Ancient course making vast changes ahead of Open Championship

For those resistant to change, look out. A lot of it is coming to Royal Birkdale. 

Following in the footsteps of Royal Liverpool, Birkdale — the host of the 2026 Open — has started work already on several significant changes it will institute ahead of its 11th Open Championship. And similar to Royal Liverpool, the headline alteration is a brand-new golf hole added to the finishing stretch. 

Golf fans will recall one of the major storylines of July’s Open being the all-new 15th hole at Royal Liverpool (17th for the championship), a par-3 that was flipped around and shortened, with an elevated green and brutal, deep bunkers. It was part of several changes at Royal Liverpool made with the Open in mind, and frankly it became a bit controversial. Some caddies hated it. Some players hated it. It was certainly a point of disagreement among members. Soon rumors swirled that the club might undo its changes to the par 3 after the completion of the Open — rumors that soon became reality.

As for Birkdale, the announcement came during the middle of the Solheim Cup, so hat-tip to Geoff Shackleford who brought it to our attention via his newsletter. Big changes are coming to holes 14 and 15. The current 14th, a 200-yard one-shotter, is being repurposed into a short-game facility that will also serve as a 19th hole for settling bets. The current 15th, a par 5 that plays to a length of 540 yards, will become the future 14th hole. Its length is sure to increase, with a new green being carved out of the fescue as we speak. 

As for the future 15th, it will be crafted out of a major swath of space between the current 15th green and the 16th tee. “This is designed to offer more variation to our current par 3s and have our iconic clubhouse as the backdrop,” the club’s press release stated.  

The current crop of threes at Birkdale ranged from 173 to 200 yards during the 2017 Open, won by Jordan Spieth. Depending on the wind direction, you could play three of them with the same club. But from the looks of the initial virtual rendering, and the limited amount of space between holes, the new 15th is likely to play shorter than all the others. Variety — we like that.

Those are hardly the only changes being implemented at Birkdale, though. The par-3 7th will also have a new look, elevating the green, eliminating bunkers and creating more runoff area for shots that miss the putting surface. 

The par-5 5th will also play much more difficult, in theory. It doglegs to the right but offers a speed slot for players with a power fade. The proposed changes don’t nullify that advantage, but bunkers will be added to the fairway, and mounding to the right side will be softened to widen the fairway, bringing it closer to a marshy hazard. Put simply, more volatility should take place on the 5th in 2026 than we saw in 2017.

As evidenced above, significant construction is already underway on the property. The majority of the work will take place during this fall and into the spring before ceasing during the summer months in 2024. Construction will pick back up next fall and is expected to be complete by spring of 2025, just in time to become a major talking point ahead of the Open in 2026. Tom Mackenzie is leading the project on behalf of Mackenzie & Ebert Golf Course Architects, the same design firm responsible for the changes at Royal Liverpool. For a better understanding of the placement of the current/future holes at Birkdale, check out the image below.