Royal Liverpool

About Royal Liverpool

Founded in 1869, the Liverpool Golf Club became only the second English course owning golf club to be granted the Royal title when Queen Victoria bestowed the honour in 1871. It's the second oldest seaside links course in England and was built on the land of the Liverpool Hunt Club racecourse with golf and racing running concurrently for the first seven years of its life. Now, Royal Liverpool Golf Club is one of England's most celebrated links and has hosted the Open Championships a number of times, most recently for the 151st edition in 2023. 

A Brief History

• Founded in 1869
• Royal Liverpool hosted the first recognised Amateur Championship in 1895
• Played host to the first international match between England and Scotland in 1902
• In 2006 the R&A changed the layout so that it started at the 17th and finished at the par-5 16th, with the 1st hole for the members being the 3rd at The Open. Therefore, Royal Liverpool is unique on the Open Rota in being the only course that uses a different configuration of holes in the tournamen

Featured hole – Hole 4

The beginning of a gettable two-hole stretch. A fun risk-and-reward hole, the usually downwind 4th represents a great birdie chance, but only to those who navigate it shrewdly. The hole is drivable in length, but not in nature, as bunkers guard the entrance to the green that is set at a 45-degree angle to the tee. Head Pro at Hoylake, John Heggarty, states “The 4th hole is the shortest par-4 on the course; if you are coming in from the right-hand side you're coming over bunkers while the green falls away, so stopping the ball on the green, no matter who you are, is a big challenge."