# Course Review - St.Anne's Old Links - Blackpool



## Paul_Stewart (Jun 22, 2010)

ST.ANNE'S OLD LINKS
6, 429 yards, Par 72 from the yellow tees

INTRODUCTION 
Traditional Lancashire links in the same mould as the other classics on the coast, Royal Lytham, Royal Birkdale, Hillside, Royal Liverpool etc.   Played 36 holes there as part of a work championship event and also had a practice 18 the day before so got to know the course well.

FRONT NINE
A fairly gentle opening three holes before a long par-4 and par-5 into the wind.   Another par-5 follows straight on back downwind but there are bunkers everywhere.   The 9th is a classic short hole with the green hidden between the sand dunes.

BACK NINE
More of the same with fairways winding between pot bunkers.  A pair of classic par-3s that play in opposite directions to seemingly impossible-to-hold greens.  The final two holes are downwind par-5s with out-of-bounds tight to the right and bunkers guarding the bail out shot left.

CONDITIONS
Not much wind but bone hard pure summer links conditions. The greens were the fastest I have played all year, running around 10-11 on the stimpmeter.  Just as well there are not much slopes on the greens.  The hardness made stopping the ball all nigh impossible on many occasions but if you held the fairway, 300+ yards were easily on the cards for all concerned.

THE DRAWBACK
The pot bunkers - some were totally impossible because of the amount of soft sand within them.   These bunkers are meant to be hazards and to cost you a shot which is fair enough. But when you end up in the face of one, on occasions you had absolutely no chance to get it out, even sideways with a lob wedge.  Others were OK but too many were just unfair and detracted from the course.

OVERALL
This is a great links and one of the best in the area to rival the likes of Hillside and West Lancs, if not on the Royal Lytham or Royal Birkdale level.  The club is friendly enough but they need to sort out those bunkers before I would ever recommend it further.

WEBSITE
http://www.stannesoldlinks.com/

COSTS
Visitors rate - Weekdays Â£45-65


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## grumpyjock (Jun 23, 2010)

This is a good course and a real links.
Played here when all the others around about were closed due to rain.
Enjoyed it then and would go back again.


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## acesup1504 (Jul 8, 2010)

I dont get the bit about the Pot bunkers, this is a feature of links golf big deep bunkers. If you land up against the face on one, it penalty for putting your ball there. Play out sideways or take a penalty.


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## Paul_Stewart (Jul 8, 2010)

Believe me I did try and go out sideways.  There were some where you had to and some where you could move it 50 yards.

But there were others that were just totally unplayable.  I didn't become a totally crap bunker player the minute I walked into the car park there.   Heck I've even got up and down out of the Road bunker at St.Andrews


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## BeachGolfer (Mar 23, 2011)

Believe the bunkers got a revamp a couple of years ago at the request of R & A to ensure STOL retained its final qualifying status for when the Open is at RL & SA.

Regardless, lovely old links track and well worth a visit if up that way.


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