Royal Birkdale – the biggest name in Volume 1 of Links from the Road. There is little I can say about this course that is new. It is revered around the world as one of England’s greatest tests. For many years it was simply Birkdale Golf Club, its royal patronage only being granted by King George VI, months before his death, in 1951. Three years later, Royal Birkdale hosted its first Open Championship in 1954.
For a course of such global renown, it is hard to believe its rich history only started with such earnest fervour in the second half of the 20th century. The club had existed since it opened as a 9-hole course in 1889. Before long, the success of the club required an expansion to 18 holes under the eye of George Lowe.
In 1897, the new course opened on its present site – set among the ‘Birkdale Hills’. Anyone who has visited Birkdale knows it is surrounded by some of the greatest sand dunes anywhere in the world. Mile after mile they stretch. If it were not for ecological restrictions set over the environmentally valuable land, there could be a dozen courses built. What prompted Birkdale’s meteoric rise in fame? From one of a number of respectable courses in the Southport area in the first half of the 1900s, it became the most famous English links of them all.
All journeys begin with a single, but decisive, step – and Birkdale’s was the appointment of the firm Hawtree & Taylor in the 1930s. FG Hawtree was the first of three generations of his family to work in the golf course architecture industry, and over their respective lives, all three helped shape Birkdale.
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FG Hawtree was the first generation. He partnered with the great JH Taylor. One-third of the ‘Great Triumvirate’, Taylor was five times an Open Champion and the big name of the firm. Hawtree carried out the work and ran the day-to-day business; this was their first big commission. Together, they completely overhauled the course – constructing a bold modern links, perhaps the first ‘Championship’ course of its type. They kept little from Lowe’s original course. Even the clubhouse location changed. The small, understated building to the left of the present 5th hole was replaced with the famous Art Deco building in its current location.
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Some debate exists, even now, over the construction of the course. Surveying the wider area, the dunescape in these Birkdale Hills comprises spectacular heaving sand dunes – hardly a flat spot to be seen anywhere. Like neighbouring Hillside, Birkdale delights generations of professional players by boasting remarkably flat fairways. When this ‘new’ course opened, it had similarly flat greens.
This was the era of heavy machinery. In the 1930s, half a million tonnes of sand were extracted from Wallasey at the behest of the local municipality – then the freeholder of the site. It has been suggested that Birkdale fell victim to the same treatment, the naturally flatter corridors being artificially flattened by machinery in a similar way. True or not, it is certainly a feature of Hawtree’s modern links. To this day, the majority of Birkdale’s fairways are flat.
Ron Whitten, architectural editor of Golf Digest, once pointed out that the billiard-table-smooth fairway on the 1st hole had less pitch than the adjacent club car park, built on a slight incline. There are, of course, exceptions. The second half of the 10th fairway, as it doglegs round the corner to the beautiful green complex, is as rumpled as anything. Likewise, the 16th has character in abundance. The changes to the course ushered in this new era of dominance for the newly crowned Royal Birkdale.
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RELATED – Check out the updated NCG Top 100s: England list
Ahead of hosting the 154th Open Championship in 2026, a bold new phase of work is taking place. Under the expert hand of Sean McClean, the course manager who previously oversaw the changes at Prince’s, architects Mackenzie and Ebert have overhauled much of the course. Even with Sean’s proven hand on the tiller, such an ambitious project so close to a Championship is bold.
In the eyes of those who grew up watching Birkdale play host to some of the great occasions in the professional game, its reputation has long since been forged. In the second half of the 20th century, I would argue no club in Britain made greater strides. Ambitiously reinventing themselves, hosting the biggest tournaments and never shying away from taking and executing the bold decisions. Clearly, it has become a deep rooted part of this club’s culture, and the ambition of the membership shows no sign of retiring.
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This is an excerpt from Volume 1 of Sam Cooper’s Links from the Road journals.
This 18-volume series covers every links course in Great Britain. Volume 1: The Wirral, Liverpool and Southport is available to purchase now from www.linksfromtheroad.com for £17 with subscription offers also available.
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