All indications seem to show that Royal Troon is proving, once again, an excellent test for the 2024 Open Championship.
There was some concern from locals after Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson tore the place apart on the way to Stenson’s Open Championship record of 20-under 264 back in 2016. But after opening rounds where the scoring average was well above three over, those fears have subsided.
With an exciting weekend in store at Troon, let’s peek ahead to the event’s future.
Unlike the USGA and the U.S. Open, the R&A keeps a rotation of nine courses to use for the Open Championship. Additionally, while the U.S. Open has course assignments on the books for every year through 2043 and additional ones scheduled until 2051, the Open Championship has just two courses scheduled for the next two years.
The only theme the Open likes to keep is alternating between a Scottish host and an English host, with the now occasional mix-in of Northern Ireland’s Royal Portrush.
Keep reading below for the full schedule of Open Championship venues for the next two years.
2025: Royal Portrush Golf Club – Portrush, Northern Ireland
It may have taken 68 years for Royal Portrush to get its second Open Championship, but it will only take six for it to get its third. The Open will return to Northern Ireland next year and that will be sure to make 2024 Open Championship 36-hole leader Shane Lowry very happy. Lowry emerged victorious at Portrush in 2019 while Rory McIlroy, who set the course record at Portrush when he was just 16, missed the cut in his first Open played in his home country.
2026: Royal Birkdale Golf Club – Southport, England
The Open Championship returns to England with a visit to Royal Birkdale in 2026, which is not far from the site of the 2023 Open at Royal Liverpool. This will be Birkdale’s 11th time hosting golf’s oldest major despite only joining the rota in 1954. Jordan Spieth memorably won the last Open played there in 2017 after making a dramatic bogey Sunday from the practice range on the 13th before going on a torrid run of birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie to pull ahead of Matt Kuchar for the Claret Jug. The club is currently making major changes to the course ahead of the tournament, including a brand new par-3 15th.
