Royal Birkdale Golf Club

Eleven Opens between the sandhills.

Royal Birkdale sits on the Sefton coast just south of Southport, in a belt of sandhills that also holds Hillside, Southport & Ainsdale and Formby. It hosted its eleventh Open Championship in July 2026, and the course you would play now includes changes made for that week. The holes run along valley floors between tall dunes, so the fairways are unusually flat for a links and the views are framed rather than open. Come for a fair, demanding championship test, and build a few days around the rest of this coast.

Royal Birkdale Golf Club green fees and tee times.

Visitors book through the enquiry form on the club’s visitor page. Visitor days are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, with a few times on Sundays, and there is no visitor golf on competition days. An online enquiry is held for 14 days, then released unless the full green fee is paid. Groups of more than eight pay a 50% non-refundable deposit, with the balance due 60 days before play; inside 60 days nothing is refunded. Parties smaller than four may be paired with other golfers. The handicap limit is 24 for men and 36 for women, and you need to show a handicap card. In October 2026 the club’s visitor page said 2027, including the Birkdale Experience package, was fully booked and that 2028 dates would follow, so plan well ahead.

The round, in perspective.

The club was founded in 1889 and moved to this site in 1897. The routing you play is essentially the 1931 redesign by Fred Hawtree with J.H. Taylor, which took the fairways off the dune tops and into the hollows between them; the Hawtree firm has advised the club ever since. The white, ship-like clubhouse behind the 18th green dates from 1935. For 2026, Tom Mackenzie of Mackenzie & Ebert remodelled the short par-five 5th, removed the old par-three 14th and built a new long par three as the 15th, played towards the clubhouse. Birkdale has also staged the 1965 and 1969 Ryder Cups and the 2019 Walker Cup. From the back it measures over 7,100 yards at par 70, and the dunes shelter some shots and expose others, so the wind feels different on almost every tee.

Make the trip work.

Because 2027 has sold out, treat Birkdale as a 2028 trip and register interest early. Start with the round itself, then add rooms and flights. The Birkdale Experience, offered on Wednesdays through September 2026, added a welcome from a professional, a gift pack, a photograph with a replica Claret Jug and a two-course bistro meal for £565. Ask whether it returns for your dates. A morning round leaves the afternoon free for Hillside, the neighbouring links immediately to the north.

Liverpool John Lennon Airport is about 45 minutes by road and Manchester Airport about 70 minutes. By rail, Merseyrail’s Northern Line runs from Liverpool Central to Hillside station, which sits right beside the course, in roughly 40 minutes. The club’s address is Waterloo Road, Birkdale, PR8 2LX.

Where it is.

Nearby: 1. Hillside Golf Club (0 km) · 2. Southport & Ainsdale Golf Club (2 km) · 3. Hesketh Golf Club (6 km) · 4. Formby Golf Club (7 km) · 5. West Lancashire Golf Club (14 km) · 6. Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club (14 km) · Compare all England’s Golf Coast tee times

Somewhere to settle in.

Southport is the natural base. Lord Street, the town’s Victorian boulevard with its glass canopies, has The Vincent Hotel and the older Prince of Wales Hotel within a short taxi ride of the first tee. Formby Hall Golf Resort & Spa, about 20 minutes south, suits groups who want parking and a practice ground on site. Liverpool city centre is an hour away by train if you would rather spend evenings there and commute to the coast.

Make a trip of it.

The Sefton coast is one of England’s densest stretches of links golf. Hillside is next door, Southport & Ainsdale and Formby are within ten minutes, and West Lancashire at Blundellsands is about 25 minutes south. Royal Liverpool at Hoylake and Royal Lytham & St Annes are each roughly an hour away, which makes a week of Open venues realistic. Off the course, the National Trust’s Formby reserve has pinewoods, red squirrels and a long sandy beach, and Southport Pier is one of the longest in Britain.

Find your season.

Royal Birkdale closes to non-members from 1 November to 1 March each year, so visitor golf runs from March to October. Spring rates are lower, and early-season turf can be firm and quick once the coast dries out. Summer brings the longest light for an afternoon second round nearby.