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
-3.032227
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.
2019 Golf World rating: 11th best course in Britain & Ireland; 2nd best in England.
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:
2021 Opens: whether by accident or design, four of the top five mens’ Open Championships played in the British Isles occupy consecutive weeks in July: the Irish Open (1-4), Scottish Open (8-11), The Open (15-18) and Wales Open (22-25). The recently relaunched English Open is scheduled for early-August.
Hoag Classic: Ernie Els defends his title in this prestigious PGA Tour Champions event, played since 1991 at the Newport Beach Country Club, CA (Mar 5-7).
Who's Who:
Brooks Koepka: won his second Phoenix Open title, with a chip-in eagle at TPC Scottsdale’s short par-4 17th included in his final round.
Annika Sörenstam: the legendary Swede makes a return to the LPGA Tour in the Gainbridge LPGA, to be played at Lake Nona, her home club (Feb 25-28).
Nicklaus Design to create new course for Qiddiya development in Saudi Arabia
Layout is first of two planned for country club within residential community.
Chart Hills Golf Club: On Christmas Eve 2019, the course became part of the Ramac Group also the proprietors of the famous Prince’s Golf Club, in Sandwich on the Kent coast. Read more ...
Oú sont les femmes? Why there are so few women in golf course architecture.
Dundonald Links Scotland: Construction work is in progress on new practice facilities and course changes at Dundonald Links in Irvine, Scotland, as part of a £25 million investment by new owners Darwin Escapes that also includes the construction of a new clubhouse with rooms, plus eighteen lodges. Read more ...
R&A submits planning application for new golf facility in Glasgow.
Look up the Top Golf Courses in Scotland.
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