Course Guide
Royal Birkdale (The Open 2026) in GSPro
The Open Championship returns to Royal Birkdale on July 16-19, 2026, and you can play the same links in GSPro for free. Here's where to find the community-built version, the settings that make it feel like an Open Sunday, and the holes worth knowing before you watch.
Finding Royal Birkdale in GSPro
Unlike many famous venues, Royal Birkdale appears in GSPro under its own name: Royal Birkdale Golf Club, built by designer GrapelFarmer.
The course is free to download with no Patreon subscription needed. Search for “Royal Birkdale” in the GSPro course browser, or start from its page on The Course View to see the scorecard and yardages first.
Recommended Settings
Birkdale is a links course, and wind is its defense. Its fairways run through flat valleys between big dunes (players call it the fairest links on the Open rota because you get level lies), so if you turn the wind down, it plays gentler than an Open venue should. Our settings for an Open-week feel:
Wind
Windy
Fairways
Firm
Greens
Firm
Stimp
10.5
Links greens run slower than American tour greens on purpose. Anything much faster than 10.5 would be unplayable in a seaside wind, so resist the urge to crank the stimp. Firm fairways give you the running ball that makes links golf a different game: land it short and let it release. If you're still choosing hardware for your simulator, our launch monitor buyer's guide compares every unit that works with GSPro.
Holes to Watch
The holes that will decide the 2026 Open, and the ones worth knowing before your own round:
- Hole 1. One of the hardest openers in championship golf: a long par 4 bending left with out-of-bounds right. Par here feels like a birdie.
- Hole 6. A brutal long par 4 that plays into the prevailing wind. In Open weeks it gives up almost nothing; bogey doesn't lose you ground.
- Hole 12. A gorgeous par 3 set in the dunes, and the postcard hole of the course. Club selection swings two or three clubs with the wind.
- Hole 15. The first of the closing par 5s and a genuine birdie chance if you avoid the pot bunkers guarding the lay-up.
- Hole 18. The closing par 4 where Jordan Spieth sealed the 2017 Open. A demanding tee shot, then a grandstand approach.
About The Open at Royal Birkdale
Royal Birkdale sits on the Southport coast in northwest England and has hosted The Open ten times since 1954; 2026 makes eleven. Its champions list reads like a history of the game: Peter Thomson, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Padraig Harrington, and most recently Jordan Spieth in 2017, whose recovery from the dunes on the 13th on Sunday became instant Open folklore.
Follow the full 2026 tournament schedule to see which other tour events have matching courses in GSPro.
More Open Rota Courses in GSPro
Birkdale isn't the only Open venue you can play. The directory also has community-built versions of:
- DPC Portrush, inspired by Royal Portrush, the 2025 Open venue
- Royal Liverpool (tournament layout), the Hoylake links that hosted the 2023 Open
- Royal St Georges, the Open's home in Kent
- Carnoustie, the hardest test on the rota
Browse all major tournament courses or explore the best links courses in GSPro.
Playing along at home
If Open week has you thinking about a home setup, start with the launch monitor buyer’s guide, which compares every unit that works with GSPro. A few other things earn their keep in a sim room:
- Hitting mats (Amazon): links golf means a lot of punched irons; your wrists will thank you.
- Practice nets (Amazon): the lightest way to swing full-out indoors without an enclosure.
- Impact screens (Amazon): Birkdale’s dunes look a lot better projected wall-size.
The Course View earns a small commission on some Amazon links, at no extra cost to you.
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