Royal Liverpool Golf Club

Founded in 1869, Royal Liverpool (commonly referred to as Hoylake) is the second oldest seaside links course in England, with Royal North Devon being its only senior. As with so many of these historic courses, it started as 9-holes and expanded soon after, with the original layout by George Morris (brother of Old Tom) on the site of a racecourse and shared with the Liverpool Hunt Club.

Hoylake held its first Open Championship in 1897 and nine more up to 1967, then after a gap of 39 years and a Donald Steel upgrade returned in 2006 for what was a memorable victory by Tiger Woods. Defending his title and the first major success since the passing of his father Earl, an emotional Tiger charged to victory on a parched Royal Liverpool with an imperious display of strategic links golf. Sticking to irons off the tee, he hit a staggering 86% of fairways.

Firmly back on the international map and a permanent fixture on today’s Open Championship rota, Royal Liverpool has consistently ranked within the UK top 20 courses and top 50 worldwide. Along with the other two Royals of Birkdale and Lytham on this outstanding stretch of links coastline known as ‘England’s Golf Coast’ in the Northwest of the country, Hoylake completes a magnificent trio of Open Championship courses.

Royal Liverpool Golf Course overview

After a redesign and extension by Donald Steel in 2001, the links at Royal Liverpool now measures over 7300 yards off the tips and is a challenging par-72. Originally laid out on a racecourse, the land is unusually flat with three sides of the course bordered by houses and the Dee Estuary on the western side. Only six holes are in the dunes, leaving little protection from the ever-changing wind, with 9 through 12 running alongside the shore and the most visually appealing.

After Tiger’s emotional Open Championship victory in 2006, Rory conquered in 2014 and became only the third golfer in history to win three of golf’s modern majors by the age of 25. No doubt you can guess who the other two are?

Signature hole

The par-4 12th hole known as ‘Hilbre’ is arguably the finest on the course, measuring 454-yards off the tips and a dog leg left. Fortune favors the brave who try to carry the bunkers protecting the corner of the hole.

Did You Know?

For the first seven years of the club, the course was used for both golf and horse racing, which is why the first and eighteenth holes are called ‘Course’ and ‘Stand’. The original saddling bell still hangs in the clubhouse today.