Royal Birkdale Golf club has hosted many tournaments. It has held The Open and Ryder Cup several times and is an iconic golf club in the North of England. We visited the course during a trip where we also played Royal Lytham, Hillside, West Lancashire and Formby. My expectations for Royal Birkdale was high and I was looking forward to the whole experience.
THE CLUBHOUSE
There is some great history and memories walking around the clubhouse. Make sure you spent some time to make the most of it.
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Driving range and short game area
We spent some time on the range and short game facility which is located a short walk from the clubhouse. Nice facilities and a good short game practice to different greens and levels.
The golf course
The opening hole is a slight dogleg left par 4. You can take the agressive route over the left hand banker and leave a shorter approach. I played safely down the righthand side and had a 6 iron to the green.
The 5th hole is a short dogleg left to right. I took the safe route in the corner of the dogleg and had a wedge to the green
My approach shot ended up in the well placed bunkers to the left hand side and resulted in a bogey.
The 7th hole is a downhill par 3 well protected by bunkers all the way around the green. A nice par 3 with focus on a precision tee shot. It was only a wedge when we played.
Nice view of the clubhouse from the 9th green. The approach shot to the 9th hole needs to be accurate as the green is elevated and has bunkers in front.
The back nine at Royal Birkdale Golf Club
The 12th hole is a strong par 3. It is relatively short but with well placed bunkers and a small target.
Hole 13 is a long and tough par 4. My playing partner and I were happy with above approach shots because of the difficulty of the hole. We both walked away with a couple of nice pars.
Hole 18 is a great finishing hole. I hit a decent drive down the right hand side of the fairway and had 190m to the pin. Slightly pulled my approach shot into the bunker.
Missed my birdie opportunity on 18 which resulted in a round of golf without any birdies.
My experience
Royal Birkdale Golf Club is a really good golf course and a great experience. It is well designed and challenging. It is a real championship golf course and I can imagine how tough it is in strong winds and tournament condition. We had fantastic weather conditions and I shot 77 with a double bogey on the 17th hole. I can highly recommend the course and hope to come back again one day.
