Just the sight of the clubhouse at the venue hosting The Open Championship sends shivers down my spine.
Arriving on site, you naturally look for the big yellow leaderboards that sit on top of the grandstands and hover above the surrounds of the 18th hole.
But one of the more charming and intimate features of the world’s best golf tournament that I never tire of is seeing the club’s members peering through the glass on the final day, catching a glimpse of the action at the course they call home, from their own 19th hole.
There are some quite remarkable and historic structures embedded in the links turf of each venue on The Open Rota. The iconic clubhouse here at Royal Birkdale was erected 91 years ago in its instantly recognisable Art Deco guise.
This clubhouse features in my top five for sure. It is embedded in the minds of thousands of golf fans, and those of us who have been lucky enough to play it as well.
So, without further delay, here are my favourite clubhouses at The Open…
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5. Royal Troon
The clubhouse at Troon in South Ayrshire was designed by Scottish architect Henry Edward Clifford and completed in 1886. Interestingly, the Portland course at Troon also has its own clubhouse.
Troon has played host to remarkable championships, none arguably more so than Henrik Stenson’s 2016 victory over Phil Mickelson in a titanic tussle. Images of Stenson with the Claret Jug will forever include the backdrop of that famous grey building.
4. Muirfield
Home to the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, this clubhouse at Muirfield was built in 1891, which was the same year when the Honourable Company moved from Musselburgh. It cost a modest £1,574 to construct – a little more to maintain, maybe.
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It was designed by Hall Blyth, a former captain of the club. He was an engineer, which can explain the Elizabethan look and the half-timbered gable. Phil Mickelson, Nick Faldo, Ernie Els, Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino and Gary Player have all had the privilege of winning The Open at this most treasured East Lothian venue, in front of this magnificent clubhouse.
3. Royal Birkdale
The white Art Deco clubhouse behind the 18th at Birkdale was built in 1935 and was designed by George E. Tonge, who won a competition to design the building.
Tonge said, “I visualised the kind of clubhouse that I thought ought to intrude itself onto this lovely course,” he said. “I imagined the lines of a liner at sea; the perfect balance of the ship at whatever angle and from whatever side it was seen.”
In 2019, two years after Jordan Spieth won The Open there, the clubhouse was refurbished back to the original art deco style. Many iconic Open moments – Seve’s chip in 1976, Rose’s hole-out, Harrington’s victory – all happened in front of this most unique clubhouse.
2. The Old Course at St Andrews
The building was originally constructed in 1854, 100 years after the formation of the R&A. As we know, it is set behind the 18th green and 1st tee of the Old Course at St Andrews.
It is the headquarters of the R&A, which governs the rules of golf and organises The Open Championship. It oversees many departments of development throughout the amateur game.
Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo, Jack Nicklaus, and Seve Ballesteros have all won the Claret Jug in front of the crowd that lines the paths behind the 18th green and in front of the R&A clubhouse.
1. Royal Lytham & St Annes
1 and 2 are interchangeable here, really. But I love the clubhouse at Royal Lytham and St. Annes, and everything inside it. The building was completed in 1898, the club was founded in 1886, and it was given its royal status in 1926.
In 1979, the clubhouse and its members overlooked Ballesteros winning The Open in the year when he famously escaped the car park on the 16th hole. Gary Player also won the Claret Jug for the third time at RLSA in 1974.
Inside the clubhouse is a grand mural of Ballesteros and, among many other things, the clubs that belonged to the Open champions.
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