Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Royal Birkdale Golf Club is a golf course in the town of Southport, England, and is one of the clubs in the Open Championship rotation for both men and women. The club has hosted the men's championship nine times since 1954, most recently in July 2008, and has hosted the women's tournament five times, including 2010. Previous winners of the Open at Royal Birkdale are Pádraig Harrington, Mark O'Meara, Ian Baker-Finch, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer and Peter Thomson (on two separate occasions). The course is unique[citation needed] in that no two holes face in the same direction,[citation needed] giving obvious problems on the notoriously windy days prevalent to any links.
Royal Birkdale has also hosted the Ryder Cup, the Walker Cup, and the Curtis Cup.
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[edit] History
Founded as Birkdale Golf Club in 1889, the Birkdale Golf Club was awarded "Royal" status in 1951.[citation needed] The club moved to a new site in 1894,[citation needed] and built a new clubhouse in 1935.[citation needed] In 1946, the club hosted its first big championship in The Amateur Championship, won by Irishman James Bruen. During the immediate post-war era, the club also hosted the 1948 Curtis Cup, in which the United States team were victorious, and the 1951 Walker Cup, which also fell into the hands of the United States. With these successful stagings of important events, the club was felt to be ready for its first Open Championship in 1954, which went well, and Royal Birkdale has been on the Open rota ever since.
Three generations of the Hawtree family of golf course architects have worked on the course.[citation needed] Frederick G. Hawtree and champion golfer J.H. Taylor are the two people most responsible for the current routeing,[citation needed] following the valleys between the very large dunes which dominate the property. The arrangement makes for excellent spectator conditions during major events. Frederick W. Hawtree, the son of Frederick G, performed some modifications in the 1960s, and recently[when?] Martin Hawtree, son of Frederick W., has improved and modernised the layout further. All 18 of the club's greens were completely rebuilt, to improve turf and drainage, following the 1991 Open Championship. Only relatively minor tweaking, such as the addition of a few new bunkers and back tees, has been deemed necessary in advance of the last two Open Championships.[1]
The course was ranked as the 18th best in the world outside the United States, in the 2007 rankings by Golf Digest magazine.[2]
During the 1960s, the club played host to two Ryder Cups, one in 1965 and another in 1969. In the 1965 edition, the United States took the cup by the score of 19.5-12.5 . The Ryder Cup of 1969 however ended in a tie, when Jack Nicklaus generously conceded a short putt to Tony Jacklin.
[edit] The Open Championship
The Open Championship has been held at Royal Birkdale nine times, and here is the list of winners:
| Year | Winner | Par | Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | |||
| 1954 |  Peter Thomson 1st |
72 | 72 | 71 | 69 | 71 | 283 (-5) |
| 1961 |  Arnold Palmer 1st |
72 | 70 | 73 | 69 | 72 | 284 (-4) |
| 1965 | Peter Thomson 5th |
72 | 74 | 68 | 72 | 71 | 285 (-3) |
| 1971 | Lee Trevino 1st |
72 | 69 | 70 | 69 | 70 | 278 (-10) |
| 1976 | Johnny Miller 1st |
72 | 72 | 68 | 73 | 66 | 279 (-9) |
| 1983 | Tom Watson 5th |
71 | 67 | 68 | 70 | 70 | 275 (-9) |
| 1991 | Ian Baker-Finch 1st |
70 | 71 | 71 | 64 | 66 | 272 (-8) |
| 1998 | Mark O'Meara 1st |
70 | 72 | 68 | 72 | 68 | 280 (E)PO |
| 2008 |  Pádraig Harrington 2nd |
70 | 74 | 68 | 72 | 69 | 283 (+3) |
- Note: Superscript number besides the player's name is the number of the Open Championship in their respective careers.
[edit] The Women’s British Open
Winners of the Women's British Open at Royal Birkdale.
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 1982 |  Marta Figueras-Dotti (a)1st |
| 1986 |  Laura Davies1st |
| 2000 |  Sophie Gustafson1st |
| 2005 |  Jeong Jang1st |
| 2010 |  Yani Tseng1st |
- Notes
- Superscript number besides the player's name is the number of Women's Open Championships she has won up to that time.
- Years in bold signify editions that were recognised as majors by the LPGA Tour (2001-present). Since its inception in 1979, the Ladies European Tour (LET) has recognised the Women's British Open as a major.
[edit] References
- ^ British Open Preview 2008, by Ronald Whitten, Golf Digest magazine, July 2008.
- ^ Golf Digest magazine, May 2007.
[edit] External links
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