The SeftonLinks Blog
Links Golf: Written From the Inside
Course reviews, practical tips, and Open 2026 guides: written by Damian Roche, founder of SeftonLinks and a 24-handicapper who lives three miles from Royal Birkdale.
Formby Golf Club Review: Heathland Meets Links on the Sefton Coast
Formby Golf Club is the outlier on the Sefton Coast: pines and heathland alongside links terrain, a very different character to Birkdale and Hillside. Worth playing if you want to understand the full range of what this stretch of coast offers.
The Open 2026 Accommodation Guide: Where to Stay and What's Still Available
Championship week accommodation around Royal Birkdale is almost entirely gone. Here's the honest picture of what's left, where to look, and why Formby might be the best answer nobody's considering.
Hillside Golf Club Review: Royal Birkdale's Neighbour at a Third of the Price
Hillside sits in the same dune system as Royal Birkdale, shares the same dramatic terrain, and costs £75–£110 a round. It's the most underrated course on the Sefton Coast and I genuinely don't know why more visitors don't play it.
The Open 2026 Practice Rounds: Why They're Better Than the Championship Days
If you have practice round tickets for The Open 2026 and you're treating them as the consolation prize for missing out on championship days, reconsider. Practice days at Birkdale are a different experience: and in some ways a better one. Here's the inside guide.
Reading Links Greens: Why Everything You Know About Putting Doesn't Apply
Links greens are fast, firm, sloped in ways that aren't always visible from the fairway, and affected by wind in ways that inland greens aren't. Most golfers arriving from parkland courses take at least a full round to adjust. Here's how to shorten that learning curve.
Hillside Golf Club: The Course They Put Next to Royal Birkdale for a Reason
Hillside sits immediately next to Royal Birkdale and gets treated as the supporting act. It isn't. It's a world-class links course in its own right: with better visitor access, lower green fees, and terrain that rivals anything on the coast. Here's the honest review.
A Golf Trip to the Sefton Coast from Manchester: Planning It Properly
Manchester to the Sefton Coast is about an hour. That's close enough for a day trip and very manageable for a two or three-day break. Here's how to plan it so you're not wasting time driving the wrong roads or paying the wrong green fees.
The Open 2026: What Happens Each Day and When to Be There
The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale runs 13–19 July 2026. Each day of the week is different: different access, different atmosphere, different crowds. Here's what happens on each day and how to make the most of your time there.
How to Book a Tee Time on the Sefton Coast: What Actually Works
Six courses. Six different booking processes. Some you can call on a Tuesday for the same week. Others need three months and a handicap certificate. Here's the honest guide to getting on each of the Sefton Coast courses.
Formby Golf Club: The Sefton Coast Course That Plays by Different Rules
Formby Golf Club is not a pure links. It's a heathland-links mix, with maritime pines, silver birch and narrower fairways than anything else on the Sefton Coast. That difference is the whole point. I've played it twice and it rewarded thinking over hitting.
Southport Old Links: Proper Links Golf at a Price That Makes Sense
Southport Old Links is the most accessible and affordable course on the Sefton Coast. Under £50, genuine links terrain, no handicap certificate required. It's not in anyone's top-50 list. It doesn't need to be.
Can I Play Royal Birkdale During The Open 2026?
Royal Birkdale closes to visitors well before The Open Championship starts. But the rest of the Sefton Coast golf corridor doesn't. If you're planning a golf trip around the 2026 Open, here's what you can actually play: and when.
Getting to Royal Birkdale for The Open 2026
The roads around Birkdale during Open week are essentially unusable for normal traffic. I live three miles from the course and I won't be driving. Here is every transport option for The Open 2026, honestly explained.
Hillside Golf Club: The Course Next to Birkdale
Hillside sits on the same dune system as Royal Birkdale. Same wind. Same type of golf. Visitor green fees are less than a third of the price and you can get a tee time this week. I've played it twice. Here's the honest account.
Staying in Formby for The Open 2026
Southport accommodation is effectively gone for Open week. The Birkdale area is gone. Ormskirk is filling up. The place most people haven't thought of yet is Formby: 20 minutes from the course, significantly quieter, and with its own good restaurants and beach. Here's the honest case for Formby as your base.
Watching The Open 2026 Without a Ticket
Championship round tickets for The Open 2026 are gone or eye-wateringly expensive on secondary markets. But you don't need a championship ticket to experience Open week at Royal Birkdale. Here's what's actually possible: and what isn't.
Southport & Ainsdale: The Ryder Cup Course Nobody Talks About
Southport & Ainsdale has hosted the Ryder Cup twice. It ranks in the top 50 courses in England. Green fees start at £65 and include a meal. I genuinely don't understand why it's not the first stop on every serious Sefton Coast golf trip.
West Lancashire Golf Club: Raw Links, No Pretension
West Lancashire is not manicured. It is not concerned with your enjoyment. It is a proper links course on an exposed piece of coastline and it will test you in ways that more polished courses won't. I played it in 18mph wind and shot my worst score in two years. I'd go back tomorrow.
Which Sefton Coast Course Is Right for Your Handicap?
Six championship links courses within ten miles. Very different difficulty levels, visitor policies and price points. Playing the wrong one for your ability is expensive and occasionally humiliating. This is the honest guide to matching yourself to the right course.
The Best Value Links Golf on the Sefton Coast
Royal Birkdale is £320 a round. Hillside is £150. But you don't have to spend £150 to play world-class links golf on the Sefton Coast. Here's where the real value is.
Links Golf for Beginners: What Nobody Tells You Before Your First Round
Playing links golf for the first time? The wind, the bouncing ball, the gorse, the blind shots: none of it works like inland golf. Here's what to expect and how to actually enjoy it.
I Played Royal Birkdale Off 24. Here's What Happened.
I live three miles from Royal Birkdale. I built a website about it. And until last October, I'd never actually played it. Here's the honest account of what happens when a 24-handicapper takes on one of the world's greatest links courses.
What to Expect at The Open 2026: A First-Timer's Complete Guide
The Open Championship returns to Royal Birkdale in July 2026. If you've never been to a major championship before, here's everything you need to know: tickets, transport, what to bring, and what to expect on the day.
Damian Roche
Founder, Churchtown Media & SeftonLinks.com
Damian lives in Churchtown, Southport: about three miles from the first tee at Royal Birkdale. He plays off 24 on a good day, has personally donated more golf balls to the willow scrub than he'd like to admit, and built SeftonLinks because he couldn't find a decent guide to the courses on his own doorstep. He founded Churchtown Media and runs the Sefton Coast Network. His golf is genuinely a work in progress.
About Damian