The Open Championship
Royal Birkdale 2026

The Open Championship — the oldest Major in golf and the only one played outside North America — returns to Royal Birkdale for the 11th time in July 2026. No other venue on the Open rota has hosted more frequently, a record that reflects both the quality of the course and its exceptional logistical suitability for a major championship.

Royal Birkdale is a links in the truest sense. Fairways run between towering sand dunes that funnel the coastal wind in unpredictable ways. The willow scrub rough — a Birkdale signature — is punishing but navigable. Greens are small, fast and subtly contoured. Championship conditions produce scoring that typically ends around level par or better for the winner, but only when the weather cooperates. When it doesn't, Birkdale becomes one of the most demanding tests in world golf.

The 2017 Open delivered one of the most dramatic finishes in recent memory. Jordan Spieth, leading wire-to-wire, made a triple bogey on 13 after pulling his tee shot into an area containing TV equipment. His subsequent decision to take relief under the drop zone rule — combined with a remarkable pitch to within feet of the hole — became one of the defining images of modern Major championship golf.

For golf tourists, The Open at Royal Birkdale represents a unique opportunity: the world's most prestigious golf event, at one of England's greatest links courses, in a compact and accessible setting. Spectator access throughout the course is excellent, the atmosphere is distinctly British, and the food and entertainment village has improved considerably in recent editions.