Traditional Venues

For the first 10 years of its existence, the British Open was played at Prestwick Golf Club. Since 1872, however, there have been a number of British Open venues in a yearly rotation.
To start with, just three courses were included in the rotation: Prestwick, St Andrews and Musselburgh. In 1893, Royal St George’s and Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, were also invited.

Since then, several clubs have been added and some dropped. The common factor in British Open venues is that they have always been links courses in Britain. The rotation is now generally played alternately in Scotland and England. An interruption to this pattern is the Old Course at St Andrews, which hosts the event every five years or so.
But there is no strict rule to the rotation of venues. The host is appointed by the R&A around five years in advance.
Click here to view a map showing the British Open venues (there are 13 markers for the fourteen courses, as two are in Sandwich). The British Open is usually played in Scotland or Northwest England. It has never been played in Wales, or in seven of England’s nine regions, and only once in Northern Ireland.

Rota

The current course rotation, for years ending in:

  • (0,5) – Scotland (Old Course at St Andrews)
  • (1,6) – England
  • (2,7) – Scotland
  • (3,8) – England
  • (4,9) – Scotland

Current list of British Open venues

There are nine courses in the current rota:

See also: List of the Open Championship venues