2026 Open Championship: Royal Birkdale Hole-by-Hole Breakdown

Royal Birkdale is part of a trio of Open courses on the Merseyside with Royal Lytham and Royal Liverpool. Founded in 1889, and the original course started as 9 holes and expanded and moved to Birkdale Hills by 1897 (its current location), just South of the city in Southport and designed by George Lowe, who was the pro at Royal Lytham. In 1922, the course was extensively reworked by architects Fred Hawtree and J.H. Taylor which really produced the vast majority of today’s version. Taylor won the Open Championship 5 times. 

Martin Hawtree did some work in the 1990s (who also did Royal Liverpool)

They have undergone a significant course renovation in preparation for the 2026 Open- the changes were overseen by Mackenzie and Ebert, which has obviously been the de-facto team for updating rota venues for the modern game 

• New Par 3 15th hole between the 15th and 16th

• Existing Par 5 15th becomes the new 14th hole and was lengthened by forty yards

• 5th hole completely redesigned with a new layout 

• 7th Hole is reconfigured into a shorter par 3 featuring a raised green and adjusted bunker 

Other Mackenzie & Ebert renovations include Royal Portrush, Royal Troon, Royal Liverpool, Royal St. Georges, + Royal Lytham & St. Annes so the last three venues have been Mackenzie and Ebert 

Par 70; 7,223 yards, the golf course is barely longer than it played in 1965 but is still up from the 7,156 yards it played in 2017

Hole by Hole Breakdown

Hole 1: Par 4 (447 yards)

Tough driving hole, less than driver. Out of bounds hugs the right side, thick fescue guards the fairways. It’s absolutely a less than driver hole. It’s a hole I don’t expect to see many drivers with the prevailing wind pushing left to right towards the out of bounds. I think you will actually see a lot of lay-backs leaving a longer approach shot 

Less than Driver 

Proximity: 175-200 yards 

Hole 2: Par 4 (419 yards)