Championship VenueLinks Classic

Hillside Golf Club

Southport, Merseyside · Designed by Founded 1911; rebuilt by Fred Hawtree (1960s) · Est. 1911

Hillside shares a boundary — and much of its character — with Royal Birkdale next door, and many good judges rate its back nine among the very finest in Britain. Greg Norman famously said as much. Founded in 1911, the club built its 18-hole championship course in 1925 and, after some land was lost to housing, Fred Hawtree rebuilt it in the 1960s, sending the inward half deep into a range of magnificent, towering sandhills.

That back nine is the star: a run of holes threading high dunes with elevated tees and greens, dramatic and exhilarating, on a links of 7,029 yards, par 72. The front nine is flatter and gentler by comparison, which only sharpens the drama of the turn for home.

Hillside has hosted a long list of professional and elite amateur events — the British Masters in 2019, the English Open in 2022, and the Amateur Championship three times (1979, 2011 and 2023) — yet remains a warm, welcoming club that takes visitor bookings online. On “England’s Golf Coast,” it is the essential companion to Birkdale.

Holes worth knowing

1The back nine — Fred Hawtree routed the inward half through a range of huge sandhills, elevated tees and greens and all; the stretch Greg Norman called among the finest in Britain.
211th (par-5) — the exhilarating start to the run home, played into the biggest dunes on the property.

Highlights

A back nine rated among the best in Britain
Shares a boundary with Royal Birkdale
British Masters 2019, English Open 2022, Amateur 2023
Takes visitor bookings online

Good to know

→Hillside and Royal Birkdale share a fence; play both on a Southport trip for two of England's greatest links back to back — book the pair well ahead.
→The front nine is gentle and the back nine spectacular, so save something for the turn: from the 11th the course plunges into the biggest dunes on the coast.
→It takes visitor bookings online through the BRS system — a rare bit of convenience among the great links — and offers premium golf at a notably fair fee.
→Southport, with its Victorian Lord Street, pier and miles of sand, is the natural base for “England's Golf Coast,” and the Ainsdale red-squirrel reserve is alongside.
→Liverpool — the waterfront, the Beatles trail and two cathedrals — is 40 minutes down the coast for a day off the fairways.