From the club's web site.

Founded in 1873, West Lancashire is the oldest golf club surviving in the county of Lancashire and is among the ten oldest golf clubs in England.

The club was founded by members of the Royal Liverpool Golf Club at Hoylake, "anxious to expand 'the Scottish national game' by bringing it across the River Mersey," and most of these early pioneers were members of both clubs.

West Lancashire has a special relationship with Royal Montreal Golf Club, North America's oldest golf club. Founded in the same year, both clubs attended each others Centenary celebrations in 1973.

In 1884 the Royal Liverpool Golf Club proposed a Grand Tournament "open to amateur golfers to be held during the Spring Meeting week of 1885. An entrance fee of one guinea would be charged, and a piece of plate to the value of £100 would go to the winner, with the title 'Amateur Champion'." West Lancashire was one of twenty four clubs that contributed to the cost of the trophy which bears their names. The first winner was Royal Liverpool member Alan Macfie, who was also a member of West Lancashire.

In 1901, our Secretary, Harold Hilton, 'the greatest amateur score player England has ever produced', the verdict of golfing critics on his long career, won The Amateur Championship at St. Andrews. In all he made a record thirty three appearances in the Championship. He reached seven finals and won four of them. His 'annus mirabilis' was in 1911 when he become the first person to win The Amateur and The US Amateur in the same year, at Prestwick and at Apawamis,NY.

Harold Hilton also won The Open Championship, first in 1892 at Muirfield and again in 1897 at Hoylake.

Sandy Herd was Green Superintendent at West Lancashire from 1891 -1892. He won The Open Championship at Hoylake in 1902, the first Open Champion to use the Haskell rubber cored ball, which he hated as a 'foreign' invention!

Arthur Havers was professional at West Lancashire from 1920-1923 and in 1923 he won The Open Championship at Troon by a single stroke from the holder, Walter Hagen. Macdonald Smith (US) was third. As champion, Havers went over to the United States where he managed to beat Bobby Jones and Gene Sarazen in challenge matches.He represented Great Britain against the United States five times. He played in three Ryder Cup matches at Worcester, Mass, in 1927, at Columbus, Ohio, in 1931 and at Southport and Ainsdale in 1933.

EW (Bob) Kenyon was professional at West Lancashire from 1929-1935. He won The Irish Open Championship at Royal Dublin in 1931 and at Malone in 1933. He was World Senior Champion at Prenton in 1963.

Another West Lancashire professional, EW (Ted) Jarman played in the Ryder Cup at Ridgewood, NJ in 1935.

West Lancashire has been a Final Qualifying course for The Open Championship on many occasions. It is interesting to note that in the Final Open Qualifier of 1976, four young professionals in particular, competed at West Lancashire. Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam. All four went on to win The US Masters Championship and the coveted green jacket.