WIRRAL’S Royal Liverpool Golf Club will be named as the venue for the 2012 Women’s Open.
The historic golf course in Hoylake, which held the men’s Open in 2006, is to hold a formal event on Monday at which it is expected the club will be officially revealed as the location for the world-class event.
It follows hot on the heels of the announcement of the inaugural Wirral Golf Classic to be held in September – part of a major bid to capitalise on the borough’s golf courses.
Royal Birkdale will be hosting the Ricoh Women’s British Open this year, providing a stern test for reigning champion Catriona Matthew, and past Birkdale champions Laura Davies and Sophie Gustafson.
And with Carnoustie in 2011 and St Andrews in 2013 confirmed as hosts of the event, Hoylake is now being widely tipped for 2012.
Last night, neither sports marketing company IMG nor the Royal Liverpool Golf Club would comment ahead of Monday, but golfing correspondents and media have been invited to the event.
The Hoylake course was built in 1869 and, with the exception of Westward Ho! in Devon, is the oldest seaside course in England.
If the event is announced as anticipated, it could mean a significant boost to the Wirral economy.
The arrival of the world’s top women golfers at Royal Birkdale this year is expected to bring some 60,000 spectators to Merseyside and a £12m boost to the economy.
