British Open 2026: 5 ways Royal Birkdale has changed since its last Open

July 10, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

When Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England, hosts The Open this month, it will be the 11th time the championship has been played on the links since 1954, second only to St. Andrews during that time. Each time The Open comes to Birkdale, however, the course is usually just a bit different.

Birkdale’s history is one of continual evolution. The current version of the course opened in 1934 after architect Frederick Hawtree and design partner J.H. Taylor, the five-time Open champion, completed a major remodel of the club’s original 6,000-yard layout dating to 1897. Their modern course was big (more than 6,700 yards) and demanding, intended to host major tournaments.

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Prior to the 1965 Open, Hawtree and Taylor’s par-3 17th hole was removed from the rotation due to the bottleneck it created during championships. To replace it, Fred Hawtree, Frederick’s son, built a new par 3, the 12th, in large dunes on the western edge of the property. Several years later Hawtree also rebuilt all the bunkers, changing their shapes from the rugged, natural forms of his father into revetted pot bunkers that were more difficult to play from but easier to maintain in the stiff winds blowing off the Irish Sea.

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PreviousNextPausePlayfalse Private Royal Birkdale Golf Club Southport, Merseyside, England

Site of Jordan Spieth's remarkable Open victory in 2017 where he went on a birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie tear on holes 14-17 in the final round, Royal Birkdale has also been the venue for past Women's British Opens, Ryder Cups, Walker and Curtis Cups. Three generations of the Hawtree design firm, oldest in the world, are responsible for Royal Birkdale. Patriarch Frederic G. did the present design, with its surprisingly flat fairways and docile greens between towering dunes, in 1931. Thirty years later, son Fred W. remodeled it, adding the now-classic par-3 12th. Forty years after that, grandson Martin revised the course for its 10th Open Championship, the tournament Spieth won, but now the curatorship of the course has been turned over to Tom Mackenzie of the firm Mackenzie & Ebert, who remodeled it for the 2026 Open. That included building new tee clusters, altering bunkers, completely remodeling the short par-5 fifth and adding a new, long par 3, the 15th, to replace the old par-3 14th that was taken out of play and converted to a short game practice area. Explore our full review

Most holes were lengthened and adjusted prior to the next several Opens, and in the 1990s, Martin Hawtree, Fred’s son and the third Hawtree to work on the course, reconstructed all the greens, raising them to create runoffs into low pockets and giving them much needed contour. Before the 2008 Open, Hawtree created a new green at what’s now the par-5 17th, added new bunkers, extended tees, tightened approach shots and reconfigured dunes.

To prepare for the 2026 Open, Royal Birkdale and the R&A initiated the club’s most significant alteration to date with Tom Mackenzie, partner in the British firm of Mackenzie and Ebert, overseeing the modifications. Mackenzie reworked portions of every hole beginning in 2024. He created new tee complexes and walking paths to add variation to the hole lengths, rebuilt and relocated bunkers for strategic and drainage purposes (in many cases recapturing their rough-edged, 1934 appearance) and reshaped green surrounds. Most importantly, several new holes were created.

Scroll down to read about the five most impactful changes to Birkdale since the 2017 Open.

Watch our "Every Hole At: Royal Birkdale" video below:

A NEW “DRIVABLE” FIFTH

David Cannon/R&A

Birkdale’s previous fifth hole was a rather awkward 350-yard par 4 that sliced right around the shoulder of a grassy hill. The hill blocked the view of the green, so players simply hit irons to the corner of the dogleg, then wedged on and attempted to make a putt.

The hill was cut down, and the area on the right was converted to a sand and wetland habitat. The green also was shifted to the left and elevated to create a smaller target, with seven pot bunkers added to the field in front of it. From newly elevated tees, the green is now entirely visible, and at 321 yards, Open competitors will be tempted to try and drive it, though misses long and to the left will leave challenging up-and-downs. The most routine hole at Birkdale might now be one of the most exciting.

A PRECISION PAR 3

David Cannon/R&A

In the 2017 Open, Birkdale’s par 3s ranged between 177 and 200 yards and didn’t offer much variation between clubs in normal conditions. The par-3 seventh (above photo, right), previously a 177-yard hole, offered the opportunity to create a shorter one-shot hole through a redesign of the tees, reducing the length to 151 yards.

The old green suffered from poor drainage as it sat in one of the course’s low areas atop the water table. It’s been reconstructed three feet higher and now stands like a pedestal above several of the deepest bunkers on the course, giving Royal Birkdale what Mackenzie calls a “precision par 3.” Hitting the putting surface is now a must, though that prospect is complicated by the winds blowing off the sea on the right.

THE 'SPIETH SPOT' IS NO LONGER AN OPTION

The 2017 Open and Spieth's victory will always be linked to his improbable bogey save at the 13th hole. Well, the spot Spieth ended up playing from, after searching across the driving range, through equipment vans, and up and down Birkdale's dunes for a spot to drop.

That spot, as best we can tell, is where a corporate hospitality village sits for 2026. Here's an image from U.K. photographer James Hogg—you can see Mastercard tent in the background of the image—that now sits at the spot around where Spieth played his approach from.

James Hogg

The 'Spieth shot' is now reserved for only members and their guests when the hospitality village goes away.

A CURIOUS HOLE “RETIRED”

David Cannon/R&A

No offense to the old par-3 14th. It provided several memorable Open moments through the years, including Jordan Spieth’s final-round tee shot in 2017 that stopped three feet from the hole and kick started a birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie run (coming off a wild bogey at 13) that clinched his only claret jug. It was also where, in 1983, Hale Irwin failed to make contact with a six-inch tap-in putt during the third round. He finished one shot behind winner Tom Watson. But it was not considered architecturally notable.

During the 2024 remodel, that 14th was removed from the layout and integrated into a new short-game practice area. Deleting it gave the club the opportunity to create a wider range of distances and shot demands into their set of par 3s. Players now walk past the old hole on their way to a new back tee at the rebranded par-5 14th (above, formerly the par-5 15th) set adjacent to the old 14th green.

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The new Open tee at the new 14th hole (again, formerly the 15th) extends the length from 542 yards to 602 yards. During the previous three Opens, this par 5 (along with the par-5 17th) played to the easiest or second-easiest stroke average on the course (4.93), despite orientation into the prevailing winds. The added yardage will make the 14th command new respect.

The new 14th will be more challenging for other reasons. The entire fairway was shifted 30 yards to the right and now plays closer to the edge of the dunes. Four fairway pot bunkers have been repositioned to make players shape drives into the landing zone, and new bunker configurations also threaten second shots. Finally, Mackenzie built a new, perched green 70 yards beyond and to the right of the old green with raised plateau sections and a steep fall off on the right. Players attempting to reach it in two shots will have much more to contemplate.

THE FINAL PIECE

David Cannon/R&A

The shifting of the 14th hole to the right freed up space to add a new hole to the routing as a replacement for retired par-3 14th. Switching back in the opposite direction of the previous hole, the new par-3 15th, at more than 240 yards, gives Royal Birkdale the long par 3 it was lacking. Birkdale’s one-shot holes are much better spaced now—playing to yardages of 219, 151, 186 and 241.

The new green is deep and angled right to left, falling from front to back. In the prevailing tailwinds it will be difficult to hold aerial shots, but the front is open and balls can access it along the ground if desired. Anything hit through the green, though, or missing right will leave very touchy up-and-downs from a deep basin well below the putting surface. Mackenzie built a new dune ridge on the left, so the new 15th can’t be seen when playing the 14th. That ensures the new hole will be revealed only when players arrive on the tee.

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