Stay 3 nights on England’s Golf Coast in the wonderful town of Southport playing 3 rounds of golf at Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Formby Golf Club and either Southport & Ainsdale or Formby Ladies. England’s Golf Coast is home to 19 of the most beautiful and challenging golf courses in Britain.

Among the many great courses along the Northwest Coast, Royal Birkdale stands out as a perfect example of links golf. It is currently the number one course in England and has been voted the number one in Britain, most recently in the survey published in 1998 after The Open.

The course has been the stage for many great golf championships including the Walker Cup, the Curtis Cup and the Ryder Cup. On eight occasions The Open has been played here. The links measures 6,690 yards and although the distance itself is a test even for the most accomplished golfer, the wind, whistling down the fairways when it comes from the sea, adds to the challenge. Each hole runs through a landscape of high dunes, the fairways are flat and fair and from the tee there is generally a clear view of the task ahead.

Formby Golf Club, founded in 1884, are proud to have an outstanding championship course with par 3s amongst the most challenging to be found anywhere. Formby has hosted many important national and regional amateur golf events, including four British Amateur Championships.

The course is in excellent condition all year round; the greens are firm and the undulating fairways are perfectly mown. However, accuracy and concentration are prerequisites for every hole, with the heather and rough forming a natural boundary together with bunkers and sand hills, it does not serve the golfer to be unfocused. The lovely surroundings tempt many golfers to delay their departure, spending time in the clubhouse, where they are guaranteed a warm welcome.

The Southport & Ainsdale Golf Club, or the S&A as it is affectionately known, is part of the chain of links courses spread along the North West coastline. The course deservedly gained a good reputation in the early years, hosting two early Ryder Cup matches in 1933 and 1937. The course is not long by modern standards, 6,200 yards, but requires concentration and accurate shots from the tees onwards.

The fairways are narrow and bordered by sandy dunes and channels, made all the more hazardous in the variable wind conditions. All the holes are of championship standard and no two are the same. However, if one had to be singled out it would have to be the sixteenth. This famous hole has a great hill and bunker, lined with railway sleepers, which is a cunning trap, catching poor second shots.

Formby Ladies Golf Club is set amongst the pine trees and sand dunes of the Lancashire Coast, the course provides a wonderfully varied challenge to the visitor. Its tight fairways and smaller greens demand skill and precision from golfers of all levels. Indigenous heather protects much of the rough and great caution is required at many holes. Greg Norman said of the course:- "Over 100 years old and still your course can stand the test of time. What a beautiful course. It clearly shows that courses do not have to be 7,000 yards plus to be formidable."

Situated on Lord Street, Southport's Parisian Boulevard, the Vincent Hotel takes comfort and personal service to new heights - all within a fresh, stylish and contemporary interior.

Six floors of tranquility - a boutique hotel with 60 guest studios, residences and penthouses as well as a destination V Cafe & Sushi Bar, the V-Spa and V-Gym, this hotel is perfect for golfers wanting to play some of the finest courses in the North-West of England and sample the wonderful night life of Southport in the evenings.   ^