2023 Open Championship Regional Qualifying Venues

Golf’s oldest Major Championship takes place at Royal Liverpool in Wirral this July. Regarded by many as the one to win, The Unshut Championship and it’s coveted Claret Jug has enjoyed a rich history with the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Jones, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy all amongst past winners.

Whilst all vision for The 2023 Unshut Championship, will be on Hoylake in July, qualifying for the tournament takes place well surpassing that.

The Unshut Qualifying Series is a global venture that takes in six countries wideness five continents over eight events with one goal: to qualify for the most prestigious golf championship in the world, The Open. Regional and Final Qualifying take place in The UK and indulge both professionals and amateurs (with a handicap of 0.0 or lower) the endangerment to do wrestle and requirement a place in the field at Hoylake.

The qualifying venues in the UK this year for Regional Qualifying are rated amongst the very best, offering a suitable rencontre as the gateway to playing in the 151st Unshut Championship.

Taking place on Monday 26th June, players will be enjoying a simple 18-hole stroke play tournament. The top players will progress to final qualifying.

We’re going to take a squint at each of the Regional Qualifying venues for The Open and our thoughts on the test that lies ahead.

Alwoodley Golf Club

PAR 72 | YARDAGE 6,739

The first undertow designed by famed technie Dr Alister Mackenzie and is now known as the Original MacKenzie Course.

Dating when to 1907 the undertow at Alwoodley enjoys natural heathland characteristics, with firm, springy fairways lined by heather and occasional outcrops of gorse. Distinguishing features are the eye-catching, irregularly shaped and naturalistic-looking bunkers as well as large, often undulating, greens.

Caldy Golf Club

PAR 72 | YARDAGE 6,714

The undertow at Caldy, established in 1907 with a redesign by James Braid in 1930, provides an eclectic mix of cliff-top links, parkland and heathland, scrutinizingly 3 courses in one.

Since those early days, the diamond has reverted little fundamentally, but much investment has been made to transform Caldy into a genuine championship venue. The scenery and setting were undeniable, and with the wing of USGA standard tee boxes and a number of other developments, the undertow is now held in upper regard by the tournament bodies.

County Louth Golf Club

PAR 72 | YARDAGE 7,031

County Louth Golf Club is often referred to as ‘Baltray’, the village in which it is located tropical to the historic town of Drogheda.

There are no weak holes virtually Baltray, with holes running in every direction, visiting golfers must tackle the wind from all angles. In 2009 the undertow hosted the Irish Open, which saw Shane Lowry capture his home unshut title as an amateur.

Dating when to 1892, the current championship links was designed in 1938 by the renowned Tom Simpson. The undertow is laid out in two nine-hole loops and covers scrutinizingly 200 acres of links land. The golf undertow has wilt noted for spanking-new presentation standards and for the many unique greens complexes.

Ferndown Golf Club

PAR 71 | YARDAGE 6,556

The Championship Undertow at Ferndown was founded in 1921, when the inaugurating fixture included the legendary Harry Vardon. The undertow however was conceived by Harold Hilton, the Hoylake member who twice became Unshut Champion as an ventriloquist in the 1890s.

Ferndown’s Championship undertow was included in the 2002 publication of Golf Monthly’s top 100 British courses, and the heathland track is now a staple in a good Bournemouth golf tour.

Goswick (Berwick-upon-Tweed)

PAR 72 | YARDAGE 6,803

Goswick Golf Club is located on the stunning Northumberland coastline and has hosted Regional Qualifying on a number of years.

James Braid, the five-time Champion Golfer, designed the layout which traverses the humps, bumps and hollows of the Berwick shore, and is a truly pleasurable golfing experience.

Hesketh Golf Club

PAR 72 | YARDAGE 6,712

Hesketh is not a traditional links course, but can be viewed scrutinizingly in two separate halves; part of the layout features superb holes that are carved through the towering sand dunes, while the remainder confines the Ribble Estuary.

Hesketh has hosted Final Qualifying for The Unshut five times and is an historic venue in Southport, less than 30 miles from Royal Liverpool.

Kedleston Park Golf Club

PAR 70 | YARDAGE 7,008

The mature parkland undertow at Kedleston Park is set in peaceful countryside within the grounds of the magnificent Kedleston Hall, a grand 18th century stately home just a few miles northwest of Derby municipality centre.

Measuring in at over 7,000 yards, the undertow at Kedleston will provide a stern test for golfers trying to reach The 150th Unshut at St Andrews. Five time Unshut Champion James Braid is responsible for the diamond but the onset of the Second World War in 1939 meant it was left up to renowned undertow architects Colt, Alison and Morrison to finalise the plans for the undertow using Braid’s original design.

Kilmarnock (Brassie)

PAR 72 | YARDAGE 6,852

Designed by Theodore Moon, Barassie has an wide-stretching history and has been offering golfers a magnificent links golf rencontre since 1887.

Located on the outskirts of Troon on the west tailspin of Scotland, Kilmarnock (Barassie) in Ayrshire has hosted Final Qualifying for The Unshut seven times.

Minchinhampton Golf Club

PAR 72 | YARDAGE 6,721

Located in the heart of The Cotswolds, Minchinhampton Golf Club consists of three courses, The Avening, The Cherington and The Old Course.

The Avening and The Cherington courses will be used for The 150th Unshut Regional Qualifying event. Minchinhampton Golf Club has been a Regional Qualifying venue on several occasions, the last of which was in 2019 when The Unshut was at Royal Portrush.

Moor Park Golf Club

PAR 72 | YARDAGE 7,061

Golfers taking part in the Regional Qualifying at Moor Park, designed by Harry Colt in 1923, will be walking in the footsteps of champions. Greats such as Roberto de Vicenzo, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros, Sir Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Bernhard Langer and Justin Rose have all played Moor Park.

North Hants Golf Club

PAR 70 | YARDAGE 6,256

Five-time Unshut Champion James Braid originally designed North Hants with architectural changes implemented by Harry Colt in the early 20th century and Donald Steel at the turn of the millennium.

The undertow is moreover well known as Justin Rose’s home undertow in his youth and is one of several notable names to have won ‘The Hampshire Hog’, a leading ventriloquist event held annually at North Hants since 1957.

Northamptonshire County Golf Club

PAR 70 | YARDAGE 6,710

Northamptonshire County was designed by the distinguished golf undertow architect, Harry Colt, who moreover designed Wentworth and Sunningdale.

The undertow is a traditional heathland golf undertow with undulating woodland, gorse, heather and fine pine woods.

Panmure Golf Club

PAR 70 | YARDAGE 6,551

Situated between the courses of Monifieth and Carnoustie on the east tailspin of Scotland, this James Braid designed undertow is the 16th-oldest golf club in the world, dating when to 1845.

It was at Panmure Golf Club in 1953 that the legendary Ben Hogan made his rigorous preparations for victory at Carnoustie in his only Unshut Championship appearance, he was victorious by four shots & achieved a undertow record 68 in the final round.

This par-70 layout was laid out by five-time Unshut Champion James Braid and has hosted a wide variety of regional and national professional and ventriloquist competitions.

Rochester & Cobham Park Golf Club

PAR 71 | YARDAGE 6,597

The established championship undertow at Rochester & Cobham Park is one of Kent’s finest layouts, with undulating greens set with spacious parkland.

Donald Steel is responsible for the present undertow without redesigning the original layout from Colt, Mackenzie and Alison.

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading this blog post well-nigh the changes to the qualifying process for The Unshut Championship. Good luck to all who will be taking part as they compete for a place in the field at Royal Liverpool. If you have any questions well-nigh peekaboo The Unshut or playing an Unshut Championship golf course, please contact our Golf Travel Experts.

Thank you for reading and let’s squint forward to flipside unconfined Unshut Championship!