The Open Venues

KeefG

KeefG

Journeyman Pro
Joined
May 28, 2007
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Location
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www.maywoodgolfclub.com
Is there a reason The Belfry has never been used as a venue for The Open? I know its a little short of being a serious contender for a championship course now to host the Ryder Cup etc, but back in the 80's & 90's when it hosted the Ryder Cup millions of times and had all sorts of other decent events, why was the Open never held there?

My guess, going on where it is normally held, is that it is only ever held on links courses, am i correct?

If so, why? I mean look at some of the fantastic parkland courses we have over here that would be a fantastic venue for this fantastic event?
 
Thats what i guessed as per my OP.

Why then? I know its all to do with tradition & history etc, but there are some excellent parkland courses in the UK, why limit The Open to only 9 links courses?

Seems silly to me.
 
(From wikipedia)

There are nine courses in the current rota:

* Old Course at St Andrews: In 1873 the "Home of Golf" became the second course to host the Open. Nowadays, it does so more often than any other course. Since 1990 it has been scheduled every fifth year.
* Carnoustie Golf Links, Championship Course: Another Scottish course, the Royal Burgh of Carnoustie first hosted The Open in 1931, and it rejoined the rotation by hosting The Open in 1999 after an absence of 24 years. It hosted the 2007 championship.
* Muirfield: Muirfield is a private course which was built for The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, one of the trio of clubs which ran The Open in the 1870s and 1880s. It first staged The Championship in 1892, just nine months after it had been built.
* The Westin Turnberry Resort, Ailsa Course: A course on the southwest coast of Scotland which hosted The Open in 1977, 1986, and 1994. It will host again in 2009 after a fifteen year absence. [1]
* Royal Troon Golf Club, Old Course: This Scottish course has been in the rotation since 1923.
* Royal St George's Golf Club: This course is in the town of Sandwich in the county of Kent in southeast England. In 1894 it became the first Open venue outside Scotland.
* Royal Birkdale Golf Club: This course in northwest England has been in the rotation since 1954. Royal Birkdale hosted The Open in 2008.
* Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club: Also in northwest England, this course first hosted The Open in 1926, and entered the rotation in 1952.
* Royal Liverpool Golf Club: The home of the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, which is often referred to simply as "Hoylake", joined the rotation in 1897 and hosted ten Opens up to 1967. After a 39 year absence from the rotation, it hosted the 2006 Open Championship.

Courses which are no longer in the rotation:

* Prestwick Golf Club: The founder club was dropped from the rotation in 1925, by which time it had hosted twenty-four Opens.
* Musselburgh Links: Musselburgh is a public course which was used by the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. When that club built Muirfield, Musselburgh dropped out of the rotation.
* Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club: This course in the town of Deal in Kent, England hosted the Open in 1909 and 1920. Although situated in Deal, the course is very close to Royal St George's in Sandwich, on the current rota. In fact, the 11th tee at Royal Cinque Ports is closer to the clubhouse at Royal St George's than it is to the clubhouse of Royal Cinque Ports.
* Prince's Golf Club: Prince's hosted its only Open in 1932. The course is in Sandwich, Kent, England, and is adjacent to Royal St George's on the current rota.
* Royal Portrush Golf Club: The 1951 Open was staged at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
 
Had a quick look on Wikipedia => http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Open_Championship#Host_courses

As Mike & Imurg said, 10 courses, always Links. Had a recount, it's 9!

Now then KeefG, your post begs the question of should the Open always be hosted on a Links course or should Parkland be considered?

YES for me. The R&A adminsters the rules of golf and manages the Open championship. Both were started in Scotland on traditional Links courses and as the game was invented there, we should retain the tradition of 'pure' golf - invented to be played by the seaside.

We don't get enough Links golf on the Pro Tours as it is, so taking the oldest championship and providing another demostration of target golf would be a shame. You see so many shots on the fast running links that are never seen on a parkland track. For me, the Open really does find THE Champion Golfer of the Year.

By the way, off to play Princes on 15th May - can't wait!
 
Right....here's one then:

Disregard the fact that St Andrews is the home of golf and hosts The Open every 5 years.

Is St Andrews a tougher test of golf than say Wentworth or Walton Heath or even The Brabazon come to think of it? I'd say definately not!

St Andrews is a beautiful course steeped in history, but its nowhere near the test it used to be, how can you get THE champion golfer on a course such as that?
 
Right....here's one then:

Disregard the fact that St Andrews is the home of golf and hosts The Open every 5 years.

Is St Andrews a tougher test of golf than say Wentworth or Walton Heath or even The Brabazon come to think of it? I'd say definately not!

St Andrews is a beautiful course steeped in history, but its nowhere near the test it used to be, how can you get THE champion golfer on a course such as that?
Click to expand...

Tiger Woods 2005
Tiger Woods 2000
John Daly 1995
Nick Faldo 1990
Seve Ballesteros 1984
Jack Nicklaus 1978
Jack Nicklaus 1970

All multiple Major winners, no one hit wonders amongst them. Need I go on?

What a ridiculous post. :mad:
 
Right....here's one then:

Disregard the fact that St Andrews is the home of golf and hosts The Open every 5 years.

Is St Andrews a tougher test of golf than say Wentworth or Walton Heath or even The Brabazon come to think of it? I'd say definately not!

St Andrews is a beautiful course steeped in history, but its nowhere near the test it used to be, how can you get THE champion golfer on a course such as that?
Click to expand...

Tiger Woods 2005
Tiger Woods 2000
John Daly 1995
Nick Faldo 1990
Seve Ballesteros 1984
Jack Nicklaus 1978
Jack Nicklaus 1970

All multiple Major winners, no one hit wonders amongst them. Need I go on?

What a ridiculous post. :mad:
Click to expand...

I think you've taken the context of the post way offline birdieman.

I'm not suggesting that anyone who wins The Open at St Andrews is crap, or that it is a crap course. Molly made the point that The Open is the toughest of all the majors and as such only the best of the best will win it, which is fair enough. What i simply stated which is is no way ridiculous is that is St Andrews a tougher test of golf than Wentworth or Walton Heath? I dont think it is, there are far tougher tests of golf on parkland courses than St Andrews.

Please re-read my post and then come back to me.
 
I was replying to your later post that states -

'How can you get the champion golfer on a course such as that'

A course such as that?

The Old Course may be easier to score on than other Open Venues but it remains a stern test of golf. Like any links it's difficulty is dependent on the wind. To even suggest moving The Open from links to some corporate fake-ponded converted farm field is beyond me.

Have you ever been to the Open at St Andrews or played the Old course?
I have done both, thank the lord, it's magical and it'll kick the Belfry's or Wentworth's arse every time. :p
 
It is all up in the air if 1 is tougher than the other,you don't get the wind at Belfry (nor do you always get it on the coast)you don't get the hard fast running fairways,greens at the Belfry,you don't have pot bunkers indeed at the Belfry or many inland the bunkers are not hazards for the pro's but then you don't have water hazards at St Andrews bar the 1st that you get on many inland courses.

For me links golf is tougher that inland but that is only my opinion.
 
The bottom line is that The Open is the R&A's tournament so they take it where they see fit

My interpretation of their statements on Open venues is that they only want to take it to significant links courses (in terms of history and test) that have the infrastructure to cope with an event this size.

I guess the view is that the majority of Tour events (both on the ET and PGA Tour) are played on inland tracks so why dilute one of the major USPs of the Open.
 
Birdieman - i was at St Andrews in 1984 when Seve won it, unfortunately i was only 8 and didnt really care for golf at all and was pretty much dragged along kicking & screaming by my dad so i dont remember anything good about it at all. I will however be making the trip next year and will be taking my 13yo son with me.

I'm not saying the R&A are wrong, i just wondered if there was any specific reason why they didnt use parkland courses.
 
I will however be making the trip next year and will be taking my 13yo son with me.
Click to expand...

Good man Keef, I will be there too (for one day anyway). Hope the wind blows this time. ;)
 
Dodger’s point are spot on and the reason I think the Links tradition should carry on. It’s very difficult to compare Links and Parkland as they offer very different challenges. That’s why I like the idea of the Links for the Open – it’s different. We get served up with parkland every week on the European and US tours. I think it’s great for us spectators to see something different and for the players to have to experience something different when it’s Open time. The weather does tend to play a bigger part in things on the coast too, so players have to ‘make’ shots they probably never had to the rest of the year. Some of them even get to the Open having never experienced links golf before! Doesn’t that make it interesting at the very least? And if the wind doesn’t blow, you can still get the target stuff going on which suits our high-hitting friends. I think in terms of the test that Mike refers to, the elements of links add up to a different and more difficult examination than the tour pro’s are used to, so when you win it, you can be regarded as The Champion Golfer. Especially if you play 50 weeks’ of parkland, then change your game and win on the links.

Who knows though Keef – maybe the R&A will go for the Belfry, Wentworth or even the new Celtic Manor course one day. I doubt it though ;o)
 
"THEE" Open is traditionally a Links event, not to mention not enough links events are played on the European Tour. And Links golf must be the purest form of golf there is. In my book the only real Major in the world is THE OPEN. And its nice that the Links courses used are rotated from year to year.

If I had my way There would be an entire Diary of Links events on the Tour or even a Links Tour. Just imagine the copy & paste SS2 posted as a starter, what a Tour that would be.

St Andrews
Carnoustie
Muirfield
Turnberry
Royal Troon
Royal St George's
Royal Birkdale
Royal Lytham & St Annes
Royal Liverpool ( "Hoylake" )
Prestwick
Musselburgh
Royal Cinque Ports
Prince's
Royal Portrush

You could probably add others like
Royal St Davids
Conwy
Royal Porthcawl

Now what a tour that would be.
 
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