Royal Liverpool (Hoylake)

The verdict

Royal Liverpool was founded in 1869 on the old racecourse of the Liverpool Hunt Club, laid out by Robert Chambers and George Morris, and it received its royal title in 1871. For a course that looks gentle at a glance, an open, flattish sweep of linksland on the tip of the Wirral, it has a fearsome reputation, earned over thirteen Opens and a long roll of amateur championships. The list of champions here reads like a history of the game, from Bobby Jones in 1930 to Tiger Woods in 2006, Rory McIlroy in 2014 and Brian Harman in 2023.

What makes Hoylake hard is not length alone but the way it punishes the loose shot. Several holes carry internal out of bounds, the bunkering is deep and clever, and there is rarely a tree or a hill to stop the wind off the Dee estuary. The par 72 stretches to about 7,310 yards from the back, and was set up beyond 7,380 for the 2023 Open with the addition of the short new seventeenth. Play it from sensible tees and it is a fair, fascinating test; play it from the championship markers in a breeze and it will expose every weakness in your game. For a serious golfer touring the English links, it is essential.

The holes worth the trip

Hoylake opens with one of the great nerve testers in championship golf. The first runs alongside the practice ground, which is internal out of bounds, so the field, as it is known, sits hard against the right of the fairway and gathers any block or fade. It is a brutal way to start a card and sets the tone: keep it in play or pay. The round rarely lets up, with internal out of bounds again in play on the closing holes and bunkers positioned exactly where a good player wants to be.

The most talked about hole is the seventeenth, Little Eye, a short par 3 built for the 2023 Open on a raised green that falls away to sand and trouble on every side. At barely 130 yards it looks benign and plays terrifying, a green perched above a steep drop where anything off line tumbles into ruin, and it produced as much drama in 2023 as any hole on the course. From there the long eighteenth, with its out of bounds and grandstands, makes for one of the tensest finishes in the game.

Through the middle the course shows its quieter virtues, firm running fairways, subtle contours and greens that ask for precise approach angles. The wind is the constant variable, swinging the difficulty of the same hole by several shots from day to day. Walk it in a fresh breeze and you understand why the world's best have so often found Hoylake a far sterner examination than the flat ground suggests.

Where to stay nearby

Hoylake and West Kirby have comfortable links side hotels and guest houses within minutes of the first tee, the simplest base for a round or two on the Wirral. Liverpool itself, a short drive or train ride away, adds a wide choice of city hotels, dining and culture for a trip that mixes golf with a couple of nights in one of England's great waterfront cities.

Hoylake pairs naturally with Royal Birkdale, Hillside and the other Southport links across the Mersey for a classic England's Golf Coast tour of championship links within an hour of one another.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near Royal Liverpool.