Hoylake to be "England Golf Coast Capital"
New plans have been revealed for a multi million pound golf resort on the Wirral. The project is being spearheaded by sporting legend Jack Nicklaus who wants to turn Hoylake into the capital of England's golf coast. It's hoped the 18 hole course which will also boast a hotel and health spa will help bring in more than £450 million to Wirral's tourism economy. Developers need to secure £250 million to build it though.
Wirral Council leader, Cllr Phil Davies, said: “The golf resort represents an opportunity to make Wirral the capital of England’s golf coast, attracting visitors from all over the world using Hoylake as the base for their golfing holidays.”
“Building a golf resort has long been one of the council’s objectives.” added Cllr Davies.
“Wirral already has the fastest growing visitor economy in the Liverpool City Region and we see the golf resort as a further chance for us to cement this position, building on the international profile Hoylake already has in the sport as the home of the Royal Liverpool Golf Club.
“Securing £250 million of private sector investment and increasing Wirral’s tourism economy to £450 million by 2020 are two of the pledges I made to Wirral residents last week and the golf resort proposal is key to us achieving those.”
The Open Championship at Hoylake in 2014 was attended by 202,000 people and generated more than £19 million to Wirral’s visitor economy. The Open in 2006 at Hoylake was attended by nearly 230,000 and remains a record for any Open Championship staged in England.
Birkenhead-born golfer John Singleton commented on the announcement: “This is great news for golf on the Wirral. As a young player I dreamed of competing in the Open, and to have achieved that at Hoylake was a dream come true. This latest project will help further establish Hoylake and Wirral as a major hub for golf in the region.”
Council officers are recommending to Cabinet that the Nicklaus proposal best meets the aspirations outlined in the tender and should cabinet approve then further work will commence to further develop the schemes detail.