Hillside

Overview: Hillside is a coastal links near Southport, set between Royal Birkdale and Southport and Ainsdale. The par 72 course measures about 7,078 yards and combines a relatively open outward half with a more heavily duned inward half. Firm fairways, pine, heather, dunes and carefully shaped greens give the course a changing rhythm as it turns through the Southport links land.

History: Hillside was founded in 1911, originally as a nine-hole course. Fred Hawtree carried out the major redesign that shaped the modern inward nine in the 1960s, and Martin Ebert led further improvements during the 2019 and 2020 winter programme. These stages explain why the current course should not be confused with the unrelated Swedish Hillside record that had previously been attached to this profile.

Did You Know? The short par-three tenth climbs into the dunes before the par-five eleventh turns back through the taller sand hills. That transition from flatter ground to the elevated inward half is one of the clearest signatures of Hillside's routing.