The Open has been hosted by 14 different courses over the 150 instalments of the championship. Prestwick was the first venue and it welcomed the grand old tournament on 24 occasions, most recently in 1925. The Old Course at St Andrews has been venue for The Open more times than any other course – 29 occasions.
The UK and Ireland are home to an incredible selection of links courses, and many would be worthy hosts for the game’s greatest championship. But logistics often prevent courses being considered as potential venues – They may be too remote or without the necessary infrastructure to support an event as big as The Open Championship.
The Open has also always been hosted at, what could be considered, traditional links courses – Layouts that have been played upon for decades, even hundreds of years. The R&A would never say never, but up until this point, there’s nothing to suggest they have considered sending the championship to one of our islands’ excellent “modern links.”
A move in that direction may, or more likely, may not ever happen. But if it did, there would be some superb tracks to choose from. Here are five modern links that could be great Open courses.
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Kingsbarns is no stranger to professional competitions, having been a co-host to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship since 2001 and the venue for the Women’s British Open of 2017.
A creation of Mark Parsinen and Kyle Phillips, Kingsbarns was opened in 2000 and swiftly earned a reputation as a modern classic. It’s a wonderful track, blending the techniques of contemporary course design with the rugged simplicity of a traditional Scottish links.
Arguably, it might be a little too forgiving for Open Championship golf but, with some strategic growing of the rough and some challenging pin selections, it could make for a spectacular venue. There are some hugely memorable holes, including the par-5 12th, sweeping around the shoreline, and the par-3 15th where the tee shot must carry sea and rocks to reach the putting surface.
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Another venue to have hosted top-level professional golf already – Castle Stuart welcomed the Scottish Open four times between 2011 and 2016.
Like Kingsbarns, it was Mark Parsinen, this time together with Gil Hanse, who was responsible for the design at Castle Stuart. It’s a simply spectacular track with incredible views up and across the Moray Firth.
Again, like Kingsbarns, it might be too forgiving for…
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