THE head of tourism in Sefton last night admitted that the British Open Golf Championship at Royal Birkdale next July will be a “no frills” event.

Council leader Tony Robertson said that the authority was still expecting to deliver a great Open.

In a report to the council’s cabinet, head of tourism Tony Corfield said that the suggested £325,000-£375,000 of council cash “would allow Sefton to deliver a ‘no frills’ Open, covering essential areas of expenditure”.

Merseyside last hosted the Open in 2006, at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake.

It is anticipated that next year’s tournament will attract 250,000 people.

To handle the massive influx, park-and-ride schemes with a total of 7,400 places at Fairways, Princes Park and Esplanade car parks will be available.

Merseyrail has also said it will increase the frequency and size of trains on the Northern Line from Thursday, July 17 to Sunday, July 20, while the Open is on.

Trains will pass through at seven-and-a-half-minute intervals, and will be six carriages long.

Sefton will also be spruced up with banners going up on lampposts featuring other tourist attractions in the borough, like Aintree Racecourse and the Gormley statues at Crosby.

Extra floral decorations will also be added to roundabouts and better street cleaning will take place around the access routes to the course.

A total of £529,000 will be spent putting on the Open, with £205,000 coming from the Royal & Ancient Golf Club which organises the world-famous event.

Mr Corfield said the budget was primarily associated with the use of Greenbank High girls’ school to accommodate the main event village, to fund “modest” repairs and improvements to council buildings, and pay for traffic management.

“It would also allow a modest improvement programme to key gateway areas designed to meet, if not exceed the benchmark set by Wirral in 2006,” he said.

Greenbank High, which has 1,000 pupils, will close for the summer a week early on Friday, July 11, so players’ practice days can start two days later. All other schools in Sefton will close a day early, to make sure preparations go without a hitch.

Last night, Cllr Robertson said the “no frills” line in the report related to the hospitality that would be laid on.

“We certainly intend to deliver the best possible Open that we can,” he said.

“This is a major event for Sefton and Merseyside. But we have to operate in the financial reality that we find ourselves in.

“We will do the best we can, we want it to be a great success, and there is no reason to believe that it will not be a success.”

He said the authority had told the head of tourism to “start saving for the event” some time ago to ensure the authority had as much cash as possible for the event.

“I would like to spend more money on it, just like I would like to spend more on elderly care.

“But I can’t. We have to strike a balance between glitzy and sporty events and taking care of people.”

Martin King, director of tourism at The Mersey Partnership, said: "The Open is a world-class event, and the success achieved by colleagues at Wirral, and other partners in 2006, prompted the R&A to describe Hoylake as the best Open Championship ever staged in England.

“That's the level at which the bar has been set.”

He said he was certain everyone involved would do everything possible to make next year’s event a “resounding success”.

OPINION: PAGE 6

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