Royal Lytham & St Annes to Host the 156th Open Championship in 2028

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Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club remains one of the most respected venues in championship golf, and in 2028 it will host The Open Championship for the 12th time. The return of the world’s oldest major to the Fylde Coast reinforces the course’s long-standing position on The Open rota and its reputation as one of the most exacting tests in the sport. The Championship will come back to Lytham for the first time since 2012, when Ernie Els claimed the Claret Jug in dramatic fashion. That year also saw Tiger Woods mount a strong challenge, finishing among the leading contenders as he once again demonstrated his affinity for the strategic demands of the course.

Royal Lytham first staged The Open in 1926, when American amateur Bobby Jones secured victory on the Championship’s debut visit to the links. His triumph helped establish the course’s international standing and formed part of a glittering era in early twentieth-century golf.

Although slightly inland compared to some seaside links, Royal Lytham retains all the classic features that define Open Championship golf: fast-running fairways, shifting coastal winds and more than 200 strategically placed bunkers that punish wayward shots. Precision and patience are essential here, and power alone rarely guarantees success. Over the years, champions such as Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros and Tom Lehman have added their names to the roll of honour at Lytham. Each edition has reinforced the venue’s status as a course that rewards tactical intelligence and composure under pressure.

The 2028 Championship is expected to draw a global audience and thousands of spectators to Lytham St Annes and the wider Fylde Coast, bringing significant economic and cultural impact. More than a century after it first hosted the world’s greatest golfers, Royal Lytham & St Annes continues to occupy a distinguished place in the story of The Open.