The 18th gap throughout the second spherical of The one hundred and fiftieth Open Championship at St. Andrews. | Picture by Keyur Khamar/PGA Tour through Getty Photos
St. Andrews will once more host The Open in 2027, which made us study all 4 main venues for that 12 months. One stands out like a sore thumb.
In contrast to america Golf Affiliation (USGA), which has introduced U.S. Open venues for the subsequent 25 years by way of 2051, the R&A likes to attend till the final minute to unveil their host programs for The Open Championship.
Look no additional than Thursday’s announcement. The R&A particular the Outdated Course at St. Andrews to host The Open once more in 2027. The a hundred and fifty fifth Open may also mark the a centesimal anniversary because the legendary Bobby Jones first conquered the Outdated Course as an newbie, doing so by six pictures over Aubrey Boomer of Jersey and Englishman Fred Robson.
Three years later, Jones received The Beginner Championship on the Outdated Course, cementing himself as a legend on the Residence of Golf. Nearly three many years after that, in 1958, the Metropolis of St. Andrews awarded Jones a distinguished honor, naming him a Freeman of the Metropolis. Just one different American had ever acquired this award earlier than Jones did, and that was Benjamin Franklin in 1759. Jack Nicklaus lately turned the third American to earn this distinction in 2022.
The a hundred and fifty fifth Open Champion will conclude a memorable main championship run in 2027, as two different historic programs might be featured. Because it does yearly, Augusta Nationwide will welcome the world’s finest gamers to The Masters Event in April. Then, in June, the U.S. Open returns to Pebble Seaside for a seventh time. Nicklaus, after all, received the primary U.S. Open ever performed there in 1972, and in 2019, the final time it hosted, Gary Woodland bested Brooks Koepka by three to say his solely main title.
However the 2027 main calendar encompasses a PGA Championship that may, sadly, stick out like a sore thumb. Area Ranch East at PGA Frisco in Texas, now the house of the PGA of America, will host its first main championship. This course, designed by famend architects Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, opened for play in Might 2023 and hosted the Senior PGA Championship shortly thereafter. Steve Stricker defeated Padraig Harrington in a playoff that week, however the golf course itself didn’t stand out. As a substitute, it seemed as if the seniors performed by way of a cow pasture, a wasteland escape that made you suppose you had been in rural West Texas — not a brief drive north of Dallas. The course doesn’t have the historical past and vistas that Augusta Nationwide, Pebble Seaside, and St. Andrews have both, making it more difficult to carry up towards these venerable establishments in golf. One may argue that these different programs are the three most well-known on this planet — the Holy Trinity of golf. Whereas at PGA Frisco, you’ll have the professionals competing on a brand-new structure that followers are unfamiliar with. Positive, the course acquired rave opinions from Golf Digest and can problem the world’s finest because of its smaller, contoured greens, prolonged structure at 7,800 yards, and loads of bunkering. However throwing it into the PGA Championship rotation, particularly this 12 months, appears just a little short-sided.
Think about if an iconic American venue, one that’s acquainted to golf followers far and huge, like Oakland Hills, Winged Foot, or Kiawah Island, hosted the 2027 PGA Championship as a substitute. If that had been the case, golfers and followers would level to 2027 as presumably the best 12 months ever for main host websites. As a substitute, we’ve a PGA Championship that stands out, one that will make some followers anxious, just because it’s an unknown. But, given how we noticed the 2023 Senior PGA Championship play out, it didn’t impress us in any respect, and in all chance, it is not going to maintain as much as the opposite three programs that host that 12 months both.
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By way of. Observe him on X @jack_milko.
The 18th gap throughout the second spherical of The one hundred and fiftieth Open Championship at St. Andrews. | Picture by Keyur Khamar/PGA Tour through Getty Photos
St. Andrews will once more host The Open in 2027, which made us study all 4 main venues for that 12 months. One stands out like a sore thumb.
In contrast to america Golf Affiliation (USGA), which has introduced U.S. Open venues for the subsequent 25 years by way of 2051, the R&A likes to attend till the final minute to unveil their host programs for The Open Championship.
Look no additional than Thursday’s announcement. The R&A particular the Outdated Course at St. Andrews to host The Open once more in 2027. The a hundred and fifty fifth Open may also mark the a centesimal anniversary because the legendary Bobby Jones first conquered the Outdated Course as an newbie, doing so by six pictures over Aubrey Boomer of Jersey and Englishman Fred Robson.
Three years later, Jones received The Beginner Championship on the Outdated Course, cementing himself as a legend on the Residence of Golf. Nearly three many years after that, in 1958, the Metropolis of St. Andrews awarded Jones a distinguished honor, naming him a Freeman of the Metropolis. Just one different American had ever acquired this award earlier than Jones did, and that was Benjamin Franklin in 1759. Jack Nicklaus lately turned the third American to earn this distinction in 2022.
The a hundred and fifty fifth Open Champion will conclude a memorable main championship run in 2027, as two different historic programs might be featured. Because it does yearly, Augusta Nationwide will welcome the world’s finest gamers to The Masters Event in April. Then, in June, the U.S. Open returns to Pebble Seaside for a seventh time. Nicklaus, after all, received the primary U.S. Open ever performed there in 1972, and in 2019, the final time it hosted, Gary Woodland bested Brooks Koepka by three to say his solely main title.
However the 2027 main calendar encompasses a PGA Championship that may, sadly, stick out like a sore thumb. Area Ranch East at PGA Frisco in Texas, now the house of the PGA of America, will host its first main championship. This course, designed by famend architects Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, opened for play in Might 2023 and hosted the Senior PGA Championship shortly thereafter. Steve Stricker defeated Padraig Harrington in a playoff that week, however the golf course itself didn’t stand out. As a substitute, it seemed as if the seniors performed by way of a cow pasture, a wasteland escape that made you suppose you had been in rural West Texas — not a brief drive north of Dallas. The course doesn’t have the historical past and vistas that Augusta Nationwide, Pebble Seaside, and St. Andrews have both, making it more difficult to carry up towards these venerable establishments in golf. One may argue that these different programs are the three most well-known on this planet — the Holy Trinity of golf. Whereas at PGA Frisco, you’ll have the professionals competing on a brand-new structure that followers are unfamiliar with. Positive, the course acquired rave opinions from Golf Digest and can problem the world’s finest because of its smaller, contoured greens, prolonged structure at 7,800 yards, and loads of bunkering. However throwing it into the PGA Championship rotation, particularly this 12 months, appears just a little short-sided.
Think about if an iconic American venue, one that’s acquainted to golf followers far and huge, like Oakland Hills, Winged Foot, or Kiawah Island, hosted the 2027 PGA Championship as a substitute. If that had been the case, golfers and followers would level to 2027 as presumably the best 12 months ever for main host websites. As a substitute, we’ve a PGA Championship that stands out, one that will make some followers anxious, just because it’s an unknown. But, given how we noticed the 2023 Senior PGA Championship play out, it didn’t impress us in any respect, and in all chance, it is not going to maintain as much as the opposite three programs that host that 12 months both.
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By way of. Observe him on X @jack_milko. Learn Extra