The Forgotten Homes of The Open
Watching The Open recently, I found myself thinking about the courses we don't see anymore.
Every July, the golfing world turns its attention to one of the great venues on The Open rota. We watch the wind, the bunkers, the impossible pin positions, and wonder how the world's best players will handle another legendary links course.
But while following this year's championship, I found myself thinking about four other courses.
Not because they're hosting...
Because they aren't.
As I've been restoring historic golf maps over the past year, I've had the privilege of working with course plans from places like Prestwick and Royal Cinque Ports. Looking closely at these old plans, it's easy to forget that these weren't simply wonderful golf courses.
They were once Open Championship venues.
Prestwick, in particular, holds a remarkable place in golf history. It wasn't merely an Open venue—it was where The Open Championship began. The first championship was played there in 1860, and for decades the world's greatest golfers returned to its fairways. Today, it no longer hosts The Open, not because the course lost its character, but because the championship simply outgrew it. Larger crowds demanded more space than the site could comfortably provide.
Royal Cinque Ports has a different story. It successfully hosted The Open twice and was scheduled to host it twice more. Nature had other ideas. Flooding forced those championships to be moved to nearby Royal St. George's, and although Royal Cinque Ports remains one of England's finest links, it quietly disappeared from the championship rota.
Yet the story doesn't end there. Today it hosts Final Open Qualifying, helping determine who earns the chance to compete for the Claret Jug. I like that thought. The championship may have moved elsewhere, but the course still plays an important role in golf's greatest week.
The same is true for several other former Open venues. Their names may not appear on this year's television broadcasts, but their influence hasn't disappeared. Their fairways are still walked. Their histories are still celebrated. Their designs continue to inspire golfers from around the world.
One of the things I've enjoyed most while restoring these old course plans is realizing that history doesn't vanish simply because the spotlight moves somewhere else. In fact, sometimes history becomes even more interesting once the crowds have gone. Perhaps that's one reason I enjoy these vintage maps so much. They're reminders that golf's story has never belonged only to the courses currently in the headlines. It belongs just as much to the places that helped shape the championship in the first place.
As I watch this week's Open unfold, I'll certainly be paying attention to the leaderboard. But I'll also be thinking about Prestwick and Royal Cinque Ports. Courses that may no longer host golf's oldest championship, yet remain forever woven into its history. Because every Open has a home. And some of its most fascinating homes are the ones we rarely talk about anymore.
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The Heritage Links