The Open rota

The 'Home of Golf'; golf has been played on the links since roughly 1400s, with a 1552 charter formalizing public rights to play, and the Society of St Andrews Golfers (later the R&A) founded in 1754. It is the most-used Open Championship venue, hosting 30 times, most recently in 2022 for the 150th Open (played roughly every 5 years).

Nicknamed 'Carnasty' for its brutal closing stretch along the Barry Burn; site of Jean van de Velde's infamous collapse on the 72nd hole of the 1999 Open.

Home to the shortest hole in Open rota golf, the 123-yard 8th 'Postage Stamp', and the longest, the 623-yard 6th 'Turnberry'; hosted the 152nd Open Championship in 2024 (its 10th men's Open since 1923).

Fairways run through flat-bottomed valleys between high dunes rather than over them; founded 1889 (Royal status 1951) and hosts The Open Championship for the 11th time in July 2026.

Founded 1869 on the Liverpool Hunt Club racecourse — one of England's oldest seaside golf clubs; 'Royal' from 1871. Has hosted The Open 13 times (1897, 1902, 1907, 1913, 1924, 1930, 1936, 1947, 1956, 1967, 2006, 2014, 2023), including Bobby Jones's 1930 Grand Slam leg, Rory McIlroy's dominant 2014 win and Brian Harman's 2023 victory.

England's most-used Open venue — 15 Open Championships, more than any English course, and the first venue outside Scotland to host (1894); most recently 2021 (Collin Morikawa). Known for severe humps and hollows and blind shots through the dunes.

Founded May 1888 as The County Club; royal patronage secured 1895 (renamed Royal Portrush). Harry Colt's celebrated redesign created the Dunluce Links, completed 1932. The only club to have hosted The Open outside Great Britain, on three occasions: 1951 (Max Faulkner), 2019 (Shane Lowry) and 2025 (the 153rd Open). Named for — and sited near — the clifftop ruins of Dunluce Castle on the Antrim coast.

Home of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, founded 1744 and the oldest golf club with continuous records in the world; the club moved to the present Gullane site in 1891. Muirfield has hosted The Open Championship 16 times (most recently 2013, won by Phil Mickelson) — the third-most of any Open venue, behind St Andrews and Prestwick. Its rare two-loop, out-and-back-then-in routing (no more than three consecutive holes run the same direction) forces play into the wind from every direction.

Site of the 1977 'Duel in the Sun' between Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson; a four-time Open Championship venue (1977, 1986, 1994, 2009). The par-3 9th 'Bruce's Castle' — rebuilt from a par 4 by Martin Ebert in the 2015-16 renovation — plays over rocky coastline to a green beside the Turnberry lighthouse, with views across the Firth of Clyde to Ailsa Craig.

Club founded 1886; present course laid out in 1897 by first professional George Lowe, substantially redesigned by Harry Colt (1919, further changes 1935). The only Open venue that opens with a par 3, and defended by ~200 bunkers (the club and most sources cite 206; some count ~170-174 true pot bunkers). Site of Bobby Jones's 1926 Open win and Seve Ballesteros's famous 1979 Open — free drop from a temporary car park on the 16th, birdie, and victory by three over Nicklaus and Crenshaw.