The 2025 Open Championship at Royal Portrush has been a blast to watch, without question. The one venue for The Open in Northern Ireland does allow for plenty of scoring, but the wildly varying conditions always make this site for the British Open unpredictable and fun. That's true even if the heavy favorite, Scottie Scheffler, ultimately took command of the tournament in the lead before we even got to the weekend. He then pulled away further going into the final round on Sunday, sitting with a four-shot lead after 54 holes. That could happen at any Open Championship location, though.
Royal Portrush will likely be remembered now as the place where Scheffler broke through in The Open, but it probably won't be the last time we see him holding the Claret Jug. Whether we're in Scotland, Northern Ireland, England or wherever, Scheffler's run of dominance that he's currently riding is impossible to ignore. You can pick whatever Open Championship sites that you want in the future — the No. 1 player in the world probably has the answers needed to whatever test is at hand.
Yet, golf fans are naturally going to wonder where Scheffler will have his next chances at the British Open, and if there are any venues forthcoming that other players might have a chance to catch him.
The R&A, the governing body that runs The Open Championship, has a rota of courses that they move through over the years. The only set location in that rota is a return to historic St. Andrews once every five years, serving as sort of a home base. Outside of that, however, the future Open Championship locations are chosen from a select number of courses. The number of venues in the rota has shrunk over the tournament's long history, and though not official yet, it may have shrunk further in recent years without returning to a place like Royal Lytham since 2012.
Knowing all that, though, golf fans should be excited about where The Open Championship is heading in the near future, and where it could head beyond that. Let's take a look at the upcoming British Open locations that are known, and the courses we think the major championship could be held thereafter. As of right now, we know where The Open is heading in 2026 and then in 2027 as well, so it only makes sense to start there.
Where is The Open Championship in 2026 and in 2027?
The 2026 Open Championship will be heading back to Royal Birkdale in Southport, England for the next edition of the championship. The site hasn't hosted the British Open since 2017, when Jordan Spieth emerged victorious to capture another major for his mantle. The year after for the 2027 British Open, the R&A is taking the tournament back to the home of golf at the Old Course at St. Andrews.
Year | Site | Location |
|---|---|---|
2026 Open Championship | Royal Birkdale Golf Club | Southport, England |
2027 Open Championship | Old Course at St. Andrews | St. Andrews, Scotland |
Those are the only announced future British Open sites from the R&A at this point, which is unlike the U.S. Open and PGA Championship where the governing bodies there already have tournaments booked at venues through 2051 in some cases. However, with that, we have some flexibility to look at the possibilities for beyond 2027 and make some predictions for where The Open could head next after St. Andrews.
Predicting future Open Championship sites for 2028, 2029 and 2030
Year | Predicted Future Site | Location |
|---|---|---|
2028 Open Championship | Muirfield | Gullane, Scotland |
2029 Open Championship | Royal St. Georges | Sandwich, England |
2030 Open Championship | Carnoustie Golf Links | Carnoustie, Scotland |
Looking at the courses in the rota, this would make the most sense for the R&A when it comes to future sites. Muirfield is one of the most frequently visited sites for the British Open historically, but the R&A hasn't returned there since 2013. It's time to head back to Gullane in what will have been 15 years when the 2028 Open Championship rolls around.
Next up, we have the 2029 British Open coming to Royal St. Georges, which last hosted the tournament back in 2021, the site of Collin Morikawa's victory. While that tournament itself is a bit maligned for the lack of conditions, so many venues in the rota are dependent upon that. Having been to the course 15 times in The Open's history, though, it makes sense to have that up, and to break up two Scottish venues with one in England.
As for the other Scottish venue, let's go with Carnoustie hosting the 2030 British Open. Francesco Molinari's win in 2018 was the last time the event came to the course, but it's always delivered some terrific golf, and it'd be a shame not to head back there sooner rather than later.
Which courses are no longer in the rota for the British Open?
There are only 10 sites in the Open Championship rota that are still used, but there are 14 courses in total that have hosted the event in history. Four of the venues are no longer in use. Those are Prestwich Golf Club (last hosted in 1925), Musselburgh Links (last hosted in 1889), Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club (last hosted in 1920), and Prince's Golf Club (last hosted in 1932). Considering that it's been at least 100 years since The Open has come to any of these sites, those truly aren't even in the consciousness of golf fans at this point in time.