Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club

Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club is one of England’s most historic championship links courses, located on the Fylde coast in Lancashire. Founded in 1886, the club received its Royal status in 1926, the same year Bobby Jones won the first Open Championship staged at Lytham. Although the course sits slightly inland and is bordered by railway lines and housing, its firm links turf, exposed setting and coastal wind give it the character and challenge expected from one of Britain’s leading golf venues.

The course has hosted The Open Championship eleven times, with past winners including Bobby Jones, Gary Player, Tony Jacklin, Seve Ballesteros, Tom Lehman, David Duval and Ernie Els. The Open will return to Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2028 for the twelfth time. The club has also staged two Ryder Cups, the Women’s Open, the Senior Open, the Walker Cup and the Curtis Cup, giving golfers the chance to follow in the footsteps of some of the game’s greatest players.

Royal Lytham is famous for its strategic design and its 174 pot bunkers, which are positioned across fairways and around greens to punish poor angles rather than simply inaccurate shots. The championship course measures 7,094 yards from the blue tees and begins with the unusual challenge of a long par three. From there, golfers face tight landing areas, firm running surfaces and a demanding collection of finishing holes where careful course management is essential.

This is a course golfers should want to play for more than its reputation alone. Every hole asks a clear question, whether that involves choosing the correct side of a fairway, controlling a shot beneath the wind or deciding when to avoid a bunker rather than attack a flag. It is a severe test, but a fair one, rewarding players who think their way around and accept that positioning is often more valuable than distance.

A round at Royal Lytham & St Annes combines major championship history with one of the most distinctive links challenges in Britain. The chance to play the same holes that shaped famous Open victories makes it a genuine bucket-list course, while the quality of the design ensures the experience remains memorable even without the history surrounding it.