(Thanks for reading! Just click the title above to see more. Patti)

We started early and took an Uber to Enterprise where, amazingly, our England rental is exactly the same car as our Ireland rental. The learning curve was surprisingly easy, so off we went in search of our placemat golf courses!  We have a set of British Open Courses, two courses of which we have never seen. Time to put that straight.

First, south west to Royal Liverpool, a gorgeous links style course  where Tiger Woods won the British Open in 2006. Bobby Jones won in 1930, Rory McIlroy in 2014, and Brian Harman in 2023. I remember Brian Harman’s acceptance speech with one of the announcers. It went something like this, “Don’t tell my wife, but I’m going to sneak out and use a bit of my winnings to buy a new tractor!” He explained that he had a farm and just loved sitting his tractor, so time for a new one. Funny.

Next, we were heading back through Liverpool, under the Mersey River, pay the toll and on we went. As we were driving, I got a text from Juliet in Scotland. She said to be sure and see Hesketh Golf Club, that it is spectacular. So I looked it up and gave them a call. It was too fancy to allow outsiders to dine there, but we could have a look around, so that’s just what we did. We rolled in around 2:30, and had a lovely look around. What a gorgeous course! And people were so nice! One fellow chatted us up and admitted that he loved the American players more than the Brits, that Scotty is more fun than Rory, and that the Old West lives in all of us Yanks. There you go—one man’s opinion.  There was a boys’ medal (competition) going on, so we watched one group tee off, one right into the heather, for sure lost. Poor kid. He waited his turn, followed all the rules, and was in the fairway lying 3 in no time.

Next on our list was the great and wonderful, Royal Latham and St. Anne’s, the reason we even came to Liverpool. This year the LET (Ladies European Tour) sponsored the British Open at Royal Lytham, so I felt that I had a good look at it. While they didn’t show every hole on TV, they certainly showed the fabulous first and many others. It was dry then, but still we came. Luckily for us, lots of rain has “greened” up the fairways and brought the course back to its stunning beauty. We stopped in and took the requisite photos and got the feeling for where the shop, clubhouse, and practice areas are. While at Royal Liverpool, I remembered to take a photo of the claret jug (prize for winning the Open), here I’d have to wait until tomorrow when we play the course. Their claret jug is in a special case upstairs.  With these two additional photos, I think I’ll only be missing Royal Birkdale and Royal St. George’s. A trip to the London area might be in our future!

From South Port, we headed inland a bit to Lancaster and the gorgeous Lancaster House Hotel. Our room is the most wonderful yet, with desks for each of us, plenty of space, and amenities that I took immediate use of— the gym! We’re quite isolated here, so probably won’t be going out again until morning. Lovely day, great weather. Tomorrow will bring something new! Good night.