Royal Lytham & St Annes is firmly within the top five on the new and updated NCG Top 100s: England list for 2025.
It is one of three venues on the North West Coast of England to have hosted the Open Championship on multiple occasions. It last hosted The Open in 2013, when Ernie Els was victorious, but its history dates back to 1886.
RELATED: Check out the new NCG Top 100s: England list
Why is Royal Lytham & St Annes so highly rated?
Royal Lytham & St Annes retains a homely feel that is conveyed by some of the red-brick houses lining the links. It is sometimes hard to believe that you are only half a mile away from the sea. At no time is a view of the ocean forthcoming. The feeling persists of playing in a pocket of golfing land inside the middle of town. Despite being so close to the sea, there is no clifftop majesty of a Turnberry or a Kingsbarns.
The challenging and well-maintained course presents a stern test of golfing skill, with strategically placed bunkers and thick rough requiring accuracy and precision. It is celebrated for its historical significance and its contribution to the world of golf.
It is an unremittingly strong examination with wonderful routing, fantastic green complexes and fearsome bunkering. What it lacks in views, it more than makes up in presentation, challenge and quality of turf.
READ MORE – NCG Top 100s: Royal Lytham & St Annes
What do our experts say about Royal Lytham & St Annes?
Dan Murphy – chairman of the NCG Top 100s Rankings – can’t believe why Royal Lytham isn’t closer to the top of all other courses lists…
“Lytham is weirdly, unfashionable in ranking lists over the last few years and I do not understand why,” Murphy said on the NCG Golf Podcast.
“I will tell you it is as good a playing experience as you will find on the Open rota courses. There is nothing as strategic as Lytham.
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“I know you don’t see the sea, but if you want to play proper Championship golf, an absolute test off the regular tees, and play on some of the best turf, this is undoubtedly the most penally bunkered course I have ever played. The bunkers really are something else at Lytham. And then there is the challenge of that run for home.
“It is atmospheric, everything is quite close to you, and you have that iconic clubhouse in the background. For the life of me, I cannot understand why it is falling a few places in more or less every other list. There is no reason it should be.”
Tom Irwin, Director of NCG and co-host of The NCG Golf Podcast, loves the rules and the quirks of Royal Lytham.
“I think the visitor experience there is very good. They still have rules and that is all part of visiting these places. You go into a proper members’ club where the members do things in a very particular way. They are part of the scene, they are part of the scene at Opens there as well,” Irwin explained.
“Those fortunate to have stayed in the Dormy House as well will have had the full experience of staying on site and being able to wake up in that building and then tip straight out on to the links. That is worth saying, it is a brilliant place to visit as a fan of golf. It is a very special building, a very special place.
“I think the par 3 start is really cool. I remember going to the Open in 2012, and people talk about the 7am or 6:30am on the Thursday of Open week. I would argue that it is unrivalled at Lytham because there is a tiny little grandstand tucked in behind the pro shop and hedgerow that lines the back tee on the 1st. It is deathly quiet because nobody else can get there apart from the people in that stand. Then, of course, they have to hit a long iron, and I can’t imagine that pressure with your first shot.
“You have all that in your mind when you go and play there, because people have watched Opens there and seen that experience on TV. If I think of proper, challenging golf holes, the opening stretch at Lytham is what I think of. They ask every question of you, one after the other – the holes that are strung out along the railway line.
“I know you go back inland to play the brilliant dog-leg 4th, and the par 3 5th, then the par 4 6th back again. The ones strung along the railway line are just so. It is a course, in the North, that is held up as one always in pristine condition. A lot of it is the non-playing areas, the areas where greens run into tees – they are always absolutely pristine and the mowing lines are exactly how you would imagine them. They give an amazing flow to those opening holes.
“Into the middle of the back nine, you’ve got some holes that are the very definition of ‘Championship’. You play the par 5 11th, then the short 12th and the drivable 13th. Then 14 and 15, I think are two of the best holes on the Open rota in terms of their quality and in terms of how hard they are. 15 is a brutal tee shot and a long second across some broken ground.
“The finish, then towards that clubhouse. Going to all Open venues, you picture shots that you remember, winning shots that you remember but I think no more so than at Lytham, where it finishes in front of that amazing clubhouse.
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“It is another course that is all the better for knowing – it is not obvious, there are no amazing views, it is surrounded by property and it is a bit of a drag to get there. The more and more you got there, the more and more you appreciate the quality of the golf holes, the quality of the turf. It is exceptional.”
And finally, Steve Carroll – host of the NCG Golf Podcast and a feature on many of the NCG Top 100s panels – can’t understand why the Claret Jug hasn’t visited the Lancashire venue in more than a decade…
“The R&A should probably have a read of our list, because Royal Lytham & St Annes can’t buy an Open Championship,” Carroll said.
“It has been 13 years since Ernie Els won the last Claret Jug to be lifted there. Yet, it performs highly in our England list and it continues to do so. That is not a new thing – it has performed well over the years.
“You both have very nice things to say about Royal Lytham in the main, so why are the R&A immune to its charms?”
Listen to the NCG Golf Podcast in full…
Now have your say
Have you been fortunate enough to play at Royal Lytham & St Annes? If so, what did you make of it? Would you agree with us that it is the best course in the country? Let us know your thoughts with a post on X, formerly Twitter!
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