Southport begins countdown to Open Golf Championship in July – with 200,000 spectators expected

by
13th February 2017

It is the 10th time Royal Birkdale will host The Open and preparations are well underway to welcome sports fans from across the world to Sefton and the wider Liverpool city region.

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Sefton is hoping to gain a huge economic boost when the Open Golf Championship returns to Royal Birkdale in July.

The borough has started its countdown to the event, one of the sport’s four annual ‘majors’, with more than 200,000 spectators expected to attend to see the world’s top golfers perform

On February 16 it will be 150 days until the first practice rounds tee off on the famous links course.

It is the 10th time Royal Birkdale will host The Open and preparations are well underway to welcome sports fans from across the world to Sefton and the wider Liverpool city region.

Royal Birkdale last hosted The Open in 2008 and the course forms part of England’s Golf Coast which also includes many other Sefton golfing venues.

Cllr Ian Maher, Labour leader of Sefton Council, said: “A lot of work has already taken place as we prepare to welcome the world’s best golfers, thousands of visitors and the many millions more watching on TV to our fabulous borough.

“We want to ensure we use The Open to really boost our local economy, grow employment opportunities and ensure our businesses reap the benefits of hosting one of the largest sporting events in the world.

“This really is an opportunity to put Sefton and the City Region in the global shop window with millions of pounds set to swell the local and regional economy.

“We want the world to see we are very much open for business and for everyone to marvel at all our assets and fantastic coastline which forms part of Royal Birkdale’s famous links course.

“Events like The Open attract enormous volumes of positive profile and we are determined we really tap into this.”

The famous Royal Birkdale course was first established in 1889, but was extensively redesigned in 1922 by Fred Hawtree and JH Taylor to create the current layout, which winds its way through the sand dunes towering over each of the fairways.

Since first hosting The Open in 1954, the course has been (alongside Royal Lytham) the most regular venue for the Championship other than St Andrews.

At Birkdale’s first Open, Peter Thomson won the first of three in succession; he returned to the same course in 1965 to add his fifth and final title.

Practice days are from July 16-19 with the Championship running from July 20-23.