'Lytham St. Annes'

Lytham and St. Annes are actually two separate communities. They are invariably known to outsiders as 'Lytham St. Annes' – Lytham for short – but people in St. Annes–on–the–Sea (which is where Ernie was) get quite upset if you tell them they live in Lytham. I've worked there, and I know.

I suspect the cause of the confusion might lie in the name of the Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club, which has hosted the Open Championship on nine occasions – the most recent being in 2012, when it was won by Ernie Els. In 1988 it was won by Seve Ballesteros on a Monday, after the course was flooded by torrential rain and Saturday's play was abandoned. It was Seve's third Open victory, and his fifth and last major. Ballesteros described his final round of 65, which beat Nick Price by two shots, as "perhaps the best round of my entire career." It gave him hero status locally; one of my work colleagues had 'seve273' as his password! (273 was Seve's overall score for the tournament – 11 under par.) (I know, I shouldn't know that – let alone broadcast it on the Internet – but it was 20–odd years ago, I can't even remember his name ... and anyway, it was his fault for telling everyone in the office.)

The presence of the ampersand in the name of the club is significant.

© Haydn Thompson 2017