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Diamonds are forever…

If you thought £3 a pop for a Pro V1 was a bit expensive then your jaw

will drop when you hear how much this diamond-encrusted ball costs.

This sparkling sphere was specially produced by ALO Diamonds to mark the European Tour’s return to the Czech Republic after a 12-year absence at the Moravia Silesia Open in August – and is worth a whopping £685,314.

It took Alojz Ryšavý nearly two weeks to design the ball using state-of-the-art 3D software and three diamond setters six weeks to turn his vision into sparkling reality.

The ball is set with 409 highest-quality white diamonds, with a total weight of 54.30ct, and the base is white 18 carat gold.

If you can’t quite stretch to the half a million, there is a cheaper alternative. For just over £67,000 you could be teeing up a ladies’ ball decorated with 1,431 pink sapphires or a men’s ball finished by black rhuthenium and set with 2,863 brown gems.

And if you’ve spent that much on your ball you don’t want to be teeing it up on a tacky old plastic tee, so why not also invest in ALO Diamonds’ £1,875 tee that has 23 diamonds of its own?

Unless you put them on a golf ball and slice it into a pond off the 1st tee...

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rollmodels

nine putters on test

Sheer variety makes choosing the best putter for your game a tricky business – unless you go armed with the sage advice of our team of TG reader testers...

READERS' MEGA TEST THE

IDEAL BAG

PUTTERS

ODySSEy WhiTE hOT XG TEROn

Price: £149www.odysseygolf.com

ODySSEy WhiTE hOT nO.9

Price: £109www.odysseygolf.com

TAylORMADE iTSy-BiTSyPrice: £139

www.taylormadegolf.eu

TAylORMADE FOnTAnAPrice: £95

www.taylormadegolf.eu

PinG AnSER

Price: £65www.pingeurope.com

PinG CRAz-E

Price: £140www.pingeurope.com

MizunO BC5

Price: £200www.mizunoeurope.com

ODySSEy BlACk i SERiES 6

Price: £219www.odysseygolf.com

TAylORMADE DAyTOnAPrice: £219

www.taylormadegolf.eu

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124 TodaysGolfer.c0.uk Issue 261

There is no doubt the self-proclaimed ‘Golf Coast’ in the north-west of England is one of

the world’s hottest golfing destinations.The sun may not always be shining on

you like it does in Spain or Portugal but those hotspots can’t compete with the ‘Golf Coast’ when it comes to the quantity and quality of golf on offer.

Because the ‘Golf Coast’ – a stretch of classic golf around Liverpool and up to Blackpool – is home to seven of the top 36 courses in the UK and Ireland, led by Open tracks Birkdale, Liverpool and Lytham. It isn’t just about top-end coastal golf though, there’s something for everyone – from those historic Open venues to modern classics and budget links such as Southport Municipal.

There’s plenty of excellent inland golf too, including the mature parkland layout of Lytham Green Drive while you can sample Liverpool muni Allerton for under a tenner – which represents terrific value for money.

Brilliant Birkdale is sheer, undisputed golfing royalty – the King of England’s links layouts.

Seaside golf simply doesn’t get any better than getting to grips with the mighty Merseyside maestro, which has thrilled, enthralled and entertained so many golfers of all shapes, sizes and playing abilities down the years, and will continue to do so.

Birkdale majestically weaves its way between towering duneland and is nearly always sitting pretty at the summit, or very close to it anyway, when it comes to any ‘Top 100 Courses in Britain’ listing.

Six-time Major champion Nick Faldo has gone on record as saying it’s his favourite course worldwide. “Playing it has got to be one of the best experiences in golf,” he told TG. That, in a nutshell, says it all about Birkdale.

There’s simply not a weak hole in

sight but at a venue which has staged nine Open Championships, the Walker and Curtis Cups and the Women’s British Open you’d expect that.

You’ll relish every moment following in the footsteps of the stars... though we somehow doubt whether you’ll manage to emulate Padraig Harrington’s miraculous Open-winning 5-wood approach into the penultimate green last year. You’ll have great fun trying though.

Memorable with a capital ‘M’ and a golf day to savour…

FactfileLocation: 1.5 miles south of Southport, off the A565. Tel: 01704 552020.Web: www.royalbirkdale.comGreen fees: Mon-Fri: £165. Sun: £195.Best deal: Mon-Fri between Sept 28-Dec 13, £120 (£150 on Sundays).

Par 72, 6,305 yards

by kevIn brown

MERSEYPARADISE

ROYAL BIRKDALE, SOUTHPORT

WHERE THE cOURSES ARE

COURSES

123456

Royal BirkdaleHillsideChildwallHurlston HallWallaseyFormby Hall

1

All you need to know - where to play, stay, eat, drink and be merry - on England’s aptly-named ‘Golf Coast’

NEW FEATURE MERSEYSIDE REGION GUIDE

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