Best Open Championship Golf Courses

Before we go any further there really is no right answer as to which is the best Open Championship golf course of all time. But the idea here is to give you some insight into how the world's best golfers see the best British links, what they present and why they remain so vivid in our memories.

Another way of looking at our latest course guide would be to do it without St Andrews since the Old Course brings too much to the party. There's too much to take in at the Home of Golf, and it's almost like comparing apples with oranges. 

Our list below has been compiled with all the possible courses that have hosted The Open down the years.

So the likes of Turnberry and Muirfield were considered despite having not hosted an Open, for different reasons, since 2009 and 2013 respectively. 

If we were to compile a list of the best Open golf courses you can play, then it would probably look a little bit different. 

This guide has been put together to identify which courses produce the best Open Championships. 

There are something like 250 links courses on the planet, with more than 200 of them in the United Kingdom. 

Given we are talking about the best of the best, without any spoilers, all of chosen courses have scored 5 out of 5 GolfMagic stars. 

There is a very good chance that Portmarnock will be the next on The Open rota, so we can begin the question again then. 

There's little to no chance our adored Royal County Down will ever make the list, but we can safely say it would sit in the top two, and most likely top of the pile if it did ever host. 

In alphabetical order, Birkdale, Muirfield, Portrush, St Andrews and Turnberry have made our shortlist. 

Let's give you our top five, starting with a clear No.1 when it comes to hosting The Open...

Best Open Championship Golf Courses

Old Course at St Andrews

• Location: St Andrews is 50 miles north east of Edinburgh
• Year Established: Golf has been played here since something like the 15th century, maybe much earlier – it became an 18-hole layout in 1764
• Par: 72
• Length (yards): 7,297
• Green Fees (weekdays): £320
• Signature Hole: The Road Hole at 17 is like no other hole on the planet, with a drive over a railway shed before an approach to a devilish green
• Website: standrews.com

There is always a danger that we get swayed by history, romance, the regularity of the Championship visiting here and other Top 100 rankings where it always prospers. 

It's hopeless to spectate at, some of the holes don't make much sense, but it's still pure genius. 

To play there, it's like nowhere else; an opening tee shot with the widest fairway on the planet precedes an out-and-back links where the wind will being seemingly obsolete bunkers back into play.

It's ridiculous, some of the bunkers are so minuscule that you might miss them, there's a hotel that lines its penultimate hole, the 18th can be located with a 3-wood, at least one of four par-4s can be driven, there are only two par-3s and two par-5s, but the sum of its parts make for the greatest stage for any major.

READ OUR ST ANDREWS OLD COURSE REVIEW

Muirfield 

• Location: Muirfield is 20 miles north east of Edinburgh and the jewel in the East Lothian golfing crown
• Year Established: In 1891 the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers moved to its present site and it held the first four-round Open the following year
• Par: 71
• Length (yards): 7,192
• Green Fees (weekdays): £395
• Signature Hole: The par-5 17th is maybe one of the more iconic holes and a deciding factor in many an Open
• Website: muirfield.org.uk

Muirfield hasn't held a men's Open since 2013 and only two since Sir Nick Faldo claimed his third Claret Jug in 1992. 

Maybe that alters our opinion too, we're definitely not bored of a Muirfield Open, but a Championship here feels, for want of a better word, proper.

Every hole has its own charm, every hole runs in a different direction due to its layout of concentric circles and the champions here back up how a course can identify the very best golfer.

Which Open course has a better back nine and a better finish? People claim it's a bit dull given the lack of the seaside or dunes but that doesn't really stack up for me. It will be back soon enough on the rota and we'll all be reminded quite how brilliant Muirfield is.

Jack Nicklaus considers Muirfield the best links course in Britain, and it's hard to disagree. 

READ OUR MUIRFIELD COURSE REVIEW

Turnberry

• Location: Turnberry is 50 miles south west of Glasgow on the west coast of Scotland – Troon sits 25 miles north of here
• Year Established: The course was opened in 1901 and Turnberry Golf Club was established the following year
• Par: 70
• Length (yards): 7,204
• Green Fees (weekdays): £1,000 for non-resort guests, £425 for those staying
• Signature Hole: The par-3 9th, designed by Martin Ebert, idea by President Donald Trump
• Website: turnberry.co.uk

This is one of The Open's strangest stats – Turnberry has only staged four Championships and none since 2009. 

Had Tom Watson done the unthinkable, at age 59, he would be able to boast that he's bookended the quartet beginning in 1977. 

In between Greg Norman and Nick Price would prevail so you have a roll call, that includes Stewart Cink, of worthy and memorable winners.

Whereas some Open courses are talked about for their strategic brilliance, the most striking aspect about Turnberry is the setting and the wonderful run of holes along the coast from the 4th onwards. 

And it's got even better since we last visited here and most of us haven't even seen the best of Turnberry. 

The new 9th would be off the charts on an Open test and it will be a special week when we head back to Ayrshire.

READ OUR TURNBERRY COURSE REVIEW

Royal Birkdale

• Location: Birkdale is less than 20 miles directly north of Liverpool and next door to Hillside and Southport & Ainsdale
• Year Established: It was founded in 1889, decided to move to its current site three years later and given royal status in 1951
• Par: 70
• Length (yards): 7,156
• Green Fees (weekdays): £370
• Signature Hole: The 12th is an absolute world-class short hole and forms a brilliant back-to-back combo with the 13th.
• Website: royalbirkdale.com

Birkdale is very quick to come out of players' mouths when asked about the best Open challenge. 

Next year we'll be reminded of the consistently brilliant test, with the toughest opener on the rota, and even some new holes from the course where Jordan Spieth lit up in 2017. 

Now we'll have a shifted par 5 and a new par 3 and gone is the short hole where Spieth began his spectacular scoring run for home.

If you were to look at current Top 100 rankings then Birkdale is probably the big gun that is on a bit of a slide but, run your mind through every hole here, and there's very little not to love. The 10th and 11th are the last back-to-back par 4s so there's plenty of variety and different shots to be hit over the back nine.  

READ OUR ROYAL BIRKDALE COURSE REVIEW

Royal Portrush

• Location: Portrush is 60 miles north of Belfast on the northern tip of the country
• Year Established: Portrush Golf was founded in 1888 as the County Club, four years later it became the Royal County Club and assumed its current name by 1895
• Par: 71
• Length (yards): 7,381
• Green Fees (weekdays): £420
• Signature Hole: The brutish par 3, Calamity Corner, is something else and requires a long iron of 230 yards
• Website: royalportrushgolfclub.com

Portrush could easily have edged out Birkdale into fourth spot but we'll hold back for now given we've got so little to lean on in recent years. 

For years we'd heard about a teenage Rory McIlroy's 61 here, then we got the week of Shane Lowry's life six years ago. 

The opening exchanges give us something for everyone, a slightly terrifying opener, a chance of a par 5, a sweet little short hole and then two brilliant holes at 4 and 5, the latter which sits alongside the coastline and tempts you into taking it on.

The bunkers are few, there are just 62 of them, but ask plenty of the players off the tee and it's here where you truly need to excel. You are often driving across the duneland but, if you can locate the short stuff, then there is a slight more element of target golf for a links layout.

READ OUR ROYAL PORTRUSH COURSE REVIEW

Final Verdict

For many of you no doubt, Royal St George's will be the biggest omission, and we can assure you it would be next on our list. 

There's always talk of Sandwich being quirky but that's completely underselling it.

You do wonder if the likes of a Tiger Woods, and not a Ben Curtis, had won here down the years, then some of us might view St George's a bit differently.

Record 18-time major champion Nicklaus once said Open Championship courses get worse the further south you go, which says plenty about St Andrews and Muirfield, but definitely less about St George's in Kent. 

If I was offered a round at an Open Championship course then Royal Lytham & St Annes would have to be in my top three. I love it there and the first three holes offer my personal favourite start on any Open track. 

Carnoustie still gets lumped into the uninspiring bracket, but again, that's total nonsense.

Then there's Royal Liverpool, which some golfers think is the weakest of any on the Open rota, which could very well be true, but I think it's still a sparkling test. If I had one wish for Hoylake then it would be to have the club's 1st, the 3rd for The Open, as the opener for the Championship.

You've also got Royal Troon which, hopefully after last year, provided a timely reminder that it's a course with contrasting nines and the greatest short hole on the rota with the par-3 Postage Stamp 8th. 

Anyway, those are our thoughts on the greatest courses when it comes to hosting an Open, but what do you think?

Have you played any of the courses on the Open rota? Which is the best? 

Head over to GolfMagic's social media channels now and let us know.

If you have any questions about any of The Open courses, please reach out to us at GolfMagic and we'll be happy to answer.