Royal Liverpool golf guide: playing Hoylake's Open links
Hoylake is one of England's oldest and most decorated links — 13 Opens, from Bobby Jones to Tiger Woods to Brian Harman in 2023. How visitors play it, the holes that decide Opens, and when to go.
Royal Liverpool — 'Hoylake' to everyone in golf — is one of England's oldest and most storied links, and it hides its teeth well. On a still day it can look like a flattish, almost gentle stretch of Wirral turf; add the wind that funnels off the Dee estuary and it becomes one of the hardest tests in Open golf, as Brian Harman's six-shot win in 2023 quietly proved.
Founded in 1869, it's the second-oldest seaside links in England and has hosted 13 Opens, with a champions' roll that runs from Bobby Jones to Tiger Woods to Rory McIlroy. This guide covers how visitors get on, the holes that decide championships, the recent Martin Ebert changes, and when to play.
Where
Hoylake, Wirral, Merseyside — about 12 miles from Liverpool
Course
The Championship Links (par 72 for members; ~7,383 yds, par 71, for The Open)
Founded
1869 — England's second-oldest links; recent redesign by Martin Ebert
Nearest airport
Liverpool (LPL) ~30min; Manchester (MAN) ~1hr
Best time
Late spring to early autumn for the firmest links and best weather
Access
Members' club with visitor tee times (typically Mon/Tue/Fri); handicap certificate required
The courses
The Championship Links
Robert Chambers & George Morris; modernised by Martin Ebert · 1869 (Ebert redesign completed 2022) · 18 holes · Links · par 72 (members) · up to ~7,383 yds
13-time Open Championship host — most recently 2023 (Brian Harman)
Hoylake is a classic English links laid over former racecourse land, framed by the Dee estuary and the Welsh hills beyond. Its defining quirk is the internal out-of-bounds — the 'cop', a turf wall around the old practice ground — that turns the opening and closing holes into a strategic tightrope, most famously the round-ending gauntlet where a pushed shot is simply gone.
Ahead of the 2022 and 2023 Opens, architect Martin Ebert modernised the links, most visibly by building a brand-new par-3, 'Little Eye', playing to a small infinity green perched by the estuary with runoffs all around — a tiny hole with huge championship consequences. What makes Hoylake special for a visitor is how ordinary it can look and how severely the wind and the subtle contours punish a loose swing.
How visitors play Royal Liverpool
Hoylake is a members' club, not a resort, but it welcomes visitors on set days — typically Monday, Tuesday and Friday, subject to the members' diary, with weekend play rarely available. Unlike the fully open resort courses, it does ask for a handicap certificate from your home club (broadly around 21 for men and 32 for ladies), and there's a proper links dress code — collared shirt, no denim.
Green fees are premium — this is a major-championship venue — but well below the eye-watering rates of some private American giants, and the club is set up to give visitors a genuine championship experience, including the option of playing from the 'Tees of the Day' that club officials set according to weather and ability. Book well ahead in the main season; Open years and their aftermath push demand up sharply.
The holes that decide Opens
Hoylake's drama is front-loaded and back-loaded. The opening hole runs alongside the internal out-of-bounds 'cop', so the very first swing of the day demands nerve. The new par-3 'Little Eye', slotted in near the estuary for the 2023 Open, is the modern signature — a short iron to a tiny raised green where anything off-line tumbles into trouble, exactly the kind of hole that turns a one-shot lead into a scramble.
The closing stretch is where Opens are won and lost: the internal OOB returns to squeeze the drives, and the wind off the Dee rarely helps. It's a finish that rewards discipline over heroics — precisely the golf Brian Harman played to win in 2023, and the shots Tiger Woods managed by leaving driver in the bag almost all week in 2006.
The history
Few clubs carry a champions' list like Hoylake's. Bobby Jones won the 1930 Open here as part of his Grand Slam year; Peter Thomson and Roberto De Vicenzo lifted the Claret Jug in the following decades; Tiger Woods produced a masterclass of course management in 2006; Rory McIlroy won in 2014; and Brian Harman claimed his first major here in 2023. It's also woven into amateur golf's history as an early home of international team golf. Playing it, you're walking ground that has decided the game's oldest major more often than almost anywhere on earth.
When to go & how to build the trip
Late spring to early autumn brings the firmest, fastest links and the best chance of kind weather, though the estuary wind is a year-round companion. Hoylake pairs beautifully with England's Golf Coast just to the north: Royal Birkdale and the other Southport links are a short drive up the coast, making a two- or three-course links trip easy from a single base. Liverpool itself — 20-odd minutes away — gives you a genuinely great city for evenings, which sets a Hoylake trip apart from more isolated links pilgrimages.
What to pack
The kit this trip demands
Hoylake is exposed English links golf with the Dee estuary wind always in play — pack layers and weatherproofing you can trust:
Yes, on set days. Hoylake is a members' club rather than a resort, but it offers visitor tee times — typically Monday, Tuesday and Friday, subject to availability, with weekend play rarely available. It asks for a handicap certificate (broadly around 21 for men, 32 for ladies) and enforces a links dress code.
Why is Royal Liverpool famous?
It's one of England's oldest links (founded 1869) and has hosted the Open Championship 13 times — most recently in 2023, when Brian Harman won. Its champions include Bobby Jones (1930), Tiger Woods (2006) and Rory McIlroy (2014), making it one of the most decorated venues in the game.
What changed at Hoylake for the 2023 Open?
Architect Martin Ebert modernised the links ahead of the 2022–2023 Opens, most visibly by building a brand-new short par-3, 'Little Eye', playing to a tiny infinity green beside the Dee estuary with runoffs all around — a small hole with outsized championship consequences.
How do you get to Royal Liverpool?
It's in Hoylake on the Wirral, about 12 miles from Liverpool and roughly 30 minutes from Liverpool Airport (LPL) or an hour from Manchester (MAN). It pairs easily with Royal Birkdale and the Southport links up the coast for a multi-course England links trip.
