4 Forgotten Open Venues No Longer On The Rota
These former Open Championship host courses have dropped off the rota. Why?
The Open is famous for its high quality host venues that make up the rota, with its selection of courses regarded as some of the best in the world.
From the Old Course at St Andrews to many other of the region's best and most historic courses, which all rank highly in Golf Monthly's UK and Ireland Top 100 list, the Open rota showcases golf in its most natural form as the world's best take on the links golf challenge in whatever conditions show up on the day.
There are currently ten courses on the Open rota, with Royal Portrush returning in 2019 after a break of 68 years. The R&A usually hosts the Open on a rotation whereby England, Scotland and Northern Ireland all take turns to host.
This year's host Royal Birkdale in England follows Northern Ireland's Portrush, with Scotland's St Andrews hosting next year before England's Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2028.
But what about the courses that have dropped off the rota? These four former host venues are no longer being considered, for the foreseeable future at least...
Prestwick, Scotland
Prestwick Golf Club was the first of the 14 Open venues. This was because it organized (and so hosted) the first 11 Open Championships, starting in 1860.
Then the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers teamed up with Prestwick to organize the competition.
After a hiatus of a year - there was no Open in 1871 - the venue of The Open then rotated between the home courses of these three clubs until 1894 when The Open was taken to Royal St George's.
The first Opens were played over Prestwick’s criss-crossing 3,799-yard 12-hole course which had been laid out by Old Tom Morris, the club’s first professional.
The club bought some more land and in 1892 the course was expanded to 18 holes and redesigned to avoid criss-crossing holes.
Six of the original greens remain, and three of the holes - the 2nd (Alps), 4th (Cardinal) and 5th (Sea Headrig), now appear as holes 17, 3 and 13.
But the new Prestwick 18-hole course was still compact, and space for spectators was a problem as The Open became more popular and attracted larger galleries.
For this reason the 1925 Open was Prestwick’s last. Some shots that year had hit spectators and Bernard Darwin reported: “It was a thoroughly exciting championship but hardly a pleasant one, since there were altogether too many people. So many, indeed, that despite the unselfish and valiant efforts of the Prestwick stewards, I gravely doubt whether a championship should be played there again."
It wasn’t. However the course has continued to host top events which attract smaller crowds, including the Amateur Championship 11 times.
Between the years of 1860 and 1925 Prestwick held The Open 24 times.
Musselburgh Links, Scotland
This was the home course of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, and so hosted The Open every third year under the three clubs' organizing arrangement, from its first Open in 1874 to its sixth, and last, in 1899.
The club was one of several which shared the Musselburgh Links and so the club looked for a new home.
It found one at Muirfield, where it built itself a course.
The Open followed the club in moving from Musselburgh Links to Muirfield when it became the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers' turn to play host.
Muirfield has gone on to host 16 Opens since but hasn't been used since 2013, when Phil Mickelson claimed his one and only Claret Jug. It hosted its first AIG Women's Open in 2022, won by Ashleigh Buhai, and was also the venue for the Women's Amateur in 2026.
Royal Cinque Ports, England
Three courses in Kent have hosted The Open, but two of them have only had three Opens between them. Royal Cinque Ports was the venue of The Opens of 1909 and 1920.
It was due to host The Opens of 1938 and 1949, but on both occasions it could not as the course had been flooded. These tournaments were moved along the Kent coast to Royal St George’s.
With only a 50% success rate in actually being able to host The Opens that it had been awarded, The R&A seems to have decided Deal, as the course is often known, was not a safe bet and dropped it from its list of Open venues.
However with new sea defences in place, the course has again been awarded events by The R&A, including The Amateur Championship in 1982 and 2013.
It is also now a venue for Open Championship Final Qualifying.
Prince's, England
Prince’s held The Open in 1932. This Open was made famous by Gene Sarazen wining with the use of a club he had designed himself to cope with this particular course - a sand iron.
In the Second World War the course was requisitioned by the military and used for target practice. This action was described by Lord Brabazon, Minister of Aircraft Production and a future Captain of The R&A, as akin to ‘throwing darts at a Rembrandt’.
The Open Championship course was, quite literally, blown to pieces.
The tentative plan was that the Royal Marines were going to retain use of the land after the war as a firing range. But in 1949 the course was derequisitioned and an Australian property developer set about turning the land back into golfing terrain.
The Open Championship course was no more, but 17 of the greens were resurrected and incorporated into a new design of three nine-hole courses.
This new layout has hosted the Curtis Cup, the PGA Championship and the British Ladies Open. But not The Open, although since 1981 it has hosted Final Qualifying in recent years.
The club is home to three loops of nine (the Shore, Dunes and Himalayas).
A new routing was unveiled this year called the 'Laddie', which is an 18-hole composite course featuring the best holes from the existing nines, created in collaboration with The R&A and architects Mackenzie & Ebert.
The Laddie will serve as the layout for 'select future championships' hosted by Prince's, with the Walker Cup set to be contested at the club in 2023.
