Waterloo Rd, Birkdale,
Southport, Merseyside PR8 2LX
Office
+44 (0)1704 552 020Pro shop
+44 (0)1704 552 030Fax
+44 (0)1704 552 021Website
Visit websiteGolf pro
Gregg Pettersen (Head Professional)The Course:
18 holes. Seaside links. Gently undulating terrain - easy to walk.
Surroundings:
Coastal duneland.
Designer:
Original design by George Lowe (1889). Major revisions by Frederick G. "Fred" Hawtree & J.H. Taylor (1931). Subsequent modifications by Hawtree's son, Frederick W. "Fred" Hawtree (1960s), and by his son Martin G. Hawtree (1993).
53.622316
-3.032226
17 miles N of Liverpool
From the centre of Southport, head south on the A565 direction Liverpool. After 1.8 miles Royal Birkdale entrance is on your right.
Royal Birkdale
Royal Birkdale Golf Club: Located just north of Liverpool, the seaside towns of Southport and Formby are separated by a five-mile stretch of stunning coastal duneland. Lying within these naturally created sand-hills are four of England's top rated links golf courses. Good as Formby, Hillside and Southport & Ainsdale are, the most revered of the quartet is Royal Birkdale, one of the finest links golf courses in the world.
A visit to Royal Birkdale offers the opportunity to dip into golfing history and muse on the many top level championships and matches that have been hosted here. However, it is more likely that your main objective will be to sample the real-time pleasures of playing these revered links.
With few blind shots required from either tee-box or fairway, the hazards are clear enough to see, notably in the form of towering dunes and superb pot bunkering. Admiring Birkdale's wonderful array of revetted bunkers is all well and good, but staying out of them is another matter. Adept course management and good shot-making is required to stay out of the deep fescues, small bushes and other assorted rough that awaits anything hit too far offline.
If you’ve scored well up to the par-3 14th, it's time to take a deep breath and prepare for the closing par 5-4-5-5 stretch. There's an average of ten bunkers per hole on this final "fab four", and out-of-bounds on the rightside of the last two holes.
At Royal Birkdale you can occasionally glimpse the Irish Sea in the distance, but you won't be playing directly alongside it. No matter. Few can resist the undoubted charms of this wonderfully natural collection of sand dunes .... and the thoroughly absorbing golf links laid out within them.
Visitors welcome on weekdays; outside visitor play is very restricted on weekends.
Must book in advance. Proof of handicap required.
Contact club for full details, discounts, packages, etc. [Last updated: 2023].
This is a walking-only course. If genuinely unable to walk the course, players can apply for permission to hire a golf cart.
Good
Royal Birkdale has played host to many major championships and top-level tournaments. Included amongst these are Open Championships and the Women's British Open, as well as some of the biggest team competitions in golf, not least Ryder, Walker and Curtis Cups (see our Tournaments section >by Venue >Royal Birkdale).
George VI conferred the Royal prefix on Birkdale GC in 1951. By royal prerogative, 19 English golf clubs use the "Royal" title, namely: Ascot, Ashdown Forest, Birkdale, Blackheath, Cinque Ports, Cromer, Eastbourne, Epping Forest, Household (Windsor Castle), Liverpool (Hoylake), Lytham & St Annes, Mid-Surrey, North Devon (Westward Ho!), Norwich, St George's, West Norfolk (Brancaster), Wimbledon, Winchester, Worlington & Newmarket.
England's 3rd best course (Golf World, 2024).
Britain & Ireland's 9th best course (Golf World, 2025).
World's 42nd best course (GOLF Magazine, 2023/24) and 17th best public access course (Golf World, 2025).
The Promenade, Southport, Merseyside PR8 1RB
+44 (0)1704 533 771
Visit websiteThe Best Western Royal Clifton Hotel & Spa is noted for its excellent range of facilities and standards of service. Over recent years the hotel has been refurbished to offer guests the comfort expected from one of the best located hotels in Southport.
No
Hesketh; Royal Birkdale; Hillside
Southport & Ainsdale; Formby; West Lancashire
98 Lord Street, Southport PR8 1JR
+44 (0)1704 883 800
Visit websiteLocated on Lord Street, Southport’s main boulevard and opening in 2008, The Vincent Hotel is a contemporary boutique hotel. 60 guest rooms, suites and a penthouse occupy the six floors in this award winning design. The hotel's facilities include a Cafe & Sushi Bar, Spa, gym and Galleria Suites for weddings & corporate events.
No
Hesketh; Royal Birkdale; Hillside
Southport & Ainsdale; Formby; Formby Hall; West Lancashire
Chevron Championship: Carlton Woods near Houston in Texas provides the stage for the first women’s major championship of 2025, where Nelly Korda defends her title. (April 24-27).
Soudal Open: successor to the Belgian Open, the Soudal Open takes place on the quiet, wooded North course of Rinkven Golfclub. Belgian stars Thomas Pieters and Nicolas Colsaerts will be vying for top honours. (May 22-25).
Rory McIlroy: with his 2025 win in The Masters, Rory joined the pantheon of golfing greats who have achieved a career Grand Slam of men’s majors ... Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are the only others in this select band.
Bernhard Langer: he may have played in his last Masters Tournament, but the 67-year-old German will be trying to extend his own record, and win a 13th senior major title at the 36th Regions Tradition. (May 15-18).
Marco Simone Golf & Country Club: With a clubhouse that might befit a Roman Emperor, and a golf course to match, you can be sure of a memorable outing at Rome's most talked about golf facility.
Jim Fazio's original layout was much changed to create a modern Ryder Cup course ... now one of the Eternal City's (and Italy's) most revered.
Here at Prince’s Golf Club you'll find 27 excellent holes of links golf. Just over the fence and sharing similar terrain is Royal St George’s; but Prince’s is far from overshadowed by its venerable neighbour. The three nine-hole loops at Prince's, laid out over gently undulating terrain, are sure to bring a smile of satisfaction to all lovers of links golf.
Stay&Play at Prince's: excellent onsite Lodge accommodation available
You can subscribe to the Where2Golf channel on YT if you like to see more video content. You'll find a "Subscribe" button on any of our YouTube videos. Or if you want a quick and direct access subscribe here. Once done, any new published videos will show up in your Subscriptions feed.
