Stat Focus: Royal Birkdale Golf Club

Thousands of golfers use the Golfshake Score Tracker to record their scores and track their stats, taking full advantage of the statistical analysis to provide an insight behind their games. This depth of information has offered us a vast library of data, covering golf courses across the UK, Europe and beyond, capturing just how well the Golfshake Community have played certain layouts.

Continuing our Stat Focus Series, we pay attention to Royal Birkdale, which is regarded by many sage minds as being the finest Open Championship venue in England. Indeed, the revered Southport club has hosted the game's oldest major on ten occasions, beginning in 1954, and most recently in 2017, when Jordan Spieth claimed the Claret Jug in dramatic fashion. Champions at Birkdale include the likes of Peter Thomson, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson and Padraig Harrington, underlining its pedigree. It has also welcomed the Women's British Open on six occasions, and the Ryder Cup twice, most notably in 1969, when Jack Nicklaus conceded Tony Jacklin's putt, leading to a rare tie in the contest. This is a course for the best.

Royal Birkdale Feature Review

Playing Royal Birkdale, golfers are walking in the footsteps of history, recalling these moments of the past, which is a thrill for anyone with an imagination. Some of you will have taken the opportunity to etch your own story into the rich tapestry of this famous layout, but how did you score?

Luckily, we can compare the performances of the Golfshake Community. We have analysed rounds tracked by our mid-handicap golfers - between 12 and 19 - to provide a hole-by-hole guide to the course from the yellow tees (6,355 yards), ranking them in terms of difficulty in relation to par.

1st - 430 Yards, Par 4

Average Score to Par: +1.741

11th - 352 Yards, Par 4

Average Score to Par: +1.519

2nd - 397 Yards, Par 4

Average Score to Par: +1.296

10th - 355 Yards, Par 4

Average Score to Par: +1.259

17th - 509 Yards, Par 5

Average Score to Par: +1.259

9th - 400 Yards, Par 4

Average Score to Par: +1.074

8th - 395 Yards, Par 4

Average Score to Par: +1.037

3rd - 373 Yards, Par 4

Average Score to Par: +0.963

4th - 179 Yards, Par 3

Average Score to Par: +0.963

5th - 316 Yards, Par 4

Average Score to Par: +0.963

6th - 475 Yards, Par 5

Average Score to Par: +0.963

7th - 140 Yards, Par 3

Average Score to Par: +0.889

14th - 157 Yards, Par 3

Average Score to Par: +0.889

15th - 499 Yards, Par 5

Average Score to Par: +0.889

18th - 465 Yards, Par 5

Average Score to Par: +0.667