History
Founded as Birkdale Golf Club in 1889, the club was awarded "Royal" status in 1951. Birkdale Golf Club moved to a new site in Birkdale Hills in 1894 and built a new distinctive art deco clubhouse in 1935. In 1946, the club hosted its first big championship in The Amateur Championship, won by Irishman James Bruen. During the immediate post-war era, the club also hosted the 1948 Curtis Cup, in which the United States team were victorious, and the 1951 Walker Cup, which also fell into the hands of the United States. With these successful stagings of important events, Royal Birkdale was felt to be ready for its first Open Championship in 1954 and the club has been on the Open rota ever since.
Three generations of the Hawtree family of golf course architects have worked on the course. Frederick G. Hawtree and champion golfer J.H. Taylor are the two people most responsible for the current routing, following the valleys between the very large dunes which dominate the property. The arrangement makes for excellent spectator conditions during major events. Frederick W. Hawtree, the son of Frederick G, performed some modifications in the 1960s and in 1993 Martin Hawtree, son of Frederick W., improved and modernised the layout further, with all 18 of the club's greens being completely rebuilt, to improve turf and drainage following the 1991 Open Championship. Only relatively minor tweaking, such as the addition of a few new bunkers and back tees, has been deemed necessary in advance of the last two Open Championships.
The course was ranked as the 18th best in the world outside the United States, in the 2007 rankings by Golf Digest magazine.
During the 1960s, the club played host to two Ryder Cups, in 1965 and in 1969. The United States took the Cup in 1965 by the score of 19½–12½, but ended in a tie in 1969 when Jack Nicklaus generously conceded a short putt to Tony Jacklin.
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