The Open is the oldest major and the only one played entirely on links, across a small, sacred set of courses on the coasts of Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. Most of them you can play. Here are the ten Open venues ranked, with the host record, the holes that decide the championship, our verdict on each, and how to get a tee time.
Photograph: Old Course, Richard Grobben, via Google
The Open rota is the most exclusive club in golf. Since 1860 the championship has been contested on a rotating set of links, and today the R and A uses nine courses, with Turnberry a former host currently set aside. We have ranked the ten venues that define the modern Open, weighing the quality of the course as a test and a piece of design, the drama of the closing holes, the championship history written there, and what the round is actually like for a travelling golfer, because almost all of these are courses you can play.
Host counts and recent champions were verified at the time of writing: the Old Course at St Andrews leads with 30 Opens, Muirfield has 16, Royal St George's 15, Royal Liverpool 13, Royal Lytham and St Annes 11, Royal Birkdale and Royal Troon 10 each, Carnoustie 8, Turnberry 4, and Royal Portrush has hosted three times, in 1951, 2019 and 2025. Royal Birkdale stages the 154th Open in July 2026, St Andrews follows in 2027 and Royal Lytham in 2028. The order and the verdicts are our editors' view, so reasonable people will reorder the top of the list. If you want a links pilgrimage built around any of these, that is what our concierge does.
The Home of Golf and, by any measure, the most important course in the game. Host of 30 Opens, more than any other venue, it is a public links of shared double greens, the Swilcan Bridge, the Road Hole seventeenth and the most famous closing hole in golf across the eighteenth. Quirky, ancient and endlessly debated, it is the one round every serious golfer must make, secured through the public ballot or an advance time.
Widely regarded as the fairest and most complete test on the rota, home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and host of 16 Opens. Its two returning loops of nine, one clockwise and one counter, mean the wind comes from every angle, and the bunkering is the most precise in championship golf. A private members club with limited visitor days, so a round here is a coup worth planning around.
Simply the hardest course on the rota, nicknamed Carnasty after the brutal finish that has broken champions, host of 8 Opens. The closing stretch, with the Barry Burn snaking across the seventeenth and eighteenth, is the most feared in the game, as Jean van de Velde discovered in 1999. Public and playable, it is the venue for golfers who want their links pilgrimage to test every part of their game.
The only Open venue in Northern Ireland and the rota's great modern success, host in 1951, 2019 and again in 2025, when Scottie Scheffler won at 17 under. Harry Colt's Dunluce Links rolls over huge dunes above the Atlantic, with the par three Calamity Corner and the new closing holes among the most thrilling in championship golf. A bucket list links that welcomes visitors, on a coast studded with great courses.
For many the finest links in England and the best of the English rota, host of 10 Opens and the venue for the 154th Open in July 2026. Flat bottomed fairways wind between towering dunes so the bounces are fair, which is why players rate it so highly, and the modern art deco clubhouse is an icon. Visitor friendly and central to the cluster of great links on the Southport coast.
The most beautiful course on this list, the Ailsa at Turnberry running along the Ayrshire cliffs beneath its lighthouse with Ailsa Craig offshore. Host of 4 Opens, including the 1977 Duel in the Sun between Nicklaus and Watson, it is not currently on the rota but remains one of the great links experiences in the world. Open to resort guests and visitors, and worth every step.
A classic out and back Ayrshire links, host of 10 Opens and home of the Postage Stamp, the tiny par three eighth that is among the most famous short holes in golf. The course plays downwind out and into the prevailing wind home, so the back nine is a true examination. Public and playable, it pairs naturally with Turnberry and Prestwick on an Ayrshire golf trip.
A tough, bunker riddled links set unusually inland behind the Lancashire dunes, host of 11 Opens and confirmed for 2028. It opens with a par three and closes with one of the sternest finishes in the game, where more than 200 bunkers and the prevailing wind have decided many a championship. Visitor friendly, with a fine red brick clubhouse and a dormy house for the full experience.
One of England's oldest and most storied links, host of 13 Opens on the Wirral peninsula, where the flat, exposed land and internal out of bounds demand precision and nerve rather than power. It returned to the rota in style this century and remains a connoisseur's links, less spectacular than Birkdale but every bit as demanding. Open to visitors and rich in championship history.
England's most prolific Open host with 15 stagings, a rumpled, dune filled links at Sandwich in Kent and the only rota course in the south of England. Blind shots, the deepest bunker in championship golf and a famously unpredictable run of bounces make it the most idiosyncratic English venue, loved and cursed in equal measure. Visitor friendly and an easy add to a London golf trip.
Host counts and recent champions verified June 2026. Royal Birkdale hosts the 154th Open in July 2026; counts are current as of writing. Course profiles are added across the site as the directory grows. Always confirm access and fees directly before booking. Check tee time availability.
Tell us which links you dream of, the Old Course, Muirfield, Portrush or a full Scottish or English rota tour, your group size and roughly when. One concierge secures the tee times and lodging and costs the trip to the head, with no obligation.
The Old Course at St Andrews has hosted the most Opens by a wide margin, with 30 stagings of the championship, which is why it is known as the Home of Golf. Muirfield is next among current venues with 16, ahead of Royal St George's with 15 and Royal Liverpool at Hoylake with 13.
The current rota is the Old Course at St Andrews, Royal Portrush, Royal Birkdale, Royal Troon, Royal Lytham and St Annes, Royal St George's, Muirfield, Carnoustie and Royal Liverpool. Royal Birkdale hosts the 154th Open in July 2026 and St Andrews follows in 2027, with Royal Lytham confirmed for 2028. Turnberry, a former host, is not currently on the rota.
Yes, every Open venue except Muirfield, which is a private members club with limited visitor days, can be played by visitors who book ahead, including the Old Course at St Andrews through its public ballot and advance tee times. Green fees are high and demand is intense in summer, so a links pilgrimage is best planned many months out. Always confirm directly before booking.
Scottie Scheffler won the 153rd Open in 2025 at Royal Portrush, finishing 17 under par for a four shot victory, his first Claret Jug. The 154th Open will be played at Royal Birkdale in July 2026.
Open venue tee time windows, the St Andrews ballot calendar and the best weeks for a links pilgrimage. Every other week.
Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Host counts and champions verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.