Is Royal Birkdale a good course?

[Jason Topp]

I have heard it criticized as (1) not being a real links course (presumably because of maintenence practices) and (2) not having interesting humps and hollows present on the great links courses.

By contrast, several close friends with plenty of links golf experience rate Royal Birkdale the highest of the rota.  I know at least one participant on this site rates the course very highly.

I have never been there but I have never heard such contrasting opinions on a course from different people that I highly respect.

Those who have played the course, what do you say and why?

[Brent Hutto]

I say it is a links course. Definitely. For me, if you're playing within sight and smell of the sea and hitting off turf with that special linksy quality and there's wind then it's a links and Royal Birkdale has all of those in spades. Very, very nice turf to hit from.

I say it is an excellent example of what it tries to be. It wants to test a good player's ability to play shots required on firm turf in windy, variable weather and it wants the player who hits those shots accurately to be able to score well. And it wants to punish poorly struck or poorly judged shots but with the possibility of recovery. In other words, it wants to be a "fair" course for contesting Open championships.

To that end it is a continually evolving course whose architectural pedigree does not exhibit itself through any definable architect-specific features or quirks. As the championship game evolves, Birkdale matches it and continues to offer much the same "fair" test that it did in decades past. Personally, I think Royal St. George's is a far superior course both in terms of a test for elite players as well as being (or I should say "appearing to be" since I've only spectated there and not played) great fun for the member or visitor who is less highly skilled. But it does have quirk and it does give bad bounces of well struck shots with a frequency quite foreign to Royal Birkdale.

I enjoyed my round at Birkdale but doubt that I will return, especially given the steep price these notable courses charge the visitor. It is a solidly designed, well maintained course without any particular weak spots that I could point to (the inconsistency of the seventeenth green with the rest of the course being an apparently temporary anomaly). For my game, there's more fun to be had down the road at Formby or at a couple of the other links courses I've played. But that's just for my own enjoyment and there are few courses I would claim as better places to hold a championship for the best players in the world. I'd also say the turf at Birkdale on the day I was there was as fine a playing surface as I've ever experienced.

[kconway]

I played both Royal Birkdale and Formy several years ago. 

I found RB consistently good, but not memorable.  On the other hand, I thought Formby was very good and I would like very much to get back there.

[Brent Hutto]

FWIW I put Formby in the same category as Royal Cinque Ports, having played each of them several rounds under slightly different wind and weather conditions. Day in and day out those two courses are just the absolutely perfect combination of fun and challenge for my game. If I'm playing well I can shoot a very good score (by my bogey-golfer standards) on either and if I'm not playing well I won't break 100 but I'll do it without losing a whole sleeve of balls either.

From the visitors tees, Royal Birkdale does a pretty good job (for a championship course) at mixing up the distances a bit. But one thing that sets Formby above it in my book is that its shorter overall length comes from greater variety of hole lengths and it is exemplary in that regard. Then again, Birkdale changes direction w.r.t. the wind enough to have the effect of producing variety in the approach shot lengths on even similar holes on the scorecard.

[Michael Whitaker]

Jason - Birkdale is one of my five favorite seaside courses in the UK. The others on that list would be TOC, Royal Dornoch, Royal County Down, and Ballybunion. It is criticized for having "flat" fairways and, compared to the other courses on my favorites list, they are relatively flat. And, it is also lacking in the ocean views that you find on some other links courses (depending on the set of tees you play). But, have no doubt, it is a links course and plays as a links course.

The best adjective I can use to describe Birkdale is GRAND. I thought the course was grand in design, in playability, in variety, and in challenge. I found several of the greensites to be stunning.

Was it the most fun course that I have ever played? No. But, IMHO Birkdale does not present itself as a "fun" course. It is truly a championship course that is designed to fully test one's ability. But, at the same time, it gives one the feeling that they have a reasonable chance to succeed if they keep their wits about them.

I loved it!

[Sean_A]

There is no question Birkdale is a very good course.  In the Open rota it is solidly middle of the pack.  There are plenty of good shots to hit there.  However, it is no where near my favourite course and never could be.  There just isn't enough funk and when funk is introduced its as if it is a disease.  All that said, if you have played plenty of UK golf, Birkdale is not one to miss.  But its sort of like Lytham, Troon and Turnberry, don't expect world beating architecture.  Its just solid golf the entire way round.

Ciao

[Michael Whitaker]

Sean - I have not played Troon or Turnberry, but Lytham is a fantastic course. A bit brutal... but, definitely a championship worthy course.

As for great architecture at Birkdale, I think the following holes are as good as it gets:

The par threes 7, 12 and 14... especially 12 featured in this photo:


#1 and #2 are outstanding opening holes... and #2 offers a great green setting:


I thought #6 was a great Par 5 (for the members):


#9 is one of the best holes I've played on any course:


And, I loved the option presented on the tee shot at #18, like #6 also a par 5 for the members:

[Mike Mosely]

Mike, which did you like better?  Lytham or Birkdale? Nice pics!

[Mike_Cirba]

I don't know.

I couldn't see it today. 

[Bob_Huntley]

Birkdale offers every golfer the chance to play the game as he sees it. No blind shots as such but a wealth of opportunities to keep the ball in play beneath the dunes. Unlike St. Georges, there are no weird bounces and few relatively unknowns win Open Championships here.

I love Birkdale, except of course that wretched excuse for an English clubhouse.

Bob

[Paul_Turner]

10th is the best hole at Birkdale,  it's more wrinkled than the rest.

[Michael Whitaker]

I love Birkdale, except of course that wretched excuse for an English clubhouse.

This shows where I am truly warped... I like the clubhouse!!! It really does give one the feeling of a steamship crusing the ocean of dunes. Plus, the interiors and view from the lounge are amazing.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I don't understand why RB gets so much grief.  I think it is outstanding.  The  greens have both interesting slope and undulations.  The greensites themselves are full of humps, hollows, and imaginative bunkering.  To score you have to drive it well, hit precise iron shots, and have good imagination on the greens.  The routing just follows the dunes.  I don't know what more you could want.  Like Bob Huntley, I think the clubhouse is appalling.  At least inside it gets better.

[Michael Whitaker]

Here is a copy of the post I made after playing Birkdale in 2007

**************************************************

Joe Fairey and I had the good fortune to play Royal Birkdale on the Saturday following the 2007 Buda Cup. We were accompanied by a member who gave us the most glorious tour of the course one could ever want, filled with stories of Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer, Trevino, Peter Thompson, and on, and on, and on.

The course might be the best I have ever played. Each hole is an adventure and the dunescape makes for an almost isolated feeling on every hole. Several new bunkers, protection mounds, and tees have been added since the last Open Championship, but they seem to have been in place forever.

Following are a few pictures of our day at Royal Birkdale. We finished just before sunset and the sky was filled with color as we played the 18th, a par five for the members. My birdie on 18, with the sun setting beyond the dunes was a magical end to our golfing holiday in England. It is a moment I will treasure forever!

Approach Shot on #2


Teeshot on #3


Teeshot on Par Three 4th


Greenside Bunker on Par Three 7th


Teeshot on 8th


Blind Teeshot on 9th


Teeshot on 10th


Joe & Mike on Par Three 12th


Par Three 12th (What a GREAT hole!)


Par Three 14th


This plaque was erected to commemorate an awesome second shot at the 16th by Arnold Palmer during the 1961 Open


The 17th with its controversial new multi-leveled green


Teeshot on 18th


The approach on 18 with the famous Birkdale clubhouse in the backgroud.


Birkdale Sunset

[Paul_Turner]

Michael
I love the clubhouse too!

At least Birkdale usually obliges with some crap weather.

[Sean_A]

Michael
I love the clubhouse too!

At least Birkdale usually obliges with some crap weather.

I too think the clubhouse is fantastic - one of the best in golfdom.  But then I like art deco...

Ciao

[Andrew Mitchell]

I have a tentative invitation to play Birkdale 10 days after the Open.  Nothing I've read on here or seen on TV has lessened the excitement of the prospect of playing there.

[Jason Topp]

Fantastic contributions to this thread.  I have not commented because I really do not have a basis for commenting.  Nonetheless, I really appreciate everyone's thoughts. 

What did Doak say about the course in the Confidential Guide?

[Matthew Rose]

I love the donut bunker.

[tonyt]

Unlike St. Georges, there are no weird bounces and few relatively unknowns win Open Championships here.

The quality of the leaderboard and the combatants down the stretch tells more than just the one single guy who wins. The past few Opens at Sandwich have been stellar in that regard, 2003 included.

[Rich Goodale]

What did Doak say...?

Jason

I like the WDDS strategy of GCA criticism.  It saves lots of time and precious thinking energy.  Who's going to be the first to manufacture the eponymous bracelet?  Paging George Pazin!

Rich

PS--insert smiley face here....

rfg

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

I just got back from the Open and as usual my thoughts on Royal Birkdal have not changed....
It is simply awesome...it has always been my favourite, but this was my first trip back since beoming"educated" by those on this site...
now as an educated"gca'er" I have no change in heart....
I love it from start ti finish...a  brutal challenge from  begining to the end, sone of the finest links bunkering in the world, the green comp[lexes are exquisite...notable exception the new#17....fiarwyas ultimately fair..the rough punishing and the dumes towering...it ia ll links golf is about....


clearly...I like the place.

[George Pazin]

What did Doak say...?

Jason

I like the WDDS strategy of GCA criticism.  It saves lots of time and precious thinking energy.  Who's going to be the first to manufacture the eponymous bracelet?  Paging George Pazin!

Rich

PS--insert smiley face here....

rfg

I just skipped the bracelet and had it tattooed on my wrist.

[Jason Topp]

What did Doak say...?

Jason

I like the WDDS strategy of GCA criticism.  It saves lots of time and precious thinking energy.  Who's going to be the first to manufacture the eponymous bracelet?  Paging George Pazin!

Rich

PS--insert smiley face here....

rfg

I just skipped the bracelet and had it tattooed on my wrist.

The color should be brown and the funds go to save St. Andrews Beach.

[tlavin]

It sure looked like a better course than Hoylake.