Wirral progresses £190m Hoylake golf plan
Wirral Council’s cabinet has approved £600,000 to be spent on surveys and geotechnical reports to support plans for a championship-standard golf course, academy, hotel and conference centre at Hoylake.
In July 2015, the council appointed Nicklaus Joint Venture Group as its preferred development partner. The group, fronted by ex-golfer Jack Nicklaus, will be asked to present a funding strategy for the project to the council in the New Year.
Cllr Phil Davies, leader of Wirral Council, said: “The Hoylake Golf Resort will be a major destination for visitors to Wirral from around the world. We will see a £190m development including a luxury resort and hotel together with the country’s only municipal golf course designed by the legendary Jack Nicklaus.”
Plans for the development of the municipal course were announced as far back as MIPIM 2008. In 2013, a year after relaunching the project at the neighbouring Royal Liverpool Golf Club during the Ricoh Women’s British Open, Wirral Council formally launched the procurement process that saw Nicklaus Group appointed.
The facility is to include an academy for links golf, but further detail as to the scale of its various elements will not be revealed until the New Year, a council spokesman told Place North West.
The spending decision was deferred in October so that more information could be prepared for cabinet members, including a presentation by Celtic Manor, which will potentially operate the hotel and conference centre.
Davies said: “We wanted to be satisfied that our investment – only 0.3% of the overall development – represented good value for money, so we took the extra time available.”
