Fylde coast golf review: Royal course's Open hopes as Lytham Trophy is cancelled; Gazette Matchplay also off; Alastair Taylor's tip of the week

The coronavirus pandemic has also forced the abandonment of the Lytham Trophy, the first time this leading annual amateur tournament at the Fylde coast links has not taken place since its inception in 1965.

On cancelling this year’s Open at Royal St George’s, the R&A confirmed that the Kent course would instead stage the 149th Open next year.

The following Open set for St Andrews has also been pushed back a year to 2022, meaning the home of golf still stages the milestone 150th Open, though 12 months later than originally planned.

Royal Liverpool was last year named as the host for 2022 and it is now unclear when Hoylake will next stage The Open.

When Royal Liverpool was first chosen for 2022, there was some disappointment around the Fylde coast as Royal Lytham and St Annes was arguably first in line among the north-west venues.

Hoylake (2014) and Royal Birkdale (2017) have both hosted The Open since it was last staged on the Fylde (2012).

Royal Lytham St Annes is hopeful of being chosen for 2026, marking the 100th anniversary of its first Open, won by Bobby Jones.

Those hopes were boosted in February this year, when Royal Troon was selected for 2023 – also the centenary of its first Open.

This is the first time since 1871 that The Open has been cancelled for any reason other than war.

The Lytham Trophy has taken place annually for 54 years but a statement by RL&SA Golf Club secretary Charles Grimley reads: “In view of the Covid-19 pandemic and Government advice to restrict social gatherings, the regrettable decision to cancel the 2020 Lytham Trophy has been made.

“This is with a view to protecting the health, safety and well-being of all concerned in the tournament, including competitors, spectators and our team of dedicated volunteers.”

We regret there is no option but to cancel this year’s Gazette Matchplay tournament, so generously sponsored by Blacktax, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

We had continued to invite entries until last week in the hope it may be possible to run a shortened tournament with a delayed start and still stage our semi-finals and final in Portugal as planned in late September. However, with no indication of when golf on the Fylde coast will be possible again, we can no longer keep the event open.

Arrangements are being made for all those who entered to be refunded in full.

Thanks to all our entrants for their understanding and to sponsors Blacktax, the Blackpool taxi firm, for their ongoing support.

This week’s advice to stay-at-home golfers from Alastair Taylor of Lytham Golf Academy is to get great fundamentals.

With the UK still on lockdown, playing golf is not possible but it is a great time to make sure that you either keep your good golfing habits going or develop some new ones that you can put into play as soon as we are allowed.

The better your fundamentals, the easier it is to make a simple golf swing.

The key areas to work on or maintain are grip, posture and balance.

Holding the club correctly will give you control on the club face and allow the wrists to work correctly to add speed and power.

A good posture allows your body to turn correctly without too many compensatory movements and good balance allows the contact with the golf ball to be a consistent as possible.

Even if you are not completely textbook with your fundamentals, as long as they allow you to deliver the club in a consistent way you will see a similar shot each time.

The problem I find is that golfers are always trying to change their swing, but if the issue is caused by poor fundamentals it won’t be resolved with a different swing.

Any changes you make now will feel different, but make the most of this enforced lay-off from playing to make them feel more practised and natural.

To contact Alastair email [email protected] or watch his YouTube channel AliTaylorGolf for daily tips during lockdown.