The Open ROTA - British Open Championship Courses

On this 16-night, self-drive tour, you will play 8 of the Open Championship Courses in England & Scotland. The courses you will play include:

Royal St Georges, Royal Birkdale, Royal Lytham & St Annes, Royal Liverpool, Carnoustie, Turnberry Ailsa, Royal Troon, Muirfield and North Berwick, plus option to play Kingsbarns and go in the ballot for the Old Course at St Andrews.

These courses have hosted 107 Open Championships between them and nine of these courses are rated Top 100 in the *WORLD.

"I never dreamt it would be possible to play all these fantastic courses as a single package. This is a bucket list trip run by a fantastic team at a very reasonable price. It is hard to imagine a better golf experience" Geoff, Open Rota 2018

 The Golf Courses

Royal St Georges

Royal St George’s Golf Club was established in 1887 in wild dune lands. It has hosted 13 Open championships since 1894, when it became the first club outside Scotland to host the championship. Many holes feature blind or partially blind shots, although the unfairness element has been reduced somewhat, after several 20th century modifications. The course also possesses the deepest bunker in championship golf, located on its fourth hole. Shored up by large railway sleepers, this two-storey bunker is aptly called the “Himalayas”. Royal status was bestowed on the club in 1902. The tradition at this club is for all games to be played as two-ball (ie, two players per tee-time).

Royal Birkdale

Royal Birkdale Golf Club has hosted the Men's Open Championship ten times and the Women’s six times. Founded as Birkdale Golf Club in 1889, the club was awarded "Royal" status in 1951. The distinctive art deco clubhouse was built in 1935. Three generations of the Hawtree family of golf course architects have worked on the course. The course is Rated 38 in the World by “Top 100 Golf Courses. The course follows the valleys between these very large dunes which dominate the property. 

Royal Liverpool

Royal Liverpool Golf Club was founded in 1869 on what was then the racecourse of the Liverpool Hunt Club and received the "Royal" designation in 1871. Robert Chambers and George Morris (younger brother of Old Tom Morris) were commissioned to lay out the original course, which was extended to 18 holes in 1871. Harry Colt, one of the world's leading golf course architects, redesigned the course early in the 20th century. The Open Championship has been held at Royal Liverpool 13 times, most recently in 2023. 

Royal Lytham & St Annes

Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club was founded in 1886 and the present course constructed in 1897. It has hosted 10 Open Championships and numerous other major tournaments including 5 Women's Open Championships, most recently in 2018. It is renowned as a Course on which is it hard to scramble a good score, after all, there are 204 bunkers peppering the Fairways and surrounding the Greens. It is rated 54 in the World.

Turnberry Ailsa

The Trump Turnberry Ailsa course is situated on a scenic craggy headland on the coast of the outer Firth of Clyde. The Ailsa Course has staged The Open Championship on 4 occasions (1977, 1986, 1994, and 2009) and the Women’s Open 3 times. The 18th hole on the Ailsa Course was named "Duel in the Sun" as homage to the battle between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus in 1977. Donald Trump purchased the hotel and golf courses in April 2014, and the resort was renamed Trump Turnberry in June 2014. It underwent multi-million-dollar renovations in 2015 that have made the course even more sensational, and it is now ranked 14 in the World. 

Royal Troon

Royal Troon Golf Club was founded 138 years ago in 1878, initially with five holes. Adjacent to the Firth of Clyde, Troon was granted its "Royal" accolade in 1978, during its centennial. The Club has hosted the Open nine times, the last in 2016, won by Henrik Stenson in an exciting win over Phil Mickelson. Royal Troon is home to both the longest and shortest holes in Open Championship golf. Regarded as one of the top holes in the world, the par-3 8th hole ("Postage Stamp") measures a scant 112metres but its diminutive green measures a mere 39 m²).

North Berwick

The North Berwick Golf Club (NBGC) was founded in 1832. It is the 13th oldest golf club in the world and only St Andrews has played continuously over the same course for longer. North Berwick is a true links course located on the edge of the Firth of Forth. It is a championship course that has hosted many events over the years, including Final Qualifying for The Open Championship and the men's and women's Amateur Championships. Golf has been played over the historic West Links course since the 17th century, and it was the first club in the world to allow female members. It is sheer fun to play and a unique experience with stonewalls to negotiate, deep bunkers, all types of humps and hollows, burns, blind shots and beach shots. For many golfers, it is their “favourite” course in the world. It is an absolute gem. 

Muirfield

Muirfield is the course of “The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers” and was formed in 1744 making it the oldest golf club in the world. It was originally a 5-hole course over Leith Links, but in 1891 Old Tom Morris designed a 16-hole course at Muirfield. In 1928 Harry Colt and Tom Simpson made alterations that made it the great course it is today. It is designed as 2 concentric rings, the outward ring runs clockwise and the inward nine runs anticlockwise, sitting inside the outward nine. This ensures that the wind hits you from all directions. It has hosted 15 opens, most recently in 2013, making it the fairest test of golf. A land swap was done with neighbouring Renaissance Club prior to the 2013 open, lengthening the course further. 

Carnoustie

Carnoustie is often known as Car-nasty due its famous difficulty - a ‘hidden’ burn the snakes its way through the course and strong cold winds can whip through the course. It is an historic (1867) famous course having hosted 8 Open Championships. The 1999 Open Championship is best remembered for the collapse of Frenchgolfer Jean van de Velde, who needed only a double-bogey six on the 72nd hole to win the Open—and proceeded to score a triple-bogey seven. He lost the four-hole aggregate playoff and the championship to Paul Lawrie.

St Andrews Old

The Old Course at St Andrews is one of the oldest golf courses in the world, a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It is considered to be the "home of golf" because the sport was first played on the Links at St Andrews in the early 15th century. The Old Course has hosted the Open Championship 29 times since 1873, most recently in 2015. This is more than any other course, and The Open is currently played there every five years. One of the unique features of the Old Course are the large double greens. Seven greens are shared by two holes each, with hole numbers adding up to 18. The Swilcan Bridge, spanning the burn on the18th hole, has become a famous icon for golf in the world. Everyone who plays the 18th hole walks over this 700-year-old bridge, and many iconic pictures of the farewells of the most iconic golfers in history have been taken on this bridge. It is also home of The Road Hole, the par-4 17th, one of the world's most famous golf holes and ‘Hell’ Bunker on the 14^th hole.

Please note: Securing a tee time on the Old Course at St Andrews is dependent on your success in the ballot system. There are tow ballots you can enter - the Daily Ballot and th Singles Daily Draw. You will have 5-nights in St Andrews, increasing your chances to be successful in the ballot. We will assist you with entering the ballot.

Kingsbarns 

Kingsbarns was designed by Kyle Phillips and opened to rapturous applause in 2000. The layout feels so natural you would think it had been there for many years. The terrain is perfect for golf with rippling fairways, humps and hollows, and overlooks the North Sea from virtually every hole. It is virtually the only true links course to be recently built along Scotland’s coastline. It hosted the Women’s British Open once in 2017 and is rated 42 in the World. It is a very popular course with golfers.

Please Note: a game at Kingsbarns is optional and not included in the package price.

Ian & Lyn Greenwood in Japan (Peter & Heather behind them)