Links that have hosted the Open

The Open has been played on fourteen courses since 1860, and the roster splits neatly into three groups: the ten links currently in the R&A's rotation, the venues waiting on an announcement that may never come, and the ones the championship outgrew when cars and grandstands arrived. What follows tracks each one by the hard numbers, the number of Opens, who laid out the holes, what changed to keep them viable, and where the pin actually falls, since a clubhouse and its links are not the same address. Ownership and infrastructure decide the future rota more than architecture does, and that is noted where it applies.

Places in this collection

  • Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club — Two Opens, in 1909 and 1920, and no realistic prospect of a third: the access roads and space around the Deal links rule out a modern champ…
  • Musselburgh Links — Golf is thought to have been played on this ground since 1672, which makes it the oldest of the Open venues by some margin, and six champio…
  • Prestwick Golf Club — The first twelve Opens, from 1860 to 1870, were played here and nowhere else, and twenty-four in total before the championship left for goo…
  • Turnberry — The Ailsa course dates from 1901, laid out by James Miller and rebuilt by Mackenzie & Ebert to 7,357 yards at par 70, with Tom Watson and N…
  • Royal Portrush Golf Club — The only Open venue outside Great Britain, first used in 1951 and then left off the rota for sixty-eight years before Shane Lowry won here…
  • Muirfield — Sixteen Opens, more than any other venue, the last in 2013 when Phil Mickelson won on a course of eighteen holes at par 70. The layout bega…
  • Carnoustie Golf Links — Established around 1850 with hands from Allan Robertson, Old Tom Morris and James Braid, the Championship course stretches to 7,402 yards,…
  • Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club — Eleven Opens have been played here, the last in 2012, and the 156th Championship is scheduled for 2028 after a sixteen-year absence. The cl…
  • Royal St George's Golf Club — Laid out in 1887 by Dr Laidlaw Purves, the course runs 7,204 yards at par 70 and has hosted fifteen Opens, the last in 2021 when Collin Mor…
  • Royal Liverpool Golf Club — Thirteen Opens, the most recent won by Brian Harman in 2023, make Hoylake one of the longest-serving venues on the rota. The club went thir…
  • Royal Troon Golf Club — The links date from 1878 and carry work by George Strath, Willie Fernie and James Braid across 7,208 yards at par 71. Ten Opens have been s…
  • Royal Birkdale Golf Club — Ten Opens have been played over these links, the most recent in 2017, and the championship returns in 2026 following a round of course chan…

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