Prestwick, United Kingdom

Prestwick

Fifty-seven men founded Prestwick Golf Club at the Red Lion Inn on July 2, 1851. Tom Morris became Keeper of the Green, Ball and Clubmaker.

Course: 18 holes · par 71
Original architect: Old Tom Morris

The course

Prestwick18 holes · par 71

Course design

Old Tom MorrisOriginal design · Prestwick · 1851

Prestwick and the birth of The Open

In October 1860, Prestwick organized the professional competition that became The Open Championship. Willie Park won the Challenge Belt after three rounds over the twelve-hole course; amateurs were admitted the following year.

Championships

Results and dates 26 editions

1860s

1860
The 1st Open
Willie Park Snr
1861
The 2nd Open
Old Tom Morris
1862
The 3rd Open
Old Tom Morris
1863
The 4th Open
Willie Park Snr
1864
The 5th Open
Old Tom Morris
1865
The 6th Open
Andrew Strath
1866
The 7th Open
Willie Park Snr
1867
The 8th Open
Old Tom Morris
1868
The 9th Open
Young Tom Morris
1869
The 10th Open
Young Tom Morris

1870s

1870
The 11th Open
Young Tom Morris
1872
The 12th Open
Young Tom Morris
1875
The 15th Open
Willie Park Snr
1878
The 18th Open
Jamie Anderson

1880s

1881
The 21st Open
Bob Ferguson
1884
The 24th Open
Jack Simpson
1887
The 27th Open
Willie Park Jnr

1890s

1890
The 30th Open
John Ball Jnr
1893
The 33rd Open
Willie Auchterlonie
1898
The 38th Open
Harry Vardon

1900s

1903
The 43rd Open
Harry Vardon
1908
The 48th Open
James Braid

1910s

1914
The 54th Open
Harry Vardon

1920s

1925
The 60th Open
Jim Barnes

1980s

1987
The Amateur Championship
Paul Mayo

2000s

2001
The Amateur Championship
Michael Hoey

Sources and editorial notes5 references

Sources for this story

History Prestwick Golf Club
History and course description.
Consulted 2026-09-21
Passages:Introduction Prestwick and the birth of The Open, paragraph 2

Record sources

2001 · The R&A: official Amateur championship results R&A official results book, 2001, PDF pages 305–308. Reported book dates retained in the source facts only until competitive-day boundaries are corroborated. This selected chronology is incomplete.
1987 · The R&A: official Amateur championship results R&A official results book, 1987, PDF pages 249–252. Reported book dates retained in the source facts only until competitive-day boundaries are corroborated. This selected chronology is incomplete.
The Open Records and Statistics The official Champion Golfers register directly enumerates this playing with ordinal, venue, and champion. Historical venue and champion spellings follow that register; any trailing parenthesized win count is occurrence metadata and is not part of the recorded winner name. The official Previous Opens decade record independently cross-checks the reviewed identity. Dates are null because the reviewed register does not state them, and no date was inferred.
The Open: championship venues The official Open venue directory, historical guide, and named Course evidence bind this continuing venue identity. Historical routing and scoring conditions are not replaced by current scorecard values. Championship venue source: www.theopen.com; Club location source: www.theopen.com. The 2026 Royal Birkdale result is separately verified by the bound final-round report.