England’s Golf Coast is the chain of links between the north Wirral and the Fylde, and this page sets ten of its clubs side by side. Every one has staged a national championship, Open qualifying or both. Six line the Sefton coast: West Lancashire at Blundellsands, then Formby, Southport & Ainsdale, Hillside and Royal Birkdale along the railway, with Hesketh at Southport’s northern edge beside the Ribble marshes. Across the Mersey, Royal Liverpool and Wallasey sit about 20 minutes apart on the Wirral, and north of the Ribble, Royal Lytham and St Annes Old Links share Lytham St Annes. Seven of the ten are a walk from a station. The clubs fall into two tiers. Birkdale, Hoylake, Lytham, Formby and Hillside charge £315 to £495 for a 2027 summer weekday, and four of them shut out visitors over winter. The other five cost less, and most keep selling tee times through the colder months. Access is the real difference: Birkdale’s 2027 diary was full by October 2026, Hesketh opens its online sheet only a week ahead, and St Annes Old Links asks for no handicap certificate at all. Secure the hardest booking first, then build the trip around it.
Tap a pin for photos, prices and a booking link.
| Course | Green fee from | What’s included | Getting there | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 1Royal Birkdale Golf ClubChampionship links | £450Checked October 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 2Royal Liverpool Golf ClubChampionship links | £320Checked November 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 3Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf ClubChampionship links | £280Checked November 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 4Formby Golf ClubLinks among pines | £155Checked November 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 5Hillside Golf ClubChampionship links | £195Checked November 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 6Southport & Ainsdale Golf ClubRyder Cup links | £110Checked November 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 7Hesketh Golf ClubHistoric links | £70Checked November 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 8West Lancashire Golf ClubChampionship links | £120Checked November 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 9Wallasey Golf ClubDune links | £130Checked November 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 10St Annes Old Links Golf ClubChampionship links | £75Checked November 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide |
Prices are the lowest published or listed visitor rates we found, with their source and date on each guide. Partner links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. How we work
Royal Birkdale, fresh from its eleventh Open in July 2026 and a new long par-three 15th. With 2027 reported full, register for 2028 and aim for a Monday, Wednesday or Thursday.
Green fees & bookingRoyal Lytham, whose 1911 Dormy House has 16 rooms. In summer 2027, £480 per person covers a night, breakfast and a round, a year before the 2028 Open.
Green fees & bookingFormby, where Scots pines frame the fairways and a six-room dormy overlooks the 18th green. Tee times are on sale online all year, from £155 on winter weekdays.
Green fees & bookingSouthport & Ainsdale, host of the 1933 and 1937 matches, sits across the railway from Hillside. Its 2026 summer weekday rate was £270, and you book and pay online.
Green fees & bookingWallasey, where Frank Stableford ran the first points competition in 1932. A portrait that Bobby Jones signed hangs in the lounge, and Hoylake is 20 minutes west.
Green fees & bookingSt Annes Old Links, the only club here that says no handicap certificate is needed. Play it alongside Royal Lytham, a short drive south; winter weekdays start at £75.
Green fees & bookingWest Lancashire, an 1873 links whose gate is about 50 yards from Hall Road station, under half an hour from Liverpool Central. Winter weekdays are £120.
Green fees & bookingEach package names its rounds, nights and hotels, so you can see which of the courses above it includes before you ask for a quote.
7 nights B&B, 5 rounds
Rounds: Royal Liverpool · Royal Birkdale · Royal Lytham & St Annes · Formby · Hillside
Stay: England’s Golf Coast between Liverpool and Lytham
Three Open venues within an hour of each other, with Formby and Hillside as the rounds locals rate just as highly.
Prices are Golfbreaks’ published per-person guide prices in US dollars, checked November 2026; your quote depends on dates and group size. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. How we work
All England’s Golf Coast golf packages on Golfbreaks
There are two price tiers here. On a 2027 summer weekday, Hillside asks £315, Formby £320, Royal Liverpool and Royal Lytham £420 each, and Royal Birkdale £495 from May to October. The second tier is far cheaper: St Annes Old Links charges £150 for a weekday morning in May, August or September and £180 in June and July, Hesketh £175 midweek, and Wallasey £270 on its Monday, Tuesday and Thursday rate. Southport & Ainsdale and West Lancashire showed only 2026 summer prices when checked, £270 and £250 a weekday. Winter reverses the picture. Hesketh’s midweek rate from November to March is £70 to £75, St Annes Old Links asks £75 to £80, Southport & Ainsdale £110 and West Lancashire £120, all below Formby’s £155. Caddies cost £80 plus a tip at Hoylake, Lytham and Hillside and £70 at West Lancashire, while Hesketh’s are paid in person on the day. Hesketh hires buggies at £40 and West Lancashire at £45; Hoylake, Lytham, Formby and Southport & Ainsdale keep theirs for medical need. Deposits vary too: West Lancashire and Hillside take 50% to hold a time, and Wallasey’s online sheet and Southport & Ainsdale take the full fee at booking.
Merseyrail’s Northern Line from Liverpool Central is the spine of a Sefton trip. Hall Road is beside West Lancashire, Freshfield serves Formby, Ainsdale is a ten-minute walk from Southport & Ainsdale, and Hillside station serves both Hillside and Birkdale. Hesketh is a short taxi from Southport, the end of the line. On the Wirral, the West Kirby line reaches Hoylake in about half an hour and stops at Wallasey Grove Road and Wallasey Village, though a taxi helps with clubs for the last stretch to Wallasey. For the Fylde, change at Preston for St Annes, which serves Royal Lytham and St Annes Old Links. By road, Liverpool John Lennon Airport is about 45 minutes from the Sefton clubs and Hoylake, and nearer for West Lancashire and Wallasey. Manchester suits the Lytham pair best. The two Wirral links are about 20 minutes apart, the Mersey tunnels put them around 40 minutes from West Lancashire, and Southport, the most central base, sits about an hour from both Hoylake and Lytham.
Six of the ten publish visitor rates for winter: Formby, Southport & Ainsdale, Hesketh, West Lancashire and St Annes Old Links through the season, and Wallasey for November and February only. Each comes with a catch. Hesketh makes fairway mats compulsory from 26 October 2026 until at least the end of February, Southport & Ainsdale may close holes or use mats between November and March, West Lancashire may be working on its greens, and Formby can switch to temporary greens. The other four stop visitor golf: Birkdale reopens on 1 March, Hoylake has no visitor times from November to February, Lytham closes from 30 October 2026 to 8 March 2027, and Hillside began winter maintenance on 19 October 2026. Peak rates run broadly from April or May to September, and October is a cheaper shoulder month at most clubs. Southport & Ainsdale expects May, June, July and September to fill first. Watch the championship calendar too: Birkdale’s 2027 diary was full by October 2026, the Open returns to Lytham in 2028, and Open qualifying took West Lancashire and Hesketh in each summer from 2023 to 2026.
Six of them. Formby, Southport & Ainsdale and West Lancashire use BRS tee sheets, Wallasey and Hesketh use Intelligent Golf, and Royal Lytham has a visitor portal. Hesketh’s online times open only seven days ahead, at 7.15pm. Royal Birkdale works by enquiry form, holding requests for 14 days. Royal Liverpool, Hillside and St Annes Old Links take visitors by phone or email: Hoylake on 0151 632 7772, Hillside on 01704 567169.
Royal Birkdale sets 24 for men and 36 for women, Formby 28 and 36, and Royal Lytham advises 21 and 30. Royal Liverpool, Hillside and Southport & Ainsdale want a current handicap or certificate but publish no maximum. Hesketh and West Lancashire show no handicap rule on their visitor pages, and St Annes Old Links needs no certificate, only a competent pace.
Probably not as a new booking. In October 2026 the club’s visitor page listed 2027, including the Birkdale Experience package, as fully booked, with 2028 dates to follow. Its two closest neighbours are the best fallback: Hillside, across the boundary fence, at £315 midweek in summer 2027, and Southport & Ainsdale, the 1930s Ryder Cup venue on the far side of the railway.
Mostly. West Lancashire, Formby, Southport & Ainsdale, Hillside and Royal Birkdale all sit near stops on the Merseyrail line from Liverpool to Southport, and Royal Liverpool is a short walk from Hoylake station. Royal Lytham is under a mile from St Annes-on-the-Sea station. Hesketh and Wallasey need a short taxi from the nearest station if you carry clubs.
Hesketh, at £70 to £75 midweek, is the cheapest, with fairway mats compulsory all winter. St Annes Old Links, Southport & Ainsdale, West Lancashire and Formby also take visitors from November to February, and Wallasey lists rates for November and February. Royal Birkdale, Royal Liverpool, Royal Lytham and Hillside close to visitors and reopen in March.
Wallasey for Hoylake: it is about 20 minutes along the north Wirral coast, and the two clubs co-hosted the 2025 English Men’s Amateur. St Annes Old Links for Lytham: it lies a couple of miles north, was founded on the links the Lytham club left in 1897, and shared the 2022 Amateur Championship with it.
Yes, the Sunday Driver. Hesketh sells golf at both clubs from £300 a head. Southport & Ainsdale’s version adds a night at the Waterfront Hotel in Southport with breakfast, from £399 a head for two sharing, and its availability is limited.