Lytham lands 2028 Open as Muirfield and Turnberry miss out - what now for Scottish courses

As had been hinted last week by The Scotsman, the event is heading back to the Lancashire venue in two years’ time, joining Royal Birkdale, venue for this year’s tournament, and St Andrews, where it will be staged for a record 31st time in 2027, on The R&A’s list of confirmed venues.

It will be the 12th staging of the Claret Jug event on the Fylde links, where it was last held in 2012 as Ernie Els followed in the footsteps of Bobby Jones, Bobby Locke, Peter Thomson, Sir Bob Charles, Tony Jacklin, Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros, Tom Lehman and David Duval by being crowned as Champion Golfer of the Year.

It had been hoped by many that a return to Muirfield, where the tournament was last staged in 2013, could be on the cards in 2028, while Donald Trump-owned Turnberry is also waiting to get it again for the first time since 2009.

However, hot on the heels of hosting the AIG Women’s Open this summer, Royal Lytham & St Annes will also now be back in the men’s major spotlight for an edition being held a fortnight later than usual due to the 2028 Olympics being held in Los Angeles.

“Royal Lytham & St Annes is widely renowned as one of the world’s finest links courses and has witnessed many great championship moments since The Open was first played there in 1926, when the legendary Bobby Jones won,” said Mark Darbon, The R&A’s chief executive.

“This is one of golf’s most-cherished and historic venues and The Open’s return to these famous links will spark huge interest among fans to be part of one of the world’s great sporting events and celebrate the rich traditions of golf’s original championship.

“We are grateful to the members of Royal Lytham & St Annes and the local authorities for their support in making this happen. We look forward to enjoying another fantastic championship on England’s golf coast in 2028.”

‘Great ongoing dialogue’ with Muirfield

Speaking at a media event at Royal Birkdale ahead of this year’s event at the Southport venue, Darbon admitted that the process for selecting the 2028 venue had taken “some time to resolve” due to the change of dates before answering questions about where both Muirfield and Turnberry stood in terms of future editions.

“We've got a great ongoing dialogue with Muirfield,” he said of the East Lothian venue, which is staging The R&A Women’s Amateur Championship for the first time in June. “In the same way that there are with many of our venues, there are some things that we need to overcome to facilitate a modern Open Championship.

“The practice ground is one of those aspects and there's a few on-course infrastructural points we need to work on with the club. That dialogue is a good one. The team from Muirfield are actually with us later in May to further that discussion. Ongoing discussion is still very much on our minds and a good dialogue.”

While the practice ground issue is one that should be easily overcome, it is believed that a current stumbling block is The R&A being keen to move the green at the par-5 fifth to alleviate a “pinch point” due to its current close proximity to the 11th green and 12th tee.

As for Turnberry, where the Ailsa Course has been renovated since Stewart Cink broke Tom Watson’s heart in 2009, Darbon said: “Yeah, Turnberry is still in our thinking. Not a huge amount of new news to report, I guess. We really like the golf course and we know that there are some logistical challenges that relate to staging a modern Open Championship.

“They're primarily off the course - road and rail and accommodation infrastructure. We've got a really good dialogue with the club and its ownership. Pretty transparent discussion and that dialogue will continue.”