Royal Lytham St Annes at Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club

Royal Lytham and St Annes occupies a distinctive position among England's championship links, located not along the immediate coastline but set back from the Irish Sea on former salt marsh behind the town of Lytham St Annes in Lancashire. George Lowe laid out the original course in the 1890s, though subsequent architects including Harry Colt have refined the routing over the decades. The course begins unusually with a par three and features a links landscape characterized by deep bunkers, railway sleepers in some hazards, and red brick clubhouse architecture that reflects its Victorian origins.

The layout presents a demanding test of accuracy rather than pure length, with narrow fairways bordered by thick rough and more than 200 bunkers positioned to challenge both tee shots and approaches. The course lacks the dramatic dune formations of some British links but compensates with strategic complexity and the constant presence of wind. Several holes run parallel to the railway line on the eastern boundary. The closing stretch includes the par-three seventeenth, where Bobby Jones famously played from a bunker during his 1926 Open Championship victory, one of eleven Open Championships hosted here through 2012.

Royal Lytham has served as the venue for numerous significant championships beyond the Open, including the Ryder Cup in 1961 and multiple amateur championships. The club maintains traditional membership practices and a formal atmosphere consistent with its royal designation, granted in 1926. The red brick clubhouse contains extensive records of championship history and reflects the club's continuity with its late nineteenth-century founding.