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
Brian HodgkinsonThe Course:
18 holes. Seaside links. Gently undulating terrain - easy to walk.
Surroundings:
Coastal duneland.
Designer:
Original design by George Lowe (1889); major revisions by Fred Hawtree & J.H. Taylor (1931).
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.
Credit cards accepted. Contact club for full details, discounts, packages, etc. [Last updated: 2019].
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.
World: 40th best course in the world (GOLF magazine, 2020/21).
GB&I: 9th best course in Britain & Ireland (Golf World, 2020/21).
England: 3rd best course in England (Golf World, 2021).
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
Tournaments:
Solheim Cup: can Europe defend the most prestigious team trophy in women’s professional golf, when the 17th Solheim Cup is played out at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio (Sept 4-6).
Italian Open: Nicolai Højgaard recorded his first European Tour win (Sept 5), just a week after his twin brother Rasmus landed the European Masters title (Aug 29); the first brothers to win back-to-back on the European Tour.
Who's Who:
Patrick Cantlay: moved into the world top 5, after winning the final two FedEx Cup playoff events and scooping the $15 million first prize.
Trish Johnson: kept the Senior LPGA Championship trophy in European hands, with her second win in this event in its four-year history.
Golf World Top 100: Best Golf Courses in Europe. From France to Spain to the Netherlands and Norway, the Golf World Top 100 panel reveals the places you have to play (published 20 October 2021).
New 27-hole golf complex to be built in southern Belgium
A new golf complex in southern Belgium, close to the border with Luxembourg, will start construction in June 2021.
Marco Simone Golf & Country Club "makes its tournament debut with the hosting of the Italian Open on the European Tour" by Richard Humphreys
Gamble Sands opens short course:
David McLay Kidd’s 14-hole QuickSands short course has opened for play at Gamble Sands in Brewster, Washington.
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