Few places put this much golf history within such easy reach. Along England’s Northwest coast, Open Championship venues and classic links come together with Liverpool as your home for the week. Across five rounds, you’ll discover just how different links golf can feel from one course to the next, from Hillside’s dramatic dunes and Formby’s distinctive landscape to an exceptional run through three celebrated Royal clubs: Royal Lytham & St Annes, Royal Birkdale and Royal Liverpool.
And the timing gives this Experience another layer. Royal Birkdale will still be fresh from hosting The Open in 2026, while Hillside played its own role in championship week as a practice venue. You are not simply visiting one of golf’s great coastlines. You are stepping into places that continue to shape the story of the game.
Overseeing it all is Garmany’s Lee Derrick. With a larger-than-life personality and a career built around international hospitality and relationships, Lee brings people together, keeps the energy high and makes sure there’s plenty of fun between the golf, the stories and the nights in Liverpool. And because this is a Garmany Hosted Experience, that connection is intentional. We aim for a group of just 16 golfers, keeping the Experience small enough for Guests to genuinely get to know Lee and one another as the week unfolds.
Five great courses and three Royal clubs may bring you here. The small group, the shared stories and the people you experience them with are what make it a Garmany Hosted Experience.
Arrive in Liverpool and settle into Hope Street Hotel, your home for the week and a well-positioned base for everything ahead. Five rounds are waiting along England's northwest coast, including three celebrated Royal clubs, but there is no need to rush into the golf just yet. Settle in, explore the surrounding neighborhood or make your way toward Liverpool's waterfront. The clubs can wait until tomorrow. For now, you're here.
Tonight, gather with Lee and your fellow Guests for the Welcome Dinner. This is where the Hosted Experience begins to take shape. With the group intentionally kept small, the people around the table tonight will be the same people sharing fairways, comparing courses and trading stories throughout the week. Lee has built a career around bringing people together, and tonight he sets the tone. Five rounds and three Royal clubs are ahead. The camaraderie starts here.
The first round wastes little time connecting you to the championship character of this coastline. Hillside served as a practice venue during The Open at neighboring Royal Birkdale, adding another layer to its place on England's Golf Coast. On the course, the opening holes give way to a celebrated inward nine that unfolds through dramatic dunes. It is a fitting introduction to a week that will show just how different links golf can feel along one remarkable stretch of coast.
One scorecard in, the conversations have already started. Head back into Liverpool with first impressions of Hillside to debate and the rest of the day yours. Explore the city, find a table for dinner or ask the Garmany Experience Team for a recommendation. With a small group and Lee along for the week, there is a good chance the day's golf follows you well beyond the 18th green.
Today, the three-Royal run begins. Royal Lytham & St Annes has long been one of The Open's great stages, but this morning it becomes yours. The challenge is noticeably different from Hillside, rewarding strategy, positioning and a healthy respect for the bunkers waiting to punish the wrong decision. This is links golf that asks you to think your way around. Choose your moments, commit to the shot and accept that occasionally the first Royal of the week will have the final word.
Back in Liverpool, the comparisons can begin in earnest. Hillside or Lytham? Best hole so far? Shot you'd like another crack at? With the group intentionally kept intimate, those conversations become part of the rhythm of the Experience. Lee may not be keeping a scorecard, but expect him to have plenty to add. Two rounds in, there is already plenty to talk about.
Two very different rounds are behind you. Formby changes the picture again. Here, traditional linksland meets mature pine woodland, substantial dunes and a landscape with an identity distinctly its own. Firm ground, coastal wind and strategic bunkering keep the links character intact, but the setting gives Formby a feel unlike anything else on the week. Three rounds. Three different personalities. And with Royal Birkdale and Royal Liverpool still ahead, declaring a favorite now might be premature.
While golfers take on Formby, non-golfing Guests may spend the day exploring Liverpool's historic waterfront, Albert Dock, shopping districts and museums before returning to Hope Street Hotel. However you choose to spend the day, there is plenty of Liverpool beyond the golf course to discover. This week may be built around exceptional links, but the city is very much part of the Experience too.
Three rounds down. Today, the scorecards can wait. Liverpool gets the spotlight, giving the group a change of pace before the final two Royal clubs. An optional guided Beatles Tour offers the chance to explore landmarks including The Cavern Club, Penny Lane, Strawberry Field and childhood homes connected to the band's story. Or follow your own interests through the city's museums, shopping, waterfront and neighborhoods. However you spend it, today belongs to Liverpool.
Tonight is yours. Find a great restaurant, settle into a welcoming pub or keep exploring the city with fellow Guests. The Garmany Experience Team can help with recommendations, while Lee will no doubt help keep the conversation moving. Tomorrow, the clubs come back out. And what is waiting at Royal Birkdale gives everyone a very good reason to be ready.
Royal Birkdale will still be fresh from hosting The Open in 2026, giving this round a sense of immediacy that championship history alone cannot create. Just months earlier, Ryan Fox added his name to Birkdale's championship story with a dramatic finish to claim the Claret Jug. Now the championship stage becomes personal. It is your turn to encounter the dunes, stand over the shots and discover Birkdale for yourself.
Four rounds in, picking a favorite is becoming a serious problem. Hillside introduced the coast. Lytham delivered the first Royal. Formby changed the landscape. Birkdale brought you onto one of golf's defining championship stages. Back in Liverpool, expect Lee and the group to have plenty to say about the rankings. There is one course left to change them.
The week began with the promise of three Royal clubs. Today, you complete the set. Royal Liverpool, known to generations of golfers as Hoylake, provides a fitting finale. Its appearance can be understated, but the challenge is anything but. Strategic bunkering, firm ground and coastal conditions place a premium on judgment, while its long championship history gives the final round a sense of occasion all its own. Royal Lytham & St Annes. Royal Birkdale. Royal Liverpool. Three names deeply woven into the story of championship golf, played in a single week along England's northwest coast. One last scorecard. One last chance to settle the matches and course rankings. One last walk across one of England's great links.
Tonight, gather with Lee and your fellow Guests for the Farewell Dinner. By now, the value of a small Hosted Experience is no longer something that needs explaining. These are the people you've played alongside, explored Liverpool with, debated courses with and gotten to know over the course of the week. Lee has been part of it all, bringing the personality and energy that turn the moments between the headline rounds into stories of their own. Favorite Royal? Best hole? Shot you'd like back? Everyone will have an answer. Raise a glass to five rounds, three Royal clubs, Liverpool and a group that now has a week's worth of stories to tell.
Enjoy one final breakfast with Lee and your fellow Guests before departing Liverpool. The scorecards will eventually find their way into golf bags and desk drawers, but the stories have a habit of sticking around: the bunker that won, the putt that mattered, the Royal that topped everyone's list and the conversations that stretched well beyond the 18th green. Five rounds brought you here. Three Royal clubs made the week difficult to replicate. But after sharing it all with a small group of fellow Guests, the golf is only part of what you'll take home.
Royal Birkdale is one of England’s defining championship links, with relatively level fairways running between imposing dunes that create natural corridors throughout the course. Fresh from hosting the 2026 Open Championship, Birkdale gives Guests the opportunity to play a course that remains at the center of championship golf rather than simply admire its history
Royal Lytham & St Annes is a thinking golfer’s links, where strategy and positioning matter from the opening tee. Set slightly inland, the course is defined by 174 strategically positioned pot bunkers and a championship history that has tested generations of the game’s greatest players.
Known simply as Hoylake to generations of golfers, Royal Liverpool dates to 1869 and is the second-oldest English seaside course. Its relatively understated landscape gives way to a demanding strategic test, where firm links conditions, bunkering and the coastal elements have helped produce one of The Open’s most historic stages.
Formby’s course is distinctive for combining traditional links terrain with mature pine woodland, substantial dunes and areas of heathland. Its architecture has evolved through the work of several notable designers, including Willie Park Jr., James Braid and Harry Colt.
Hillside sits between Royal Birkdale and Southport & Ainsdale on England’s northwest coast. The course is particularly noted for its inward nine, where holes wind through large dunes, and its grounds served as an official practice venue for the 2026 Open Championship.
Your Host
Lee Derrick may just be the most interesting man in the world.
With more than 30 years in luxury travel and hospitality, Lee has built a career spanning international markets, global relationships and some of the industry’s most respected hospitality brands. Today, he leads International Business Development for Garmany Golf, bringing a global perspective and a lifetime of experience to the people and places that make travel extraordinary.
But the résumé only tells part of the story. Lee is a certified yoga instructor, an endlessly curious traveler, a natural storyteller and one of those rare people who can strike up a conversation with just about anyone, anywhere. Engaging, charismatic and genuinely interested in the people around him, Lee has never met a stranger.
Spend a little time with him and you’ll understand. There is always another story, another perspective and probably another surprising thing about Lee you haven’t discovered yet.
At Garmany Golf, we believe your journey should be as extraordinary as the courses you play. With curated luxury, exclusive insider access, seamless planning, and the option of a personal host, we create unforgettable golf experiences tailored to you.
Driven by a relentless pursuit of excellence, Garmany Golf thoughtfully curates every detail to craft Experiences that transcend expectations—delivering personalized service and meticulous care at every step of our Guest’s journey.
Our enduring relationships with world-class Partners- including celebrated golf clubs, distinguished luxury hotels, and elite local transportation providers- enable us to deliver seamless service and exclusive access that define every Garmany Experience.
From the first conversation to the final farewell, the Garmany Experience Team orchestrates every detail with precision and care—remaining available throughout the Experience to ensure it unfolds seamlessly and feels effortless from beginning to end.
Answers to your most important questions, crafted for a seamless Experience.
Every Garmany Experience is thoughtfully curated to bring together world-class golf, exceptional hospitality, and unforgettable moments, all seamlessly orchestrated from start to finish.
While each Experience is uniquely designed around the destination, most include:
• Luxury accommodations at premier properties
• Tee times at Bucket List Golf Courses
• Private transportation with knowledgeable, professional drivers
• Personalized experience service from the Garmany Experience Team
• Handpicked activities that go beyond the fairways, immersing you in the culture, cuisine, and character of the destination
From the moment you arrive, every detail is thoughtfully managed by the Garmany Team. All that is left for you to do is play the game you love, embrace the destination, and enjoy an Experience designed to create memories that last a lifetime.
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