For this, our 151st Championship, we wanted to understand what this unique form of the game means to fans and players. So we listened to the people who come here to be part of it. But we also talked to people who simply love our game – as well as fans who love sport in general.
This latter group told us that they love being part of a world-class sporting event. And they want to share that event with their friends and family, in an all-encompassing experience.
Golf fans feel something similar. However, for them, being part of The Open is about paying homage.
The sun. The water. The wind. The earth.
We asked golf fans to tell us what The Open means to them. What they described was a battle against nature. Of these ancient strips of turf between shore and sea creating the incredible golf courses where our game began.
And there’s the difference: the land shapes the course, not the other way around. This is what makes links golf uniquely timeless.
What makes The Open, The Open?
Links golf sets the player against the raw and unpredictable power of nature. Nothing else comes close.
It’s about pitting yourself against fate, and finding the resilience to carry on. Links golf tests the golfer’s resolve and intuition as much as it challenges their fitness and skill.
It’s why intensity and emotion flow from every shot – and it’s what makes The Open so heart-stopping to watch. Every dramatic moment amplified by a crowd that understands the privilege of being so close to these moments of sporting greatness.
Shaped by the unknowable
Our brand is based on a simple truth: every one of us faces challenges, our characters shaped by what we overcome. There will be bad luck. There will be good luck. At times, it feels as if there is no way of understanding what is going to happen.
This – all this – is what makes The Open a test like no other. These are courses renowned the world over, but which can never truly be understood. The quest never ends.
After all, this is The Open. Even the player who lifts the Claret Jug cannot claim to have all the answers.
Links golf doesn’t work like that. And that is why links golf is at the heart of what The Open stands for.