Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club

Royal Lytham is considered one of the finest links courses in England, if not the world, despite having little in common with its prestigious cousins on the Open Championship rota. Unlike the romantic vision of a links layout on the sea, Lytham golf course lies more than a mile from the sea and is surrounded by red brick housing, with a live train track down one side.

The course defenses are also atypical of a links course, with many bunkers and mostly man made sand dunes that are not natural to the landscape. 

Royal Lytham St Annes Golf Club is truly one of the crown jewels of English golf, along with Royal Birkdale and Royal Liverpool. Royal Lytham is the only Open rota course that starts with a par 3, albeit a long one at 206 yards.

Having hosted every prestigious golf championship in both amateur and professional circuits, including eleven Open Championships and two Ryder Cup matches, it is not a course to miss off your England golf tour.

Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club was founded in 1886 and played on leased land near where St Annes Old Links is today, until moving to the present site in 1897 when the Club’s first pro, George Lowe, laid out the original course. Harry Colt carried out major renovations in 1919 and 1935. It has only been slightly tweaked since then, primarily by adding length and adjusting bunkers, most recently by the world-renowned team of Mackenzie & Ebert.

As distinctive as the course is, Royal Lytham is known for its iconic and easily recognizable colorful Victorian clubhouse built in 1888 and the matching Dormy House added in 1911. You can stay in the recently refurbished Dormy House that features 16 comfortably appointed rooms and is literally located on the practice putting green.