Hillside Golf Club

Located adjacent to the famous Royal Birkdale in the Northwest of England along a magnificent stretch of links land between Liverpool and Blackpool, the course at Hillside Golf Club is an underappreciated gem. Founded in 1911 and extensively remodelled in the 1960s by Fred W Hawtree, Hillside has hosted many amateur and professional tournaments, with the European Tour’s PGA Championship in 1982 and 2019 British Masters being the pinnacle so far.

Visitors will enjoy a friendly welcome and a recently refurbished clubhouse that dates back to the 1930s. Hillside is consistently ranked amongst the top 25 courses in England and top 60 throughout the British Isles.

Hillside Golf Course overview

Some would argue that Hillside is one of the finest links courses not to have hosted an Open Championship. The layout is a story of two halves, with the opening holes heading southwestward along the flat ground beside the railway line, and the second nine threaded through valleyed corridors amongst some of the wildest dunes found anywhere.

After the 1982 PGA Championship, Greg Norman wrote an unsolicited note to the club stating, ‘the back nine holes are the best in Britain’, and they have been bracketed alongside Ballybunion in the Southwest of Ireland.

Signature Holes

The par-5 11th measures 509 yards off the tips and is widely regarded as Hillside’s signature hole. The view is worth savouring on a clear day when the fells of the Lake District can be seen to the North, and typically playing into the wind this is a really stern test.

Did You Know?

Local hero Tommy Fleetwood hosted the 2019 British Masters at Hillside, and after a tiring week of off-course responsibilities, he managed a very respectable ten under par and tie for 8th alongside Martin Kaymer.