Hillside Golf Club: The Course Next to Birkdale

Let me tell you where Hillside Golf Club is: it is next to Royal Birkdale. Not nearby. Not in the same general area. Immediately next to it: the boundary fence between the two courses is visible from several holes on each side. They share the same dune system, the same prevailing wind, the same type of links terrain. One charges £320 for a visitor round. The other charges under £110.

A course that nearly hosted The Open

Hillside has been on the Open Championship rota. The R&A inspected it seriously and the course has hosted European Tour events including the British Masters. It sits around 40th in England in most credible course rankings: comfortably in the top tier of British links golf. The reason it hasn't hosted The Open comes down to infrastructure capacity around the venue, not course quality. The course itself is more than good enough.

When I played Hillside for the first time, what struck me was the back nine. The front nine runs through a more sheltered part of the duneland: good golf, well-designed, but relatively contained by championship links standards. Then the back nine opens onto higher, more exposed dunes and the course becomes something else entirely. The 16th is a long par 4 across a ridge of dunes into a prevailing crosswind that I have never managed to play well. I've tried twice.

Getting on: visitor access

Visitor access at Hillside is meaningfully better than at Royal Birkdale. You still need to book in advance, but the process is simpler and same-week bookings are sometimes possible in off-peak periods. Weekday mornings are easiest. Weekends require more notice but are usually achievable. A handicap certificate is required.

Green fees run from around £75 on a midweek winter day to around £110 at peak summer weekends. For what you're playing, this represents exceptional value by any standard of serious links golf.

How it compares to Royal Birkdale

Birkdale's conditioning is slightly better: it should be at twice the price. The greens at Birkdale in peak season are the fastest and most consistent I've played on a links. Hillside's greens are excellent but not quite at that level. The overall design at Birkdale is marginally more satisfying: the hole routing through the dunes is a masterpiece of course architecture. But the gap is considerably smaller than the green fee difference suggests. For most golfers, Hillside is the more appropriate and more enjoyable round.

Hillside during Open week

Hillside during Open week 2026 is a genuinely special situation. The course shares boundary fencing with Royal Birkdale. During championship rounds you'll finish a hole on Hillside and be able to hear the crowd at Birkdale. Some caddies warm up on the Hillside practice ground. If you're being strategic about Open week golf, there is no better combination than a Hillside morning round followed by an afternoon in the Birkdale fan zone or at a practice session.

Summary

• →Green fee: £75–£110. Royal Birkdale is £320.
• →Visitor availability: significantly easier to book than Birkdale.
• →Course quality: top-40 in England. Legitimately in the same conversation as Birkdale.
• →Conditioning: excellent, marginally behind Birkdale in peak season.
• →Open week atmosphere: as close to The Open as you'll get while actually playing golf.