Open week in Southport is unlike any other week of the year. The town fills up, the pubs fill up, and if you haven't thought about where you're going to drink before you arrive, you'll end up standing outside somewhere wondering why you didn't plan this. Here's the plan.
Birkdale village — your best bet
Birkdale village is the first place to sort. It's right next to the course — 10 minutes on foot from the main gates — and it has a cluster of good pubs and restaurants. On practice days especially, you'll find players and caddies wandering around the village, which adds to the atmosphere. These are the pubs worth knowing.
The Bold Hotel bar
The Bold is the anchor of Birkdale village hospitality during Open week. It's a boutique hotel with a proper bar — good beer, good cocktails, and the kind of staff who take service seriously. It'll be busy. Book a table if you want one. Walk-ins are possible but don't bank on it. The Bold genuinely works for both pre-round drinks and post-round debrief sessions.
The Birkdale Arms
A traditional pub a short walk from the village centre. Proper ale, no pretensions, and the type of pub that will be heaving from Thursday onwards. Get there early on championship days if you want a seat. It's the kind of place where you end up talking to someone who's been coming to Birkdale Opens since the 70s, which is exactly what you want from an Open pub.
Southport town centre — for the evenings
After a day at the course, the town centre is where Open week turns into something more. Lord Street and the surrounding streets have a buzz during Open week that you don't get the rest of the year. These are the places worth heading to for the evening.
- →Coopers Bar — live music most nights during Open week, proper atmosphere
- →The Hesketh Arms, Churchtown — quieter, more local, excellent if you want to escape the Open crowds
- →The Ship and Anchor — rock pub, dog-friendly, reliably lively
- →The Windmill — good beer garden if the weather behaves
- →The Auld Dubliner — traditional Irish pub, live music Fridays and Saturdays
What to expect on championship days
Thursday to Sunday, every pub in Southport will be busier than normal. Birkdale village in particular will be rammed from mid-afternoon as the day's play wraps up and 20,000 people decide they want a drink at once. The options: get to a pub early and claim your territory, or head into town centre where the crowds are slightly more spread out.
🍺Book any pub with a restaurant for evening meals in advance. Championship week dinner bookings — especially Thursday and Friday — go fast. Anywhere on Lord Street or in Birkdale village will be full from 6pm. Don't wing it.
The honest logistics
There's booze inside the course too — the Open hospitality village and the various tented venues sell decent food and drink. If you're planning a day inside and an evening outside, you might not need a pre-round pub stop at all. But the post-round debrief in a proper pub, watching the leaderboard, talking through the day's play with strangers who know their golf — that's the part of The Open experience that the TV coverage doesn't show you. Make time for it.
Not sorted your accommodation yet? Here's where to stay, ranked by distance to Royal Birkdale.
Open 2026 accommodation guide →Terry
Chief Editor, SouthportGuide.co.uk — Lives in Churchtown with his wife,
four kids, and Frank the bulldog.
