar, too, and on the other side of the wall a signed portrait of Bobby Jones, the American who for many was the greatest golfer of all time. Jones sat for the picture in 1930 when he qualified at Wallasey for the Open he was to win that year at Royal Liverpool. Linger awhile. Watch the sun go down. Think of the day and golf's great history.
FINAL VERDICT:
A special place for those in love with the game and its traditions.
