XXXXIII: Royal Birkdale
One striking aspect of travelling to different corners of coastal Britain is just how visually and strategically diverse links which occupy the same stretch of coastline can be. Forged by nature’s wild ways, there is seemingly no rhyme or reason for the drastic shifts in topography from one mile to the next, this randomness in nature’s offerings at the heart of seaside golf’s unmatched appeal and magnetism for the travelling golfer. Few stretches of golfing shores showcase the breadth of nature’s touch quite as starkly as England’s ‘Golf Coast’ as its sandy soil flows North from Hoylake to Lytham leaving three iconic Open Championship venues in its wake.

Royal Birkdale: An icon of the Open Championship
Though geographically near, the Royal triumvirate traverse entirely different settings and pose distinct strategic questions. Hoylake carves challenge and interest from flat grounds through doglegs and subtle angles, whilst Lytham compels with clusters of menacing bunkers and irregular ripples, but as golfers step foot on Royal Birkdale they are met with one of England golf’s rarest commodities – heaving sand dunes. In a scene akin to the great Irish links, the towering sandhills of Birkdale deliver the type of isolation and escape which wandering golfers traverse the globe in search of. The scale and grandeur of Royal Birkdale’s setting surely makes it one of the most enticing amongst the upper-tier of English golf.

Big Dunes flow from Birkdale's 13th
Stout Trio of Two-Shotters
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Many of the UK’s finest links famously open with a friendly handshake to get players away cleanly – no such pleasantries are afforded at Birkdale as it shoos golfers straight into the battle with a trio of stout two-shotters.
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As the opener slides left blindly between the dunes for over 420-yards, it may well have a case for being the finest opener in Open Championship golf. A bunker carved into a mound guards the inside of the dogleg tempting the longer hitters, while the green is tucked delightfully into the base of a dune – a wonderful beginning.

The lovely first green
The subsequent duo offer the golfer no reprieve, Birkdale relentless in its early examination. The fairway bends sharply left from the second tee, its landing zone and putting surface smothered by nasty bunkers – this combination of doglegs and hazards a prevalent concoction of Birkdale’s challenge.
Delivering the first hint of elevation change, the third plunges into a valley between the dunes and after attempting to dodge its array of traps, the golfer’s precision and execution has been entirely scrutinized over the first half hour.

Down into the valley of the 3rd
By Elevation and Doglegs
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Unusual for a links laid out almost a century ago, Birkdale’s fairways thread through valleys between the dunes rather than playing up and over them, its fairways trending towards the flatter end of the links continuum. It’s these clear and definitive sight lines and absence of the randomness felt on more rippled fairways which make Birkdale a firm favourite for touring professionals who embrace courses honest and fair.
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Birkdale’s two and three shot holes find variation in changes in elevation, doglegs and variety of green complexes – the diversity of shapes, range of uphill and downhill approaches and exacting targets make it a course for the ball strikers.

A dogleg through the dunes of the 17th
The Fifth
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Short and dynamic, reaching the fifth tee there is a striking change of pace. One of Birkdale’s modern creations’ fairway climbs to the right towards a green suspended above a row of bunkers and tempts longer hitters into the first risk-reward moment of the round.

The modern twist of the rising 5th
The Ninth
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Blindness is a cornerstone of the old school links ethos, bringing guesswork, chance and commitment to the forefront. Far from quirky, Birkdale is renowned for being an out in front golf course, but the charming ninth tees up and over a dune ridge to a fairway beyond – a weathered post the only guiding light.

Bells and quality links golf go had in hand
The Tenth
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Amongst a cluster of fine doglegs the tenth is the sharpest of the lot, slicing between the dunes and careening left at a near right angle. Like those before, positioning off the tee drives success and matching up line and distance at the head of Birkdale’s strategic snake.

The snaking 10th fairway
The Seventeenth
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Birkdale’s most compelling three-shotter pinches between two overbearing dunes and swings left, leaving a narrow landing strip from the box. Sitting amongst a bowl of dunes, the wild contours of the multi-tiered putting surface are a joy to contend with. When a hole opens with such a captivating tee shot and is bookended by the links’ most wild green little enjoyment is left on the table.

The 17th green tucked amongst the dunes
Attractive Set of One-Shotters
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So often changes in elevation bring with it engaging par threes and Birkdale is no exception, boasting one of links golf’s most attractive sets. Both playing downhill, the fourth and seventh make a delightfully polar pair on the front side.
The subtle fourth is the longest of the bunch, its classy green sloping right and bunkers crowding the left, whilst an exacting flick is found at seven, into a domed green funnelling balls into the hungry pot bunkers.

A perilous flick at 7
Into the prevailing wind, the gorgeous twelfth plays dauntingly across a valley to false-fronted green – anything short in the jaws of demise which makes it one of Birkdale’s most formidable tests. In the shadow of the iconic clubhouse, the enormous green of the 15th offers a hint of hope but the severity and perils of its surrounds make stopping the ball downwind a tough task – the final chapter of a wonderful set of questions.

Nothing comes easy at the 16th
Amongst choppy dunes, Royal Birkdale makes a wonderful change of pace in England’s North-West – its wonderful setting and exacting style of golf as its routing weaves between the sandhills presents a different test entirely. Big, honest and fair, there is very little tricked up about Birkdale’s links and whilst it may lack the eccentric features of some on the continent, there aren’t many more inspiring venues or more thorough examinations of ball striking.