St. Annes Old Links Golf Club

St. Annes Old Links plays over the dunes of the Fylde coast, the flat coastal plain of Lancashire that runs between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries and includes Blackpool, Lytham and St Annes itself. Founded in 1901, the eighteen-hole course measures 6,907 yards against a par of 72, a full championship length built on the same band of coastal linksland that produced several of England's best-known courses along this short stretch of coast. St Annes on Sea developed as a planned Victorian resort town, laid out with wide streets and a promenade to attract visitors escaping the industrial towns of Lancashire, and the golf course reflects that same era of coastal development. The Fylde's flat, low-lying geography, backed by the Ribble estuary's marshes and the open sands exposed at low tide, gives this coast its distinctive turf and exposure to wind off the Irish Sea. Blackpool, a short distance up the coast, remains the area's dominant town, though the immediate surroundings of St Annes retain a quieter, more residential character than its larger neighbour's seafront.