St Andrews every 5 years?

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So with a round to go I think I can safely say Portrush has been a resounding success. The R and A should be bold of the back of this and look to bring in some other great links courses not currently on the Open Rota. Trump Aberdeen(take the politics out) would be a fantastic addition.
I think St Andrews is losing its appeal by going there every 5 years. Once in 10 would be better. I personally think it’s now the weakest of all the open venues and is not that spectator friendly either for course access. It’s the one I don’t really look forward to watching these days as I think the amount they go there( including Dunhill Links) is too much. Yanks are going down same route with Pebble.
The R and A could go even more radical and forward thinking and maybe take a punt once every 10 years taking it to a great links outside the Uk ( thinking Royal Melbourne or Kingston Heath) if they truely want to ‘grow the game’.
 
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St Andrews won’t ever leave the Rota regardless of people’s opinion of it - it’s the the Home of Golf and the course 99% of the Pros want to win the Open at - the appeal is still massive for them

As for taking it outside the Uk ?!? Why - it’s The Open and stays in the UK , it’s the only Major outside the US as it is. And certainly not going to take it to a place where the UK market are unable to watch it

Trump Aberdeen will never get the Open - even without who owns it the place has gone through so much negative press in regards it’s impact to the area , Turnberry was even “taken” off the the rota ( even if they deny it has ) - if anything they will look at a venue in Wales - ie Porthcawl
 

Parsaregood

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So with a round to go I think I can safely say Portrush has been a resounding success. The R and A should be bold of the back of this and look to bring in some other great links courses not currently on the Open Rota. Trump Aberdeen(take the politics out) would be a fantastic addition.
I think St Andrews is losing its appeal by going there every 5 years. Once in 10 would be better. I personally think it’s now the weakest of all the open venues and is not that spectator friendly either for course access. It’s the one I don’t really look forward to watching these days as I think the amount they go there( including Dunhill Links) is too much. Yanks are going down same route with Pebble.
The R and A could go even more radical and forward thinking and maybe take a punt once every 10 years taking it to a great links outside the Uk ( thinking Royal Melbourne or Kingston Heath) if they truely want to ‘grow the game’.
It's the open and should be kept on British shores where it has been played for nearly 150 years. Also St.Andrews is great and I think it's good to go back more regularly than other venues around the uk
 

Wolf

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I'm not really a fan of St Andrews either, but they won't change the rotation of it to use it less due to the significance of it.

They certainly won't take the event outside the UK & why should they it's already the oldest, biggest and widely supported event. The R&A do lots more to grow the game other than just running the Open championship.

As for other courses they may certainly look at others and as LP says Wales with Porthcawl will likely be the next area they look at, which would be a lovely place to have it and is next area of the UK to expand to. However a Trump owned venue certainly won't be on their agenda whether the course is good or not.
 

Imurg

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St Andrews is a fixed point..it will hold Opens as long as the course is there.
Like it or not, that's the way it is.
And it's the "British" Open, not the roving Open..
As to adding courses to the rota...the problem will be infrastructure
It's a massive task to host an Open.
Not just the course but tented village and accommodation, not to mention access as well.
 

Dan2501

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The Open shouldn’t leave the UK, but I would love to see the WGC-HSBC become a roaming WGC instead of the dull event in China every year. Go to places like Royal Melbourne, different Links courses in the UK that aren’t on the Open rota, mix it up a bit and add another big Links event to the roster.

As for St Andrews, it rightly hosts the Open regularly, love watching a St Andrews Open, it’s the home of golf.
 

Tashyboy

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Played at the old course, and apart from now being able to say " ave played it". Memorable it was not. But that's me from a playing point of view.
From an open point of view, I can understand why it goes back there regularly. Is there better courses in the UK that can host it. Most definitely. Change the format from every five years to every ten. Not sure it would make that much differance. Looked at some holes on some courses and thought wow. Never really thought that about some of the holes at St Andrews.
 

Parsaregood

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The first event was held as an invitational tournament, but the next year Prestwick Golf Clubresponded to pleas from outsiders and unanimously resolved that "the belt... on all future occasions, shall be open to all the world".[69] In its early years it was often referred to as The Championship but with the advent of the Amateur Championship in 1885, it became more common to refer to it as The Open Championship or simply The Open. The tournament inspired other national bodies to introduce open golf tournaments of their own, such as the U.S. Open, and later many others.[70] To distinguish it from their own national open, it became common in many countries to refer to the tournament as the "British Open". The R&A (the tournament's organiser) continued to refer to it as The Open Championship. During the interwar years, a period with many U.S.-based winners, the term British Open would occasionally be used during the trophy presentation and in British newspapers.[71][72]
 

Bunkermagnet

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Personally, I have no love of St Andrews and hate The Open being there, however I fully understand the history and why it's there. Royal Portrush has been a revelation for me, with a wonderful balance of risk/reward and penalty for going off line.
As for taking The Open outside the UK, dream on. Why would you?
 

pokerjoke

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Listening to the man who makes the decision this morning he said they had 10 courses available,they had no plans at all to add more,and they were not going to Wales.
He also said it won’t be changing.
 
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