I was only 14 when The Open was last at Royal Lytham & St Annes, when Ernie Els won. Who knew I would have to wait until my 30th year on Earth for golf’s oldest major to return there?
I watched championship golf for the first time this week at the AIG Women’s Open, and at this most famous venue. The course looked phenomenal, and the world’s best women’s players were being tested to their limits by the narrow fairways, aggressive bunkering, and enough wind to confuse.
Just a handful of players entered the final round under par, because you don’t get much change out of Lytham. Every birdie requires graft, and every shot requires meticulous attention. Just look at the second round of the defending champion Miyu Yamashita: a triple bogey on the 3rd hole, and a quadruple bogey on the iconic 18th.
Lytham is a compact piece of land, but the course isn’t short. No matter how many fairways you find, the next shot keeps you honest. It is no coincidence that we remember the champions that have lifted trophies on this hallowed section of the Fylde coast: Jones, Player, Jacklin, Ballesteros, Sorenstam, Matthew, Hall.
A stroll up the clubhouse staircase can put a lump in your throat. It is a walk through history, highlighted by a mural of Ballesteros himself. And then you’re through to the main bar, and look out over the links. It is a marvellous sight, and an even greater privilege to play there.
The magic of Royal Lytham & St Annes as a club is tangible, and the challenge of the golf course is real. We should credit the R&A for taking The Open back there in 2028, and making sure that the modern game isn’t passing it by.
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But modernity will provide a stiff test to the property in two years. Since 2012, The Open is unrecognisable and has undergone a post-pandemic boom. It is a financial behemoth attended by hundreds of thousands of feverish fans who can’t get enough.
It took less than an hour walking the course at Royal Lytham & St Annes to realise what the R&A’s biggest challenge will be in 2028: making room.
It is going to get extremely cosy around the 18th tee box. It is right next to the 2nd fairway, which is right next to the 16th tee, which is right next to the 15th green, which is right next to the 17th green. The 4th green is by the 2nd hole too, and the 3rd green, 4th tee and 6th green are all close neighbours as well.
Holes 12, 13 and 14 lie next to each other like a box of chocolate fingers, and the par-5 6th is virtually parallel to the 14th, too. Another tight spot will be by the 7th green, the 10th hole and the 11th tee box.
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What is interesting about Lytham is that there are tee boxes that fans cannot get to as well. Players tee off from the 2nd, 3rd, 8th and 9th by themselves – with no fans in the vicinity. They are on the side of the railway, and spectators spend the majority of their time on the inside of the golf course, instead of the outside.
On one hand, the proximity could make for an almighty viewing experience, in which you could swivel your head and see golf in all directions. There aren’t seismic dunes like at Birkdale, Portrush or Royal St. Georges, but there are vantage points where a lot can be taken in.
However, on the other hand, the atmosphere could become suffocating. I am not describing anything that the R&A don’t know, by the way, but it will be fascinating to see how The Open copes with these pinchpoints.
Every recent Open venue has seen enormous increases in attendance. Birkdale jumped from 235,000 to around 300,000 this year. Royal Liverpool climbed from just over 200,000 in 2014 to more than 260,000 in 2023. Portrush went from 237,000 to almost 280,000. Lytham will experience a surge of sorts, too.
What these numbers show is that Lytham has always been tight. Around 180,000 fans attended in the week Els took his second Claret Jug 14 years ago.
Birkdale made significant changes to remain on the rota this year. Hole 5 was transformed, the 7th was altered, and the 14th and 15th were brand-new holes. What used to be the par-3 14th hole is now a practice ground, and a snaking road was built to provide easier access to various parts of the golf course for spectators.
Lytham has also made adjustments, or concessions, depending on how you look at it. The 7th and 11th holes have been shifted over to make space for a new practice ground, which is on the opposite end of the golf course to the clubhouse and the 1st tee box. So, the members’ practice ground will likely be used for fan entertainment and facilities.
Time and money have been spent on bringing The Open back to Lytham, and a lot of golfing feng shui. It will be a fantastic championship.
It is easy to see, though, why the Claret Jug hasn’t returned for so long.
At times, it was difficult to catch a glimpse of Nelly Korda and the like at this year’s AIG. The crowds were phenomenal, but only reported to be around the 50,000 mark for the week. This is a tournament with only two grandstands, too – the 1st tee box and the 18th green.
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We can safely presume that this figure will be at least fourfold when The Open Championship is in town in 2028, and comfortably surpass the 180,000 figure from the 2012 Open.
This will mean more food stalls, more Open Arms tents, a larger shop, HSBC tents, Mastercard pavilions, Loch Lomond bars, and more amenities for children to entertain themselves.
Even if we compare the build to this week’s AIG Women’s Open, the media centre will be more than double in size, more cars will be frequenting the area, as well as park-and-ride services, and more hospitality structures will be erected.
Royal Lytham & St Annes deserves to stage The Open. Of that, there is no doubt. Few courses in Great Britain and Ireland ask more searching questions of the world’s best golfers, and the fans love Lytham.
But the championship will also be a fascinating test of whether one of the rota’s smallest venues can accommodate one of sport’s biggest events.
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