Three new venues to host Regional Qualifying in 2010

Clitheroe Golf Club, The London Golf Club and East Sussex National Golf Club will host Regional Qualifying for The Open Championship for the first time in 2010, when The Open will be played at St Andrews.

Clitheroe, in Lancashire's Ribble Valley, is a parkland course that was first laid out in 1932 by five-time Open winner James Braid. The course's hilltop setting gives spectacular views across the surrounding countryside.

Despite its name, The London Golf Club is located in the countryside of Kent, a few miles away from the town of Sevenoaks. Since it was built in the early 1990s, the Jack Nicklaus-designed courses at The London Club have welcomed several large events, and the club is currently the host venue for the European Open.

East Sussex National, just outside Uckfield, has much in common with The London Club: both were built during the boom in golf course construction in the early 1990s, and both have played host to the European Open, with East Sussex's East course having hosted the event in 1993 and 1994.

Eleven of the sixteen golf clubs hosting Regional Qualifying in 2010 have been used in the past, while Abridge and Mere will both host Open qualifying for the first time in 2009.

The full list is as follows:

Abridge

Berwick upon Tweed

Clitheroe

Coventry

East Sussex National

Effingham

Enville

Ferndown

Gog Magog

Lindrick

The London Golf Club

Mere

Musselburgh

Old Fold Manor

Pannal

Royal Dublin