★ The Open Championship

01Waarom het relevant is

The Open is the only major played outside the United States and the only one played on links, which makes it the championship that most directly connects the modern game to where it came from. It is also, in practice, golf's international gathering: the field is the most globally drawn of the four, the qualifying routes admit players from every tour, and the spectator crowd travels from further away than at any other tournament in the sport. In our reading, its place in the wider calendar comes from geography as much as from history.

02De week eromheen

The Open is the largest event most of its host towns will ever stage, and the effect on them is total.

At St Andrews the effect is different in kind, because the course runs into the town: the 18th fairway ends at the R&A clubhouse a few steps from the shops on Golf Place, and the whole town becomes the event.

03Wanneer aan te komen

Practice days, Monday to Wednesday, are cheaper, quieter and the best chance to walk the whole course with players on it; at St Andrews they are also the only realistic way to stand close to the first tee.

04Waar te verblijven

This changes entirely with the venue. For St Andrews in 2027, the town itself has limited hotel stock and it is taken years ahead; the university lets student residences for the championship, which is the most reliable route to a bed in town, and the practical alternatives are Dundee, twenty minutes north across the Tay, the villages of the East Neuk to the south, and Edinburgh at about an hour and twenty minutes.

05Toegang en hospitality

The R&A allocates general admission through a public ticket ballot, entered free online, with successful applicants notified and charged afterwards; for the 2027 championship at St Andrews the ballot closed at 3pm on Friday 24 July 2026, roughly a year ahead. Tickets are issued for individual practice and competition days, and the R&A has for some years operated a policy admitting children and young people free or at nominal cost when accompanied, which it publishes with each championship. Beyond the ballot, the R&A publishes three levels of paid access on its own tickets page for St Andrews 2027: Ticket Plus, which adds a private area with food and drink available to buy and a choice of covered or outdoor seating; Hospitality, which includes the ticket, premium viewing over the Old Course and fully inclusive dining and drinks; and a Tickets and Camping package pairing a ticket with a campsite a short walk from the course. Hospitality is sold in several locations around the links.

06Waar de sociale activiteit plaatsvindt

On the course, the public gathering points are the grandstands around the closing holes, the spectator village with its merchandise and food pavilions, and the practice ground. At St Andrews the town does the rest: the pubs and hotel bars along Golf Place, Market Street and North Street, the Jigger Inn beside the 17th, and the Links itself, which is public ground and stays walkable.

07Hoe u er komt

08Praktische informatie

09Geschiedenis

The first championship, in 1860, was a 36-hole competition among eight professionals at Prestwick, and the winner received a belt rather than a trophy. The Claret Jug replaced it in 1872 and the championship began to move between Prestwick, St Andrews and Musselburgh, expanding onto English links from 1894.

10Wie is er

The most international crowd in golf: British and Irish followers who travel to whichever venue is hosting, a very large American contingent that treats the week as a golf pilgrimage, continental European and Asian visitors in growing numbers, the game's own trade and equipment industry, and corporate hospitality drawn from British and multinational business.