A NEW golf academy, the first of its kind in the country, is being built at Formby Hall, outside Southport.
While it is a Formby Hall club project, the Professional Golfers' Association have given their support and advice and it will be known as the PGA National Residential Golf Academy.
Unlike the PGA Academy at The Belfry, which is primarily concerned with professional golfers, the Formby Hall centre will have a much wider appeal.
While professionals and top amateurs will use the facilities, a PGA spokesman said that the academy would also be available to players of all abilities, elite players, improving players and beginners, men, women and children.
With residential facilities and open to amateurs of all standards of golf, the academy is the first of its kind in England and when open will be another boost to Southport's proud boast as "England's Golfing Capital."
The resort has been promoted as the ideal base for golfers with 15 courses, including six of championship standard, within half an hour's drive of the town centre and a further 160 within an hour's drive.
Tony Corfield, Sefton Council's Head of Tourism, said: "This type of high profile project can only go to add more credence to our proud title of England's Golf Coast.
"Having a PGA Academy fitting alongside some of the finest high-quality golf courses in the country will certainly be another boost for the area and lift us further up the league of world golfing destinations."
The residential facilities are likely to be an attraction for golf-ers, including parents with children, not only to visit the academy but also play some of Southport's top courses, among the best in the country and including Royal Birkdale, venue for the Open in 2008.
Formby Hall, at the Southport end of the Formby by-pass, only opened in the mid 1990s, part of the golf boom of that time as huge areas of farmland across the country were converted into golf courses.
In a few years an area of marshland, was sculptured, planted and transformed into one of the most picturesque parkland courses in the north. The course was built to championship standards and has hosted the European Challenge Tour. The construction of the academy is the latest stage in the club's ambitions to establish one of the top golf complexes in Europe.
In addition to the 18-hole golf course, the facilities of the new academy will include a driving range, indoor and outdoor putting green, a short game area including chipping and bunker practice areas, golf swing simulators, a fitness area and a par-3 course.
The par-3 course is now under construction on land between the golf club and the Formby by-pass and Hall members have been invited to send in their ideas for the design of the holes, including well-known par-3s.
The ideas submitted include making a replica of Royal Troon's famous postage stamp hole and 17th island hole at the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass, Florida.
A lot of work remains to be carried out and equipment is still moving earth about. It is expected to open in the spring of next year and will also be open to nonmembers including those new to the game.
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