Course Preview and Fits: The Open Championship

It’s Open Championship week! The first Open Championship was held all the way back in 1860, making it the longest-running professional golf tournament in the world. And since the PGA Championship moved to May in 2019, The Open has marked the end of what now feels like a very quick major season. For most PGA Tour fans, The Open is a uniquely special event. Thursday and Friday coverage will start at 1:30 a.m. ET and run until 3:30 p.m., giving us 14 hours of golf shots to live and die by. We certainly don’t have to worry about the field this week, as The Open will sport one of the strongest fields all year at one of the best venues in all of golf, Royal Portrush’s Dunluce Links.

The Course:

Though it’s been regarded as one of the finest courses in the world since its creation, and part of the Open rota for 70+ years, 2025 will mark only the third time that Portrush has hosted The Open Championship. The Open was first played at Portrush in 1951, but didn’t return until 2019 due to infrastructure concerns and political issues. Infrastructure concerns were addressed roughly a decade ago when Portrush axed the 17th and 18th holes, replacing them with two previously existing holes from the Valley course. The replacement holes slotted in as the new 7th and 8th holes, while the rest of the course was pushed back, making the old 16th the new 18th. This not only added length to the golf course, but it also allowed for the classic amphitheater setup around the 18th green, and a spectator village where the old 17th and 18th used to reside.