The Open Championship is an annual golf competition established in 1860, and is organised by The R&A. It is played on the weekend of the third Friday in July, and is the last of the four major championships to be played each year. The championship is held on a different course each year. Fourteen courses have hosted the event, all links courses in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. Ten are currently used in the rota.
Prestwick Golf Club hosted the first championship in 1860 and remained the only venue until 1873, when the Old Course at St Andrews hosted the event. Prestwick hosted a further 12 championships, the last in 1925. Musselburgh Links became the third course to host the championship in 1874. The three courses rotated the hosting until 1892 when Muirfield hosted the event. The Honourable Company of Edinburgh golfers built their own course at Muirfield and Musselburgh was removed from the rota as a result. Royal St George's Golf Club became the first course outside Scotland to host the championship in 1894.
Royal Liverpool Golf Club hosted the competition for the first time in 1897. Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club became the next course to host the event in 1909. The course hosted a further championship in 1920, but further attempts to host the championship in 1938 and 1949 were thwarted by bad weather and the course was dropped from the rota. Royal Troon, Royal Lytham & St Annes and Carnoustie held the Open Championship for the first time in 1923, 1926 and 1931 respectively. The following year Prince's Golf Club hosted the event for the only time. The course was requisitioned by the military during the Second World War and was extensively damaged. Royal Birkdale was chosen as the host course in 1940, however, due to the Second World War the event did not go ahead. It was not until 1954 that Royal Birkdale hosted the Open.
The Old Course at St Andrews has hosted the most championships, 30, most recently in 2022. The championship has been held outside Scotland and England three times, in 1951, 2019 and 2025; Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland was the venue for all three tournaments. Turnberry became the most recent course to host the championship for the first time, when it held the 1977 Open Championship. The R&A said in 2021 that they would not hold the event at Turnberry in the foreseeable future.
In 2023, the R&A announced that it was looking at the possibility of taking the championship to a venue outside the UK for the first time, with Portmarnock Golf Club in County Dublin its preferred choice. The Irish government indicated its support of the idea the following year with a commitment of €40m of funding towards the venture. In the summer of 2026, the R&A completed its feasibility study into the use of Portmarnock as an Open venue, and announced its satisfaction with the result, with a view to announcing a potential date for the championship to be held there by the end of 2026.
Venues +KeyCourses that are no longer on the Open rotaCourses in rota with next hosting not yet assigned
+The Open Championship venuesVenueLocationFirstLastNextTimesLowest 72-hole scorePlayer (year)RefPrestwick Golf Club Prestwick, Scotland1860192524291 (1908)Old Course at St AndrewsSt Andrews, Scotland18732022202730268 (−20) (2022)Musselburgh Links Musselburgh, Scotland187418896155 (1889)MuirfieldGullane, Scotland1892201316271 (−13) (1980)Royal St George's Golf ClubSandwich, England1894202115265 (−15) (2021)Royal Liverpool Golf ClubHoylake, England1897202313270 (−18) (2006)Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club Deal, England190919202291 (1909)Royal Troon Golf ClubTroon, Scotland1923202410264 (−20) (2016)Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf ClubLytham St Annes, England19262012202811271 (−13) (1996)Carnoustie Golf LinksCarnoustie, Scotland193120188276 (−8) (2018)Prince's Golf Club Sandwich, England193219321283 (−13) (1932)Royal Portrush Golf ClubPortrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland195120253267 (−17) (2025)Royal Birkdale Golf ClubSouthport, England1954202611268 (−12) (2017)Trump TurnberrySouth Ayrshire, Scotland197720094268 (−12) (1977) Nick Price (1994)
Notes A. From 1860 to 1891 The Open Championship was contested over 36 holes.
Footnotes
References
External links Official website of The Open Championship