Bootle Golf Club

Bootle Golf Course is a municipal 18-hole course on Dunnings Bridge Road, built in 1932 on the site of a former ammunition factory and today run by Sefton Council as a pay-and-play course open to everyone. One of the many Merseyside golfers who started here was Jim Howard. After 15 years in care, he moved to Seaforth and began playing at "Bootle Municipal," where the pro, Fred Lloyd, offered him a job as an assistant; his grandparents told him to get a proper job instead. Howard later turned professional and in 1969 qualified as the PGA's first Black member, then spent 35 years as head professional at Pontypool in Wales. He credited the muni for his start: he "could never have afforded to join a golf club."