Opens: 1926, 1952, 1958, 1963, 1969, 1974, 1979, 1988, 1996, 2001, 2012
Location: Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England
The course at Royal Lytham & St Annes was built in 1897, 11 years after the club was founded. It quickly gained a reputation as one of the finest, and most exacting links golf courses in Britain. Though a relatively short course, the routing of the holes and the huge number of bunkers — some 200 in all — make it one of the most challenging of the Open venues. The design remains faithful to the layout created by George Lowe, the club’s first professional, but it was only after renowned golf course architect Harry Colt made improvements between 1919 and 1922 that the course was chosen to host The Open.
The Lancashire course could hardly have had a better introduction to Championship golf than the victory by legendary American amateur Bobby Jones when The Open was first played there in 1926. Bobby Locke (1952), Peter Thomson (1958) and Bob Charles (1963) were the next three winners before Tony Jacklin signalled the revival of British golf in 1969 with the first home victory since Max Faulkner 18 years earlier at Royal Portrush.
| Lytham at a glance |
Course length (2001 Open)
6,905 yards, par 71
Great Moment
On the morning of the final round, event leader Tony Jacklin found a note from friend and fellow pro Bert Yancey on his locker; it simply read “Tempo”. Jacklin went on to hold his nerve — and tempo — to become the first home-grown winner of The Open in 18 years.
Club website
www.royallytham.org |
Gary Player was next on the podium at Lytham, in 1974, and in 1979 Seve Ballesteros lit the fuse of European golf with a brilliant short game display — as well as a recovery shot from a car park — to finish three shots clear of Jack Nicklaus and Ben Crenshaw. Seve returned in 1988 to win his third Open title, closing with a round of 65 to finish two ahead of Nick Price with Nick Faldo in third place, six shots behind.
It took until 1996 for Lytham to produce an American winner. Tom Lehman saw the six-shot lead that he held on Sunday morning eroded by Mark McCumber and Ernie Els, but he held on for a two-shot victory. In 2001, fellow US pro David Duval was three strokes clear of Niclas Fasth of Sweden in winning the Championship.