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Royal Birkdale's History

Royal Birkdale is, for many, simply the greatest course to have staged the Open Championship. The quality of its Championships, which include Peter Thompson, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tom Watson, attest to that.

The Open and Ryder Cup

The Birkdale Golf Club was formed in 1889, and the course has hosted no less than eight Open Championships, and the Ryder Cup on two occasions. The Open returns to Birkdale in 2008, when once more this famous old course will offer up its tantalising challenge to the game's greatest players. To that end, some reconstruction work was undertaken in the first months of 2006.

The honour of hosting the 100th Open Championship went to Birkdale in 1971. The final day became one of the most famous in Open history as Lee Trevino battled with the Taiwanese golfer Lu Liang-Huan, known to all as 'Mr Lu', Trevino taking the title by a shot on the 72nd green.