Every Open Championship venue is special, and some have hosted the battle for the Claret Jug more than others, but what about a trio of stunning courses that just haven’t been used for some time?
Muirfield, Royal Lytham & St Annes and Turnberry have hosted 31 Opens between them, and they all staged the tournament in the space of four years just over a decade ago, but they’re nowhere to be seen since 2013.
A controversial owner, a controversial members policy and just simple logistical issues of an ever expanding tournament have been cited as reasons, but just why aren’t these courses hosting The Open anymore?
And are any of them tipped to get back on the Open rota? Let’s take a look…
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
Muirfield |
Turnberry |
Lytham |
|
Opens |
16 |
4 |
11 |
|
First |
1892 |
1977 |
1926 |
|
Last |
2013 |
2009 |
2012 |
Trump Turnberry
(Image credit: Trump Turnberry)
Only four Opens for Turnberry but some belters, not least its debut in 1977 when Tom Watson edged his ‘Duel in the Sun’ against Jack Nicklaus – and the final on in 2009 when Watson made headlines again, this time as he just fell short of an amazing victory aged 59 when losing a playoff to Stewart Cink.
One clue’s in the name, as US President Donald Trump’s name on the property has attracted so much attention – attention that former R&A CEO Martin Slumbers said would detract from the Open.
“We cannot allow external media noise to overshadow what remains the original and most historic championship in golf,” Slumbers told Golf Channel last November. “The tournament’s integrity demands that golf alone commands the spotlight.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Trump has campaigned for a return, and new R&A boss Mark Darbon told the BBC “we’d love to be back there” but said that infrastructure is now the main problem given the size of The Open these days.
As 120,000 fans attended the 2009 Open at Turnberry but 278,000 are due to visit Royal Portrush this year, and as fantastic as the Ailsa Course is, there are concerns the local transport and accommodation at the Ayrshire venue just couldn’t cope.
“At Turnberry, there are definitely some logistical and commercial challenges that we face around the road, rail and accommodation infrastructure,” Darbon added.
But although Darbon is sounding more positive about…
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