As we build up towards the 2023 Open Championship, Dan Parker looks at the 10 things you didn't know about Royal Liverpool Golf Club.
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00:00 Royal Liverpool Golf Club, located in the small town of Hoy Lake, has played host to the Open Championship on 12 occasions.
00:06 Ahead of its preparations to host the 151st Open Championship later this year,
00:10 I'm here on site to give you 10 things you didn't know about Royal Liverpool.
00:15 Right, let's head out into the links and find out all there is to know about this decorated golf club.
00:19 The golf club was founded back in 1869 on what was then the race course of the Liverpool Hunt Club.
00:26 It received its royal designation in 1871 due to the patronage of the Duke of Connacht,
00:31 who was one of Queen Victoria's sons. George Morris, young brother of old Tom Morris,
00:36 was commissioned to lay out the original course, but Harry Colt redesigned it in the early 20th century.
00:42 As we'll see later on, the course has been tweaked periodically over the last 100 years or so.
00:47 Royal Liverpool hosted its first Open Championship back in 1897,
00:51 and its most recent before this year was in 2014. Now, it's had some decorated winners in its past,
00:57 with Rory McIlroy picking up his only Open so far here in 2014, while Tiger Woods won his third Open
01:04 here in 2006. Royal Liverpool also hosted the Women's Open for the very first time in 2012,
01:10 with South Korea's Gi Shin winning that time. Harold Hilton won the first ever Open to be
01:17 hosted here at Royal Liverpool in 1897. He was only an amateur when he won, carding rounds of 80,
01:23 75, 84 and 75, earning him a cheque of £30 as the winner. Hilton would go on to win the US
01:31 Amateur in 1911, the same year he became the first editor of Golf Monthly magazine.
01:36 I wonder what ever happened to them. Okay, eagle-eyed Open viewers amongst you may have
01:40 noticed a few of these dotters around the course. These are ornamental pineapples,
01:44 and they used to sit as the entrance posts to the old racecourse which sat on this land. Now,
01:48 there's two behind me here on the practice putting green, there's a couple over on the back of the
01:52 third tee just to my left, so you can spot any more during the Open coverage. Bobby Jones won
01:58 the 1930 Open here at Royal Liverpool on his way to winning the Grand Slam of Majors. Back in 1930,
02:04 Golf's Grand Slam consisted of the two Opens either side of the Atlantic, and Jones went on
02:09 to win the US Open at Interlaken Country Club in Minnesota just three weeks after his Open win.
02:14 Tiger Woods won the Open here at Royal Liverpool in 2006. A really fun fact is that he only used
02:21 driver once across all four rounds. He got a very famous two-iron he used for most of that
02:27 tournament. Now, one of his famous shots here at that Open in 2006 was here on the 14th, where
02:33 from just over 200 yards out, he holed out the eagle. He said it was a little bit lucky,
02:38 but aren't all hole-out shots, and it was one of the most memorable shots in Open history.
02:43 I'm on the 14th now, and I think the spot where he hit it from was just about here.
02:49 Okay, so one of the biggest talking points ahead of this year's Open at Royal Liverpool is the
02:54 brand new hole on the back nine. It's the 17th in the championship layout. It's called Little Eye,
03:01 and it is a gorgeous par three. As you can see from some imagery, it's been built with an infinity
03:05 green, and it measures about 140 yards, which interestingly means it'll probably play anywhere
03:09 between a gap wedge and a five-iron for the tour players, depending on that wind. No doubt, come
03:15 Sunday, a par on there for whoever's leading on the 71st hole will be very, very valuable indeed.
03:20 Okay, so the first two par fives here at Royal Liverpool, the fifth and the tenth,
03:24 are quite aptly called long and far. I'm here on the tenth par. I've hit a pretty
03:29 five-down wind, if I may say so, and my Nikon's telling me I've still got 225 yards in. I've
03:35 got to be really interesting to see how the pros attack this during the Open.
03:38 Let's see if I can get anywhere near for two here on far.
03:41 No, I think far's living up to its name. I'm still pretty far away.
03:54 So the routing for the Open Championship of Royal Liverpool is a little bit different to what the
04:00 members play. So I'm stood here on what the members would consider the first hole, but it's played as
04:04 the third during the Open Championship. What this means here at Royal Liverpool is that the last hole,
04:07 the 18th, is a big par five with internal out-of-bounds on it and a fantastic grandstand
04:12 to finish as well. Right, so there you have it. Ten things you now know about Royal Liverpool
04:17 Golf Club. All we've got to do now is wait to see who's going to be top of that leaderboard
04:21 come Championship Sunday. Thanks for joining me.
04:23 [Music]