Editor’s Picks: My favourite Open venues
My favourite Open venues: No 1 – Muirfield
My first working Open as a journalist was Muirfield in 2002. I arrived on the Saturday before – this in the days when final qualifying took place on Sunday and Monday at four nearby courses. In this case, North Berwick, Dunbar, Luffness and Gullane No 1 were the venues and I tore around them all watching the likes of Sam Torrance, Andrew Coltart and – why do I remember this? – Esteban Toledo trying to qualify for Muirfield.
I left 10 days later having done several laps of Muirfield and absorbed every last detail from the championship. Truly nobody can have obsessed over an Open like I did that one.
Conclusion
You may have spotted a theme – an Open is only really an Open to me when it takes place in Scotland. The birthplace of the game just feels like it adds an extra layer to the championship. Right now, that seems a little greedy – I’d take any venue, and I know you would too. Just as long as it was near the sea of course.
Do you agree with my choices? Let me know in the comments below or you can tweet me. And come back soon to enjoy another list…
Dan Murphy
Dan loves links golf, which doesn't mean he is very good at it. He is a four-handicapper at Alwoodley. A qualified journalist and senior editor with 25 years’ experience, he was the long-time editor of NCG. His passion is golf courses and he is the founding editor of NCG Top 100s course rankings. He loves nothing more than discovering and highlighting courses that are worthy of greater recognition.
