Royal Lytham & St Annes: a championship history

A club founded in 1886, a course established later

Royal Lytham & St Annes began in 1886, but the present playing ground belongs to a later stage of its development. The club moved to its current site in 1897. The first course occupied land associated with what became St Annes Old Links, whose own history records the relocation. These are neighbouring clubs with connected beginnings, not two interchangeable names for the same course.

George Lowe, Royal Lytham's first professional, laid out the new links. Historic England's study of golf-course landscapes credits him with the original design at both Royal Lytham and Royal Birkdale. The relationship between professional, instructor and course designer was close: the people helping golfers play the game also helped shape the ground on which they played it. That background gives the architecture a human connection beyond a famous name on a modern scorecard. St Annes Old Links: the shared early history; Historic England: golf-course landscapes and designers.

Bobby Jones’s 1926 victory here was the first of his three Open titles. He won again at St Andrews in 1927 and Royal Liverpool in 1930, taking his championship success across three different links.

A links inside the town

The course's setting differs from the coastal panorama sometimes assumed to define an Open venue. A railway flanks the ground and housing surrounds it; the sea is close enough to influence the wind without dominating the view from every hole. The club identifies its many pot bunkers as an important part of the examination. Precision and the next useful position matter as much as the distance a player can gain.

The opening hole is a par three, an unusual beginning among Open venues. That changes the rhythm of the start: the first question is an approach to a green rather than a drive followed by an approach. At the other end of the round, the finishing holes have repeatedly made an apparently secure lead feel less comfortable. A visitor following the championship history can therefore look for the relationship between individual hazards and the cumulative demands of the closing stretch. Royal Lytham: official course overview.

1926: Jones introduces the venue to The Open

Bobby Jones won Royal Lytham's first Open in 1926 with 291, two strokes ahead of Al Watrous. The club had received its Royal designation before the championship. Jones's recovery from a sandy area beside the seventeenth became the defining shot of the finish, helping him overtake the professional playing alongside him.

The victory was the first of Jones's three Opens. It also places Royal Lytham in the history of amateur achievement within an event that admitted both amateurs and professionals. His later Grand Slam should not be projected backwards to make this an inevitable success: in 1926 he still had to recover from a difficult position and finish the championship. The course's first Open supplied a contest, not simply a ceremonial arrival for an already guaranteed winner. The R&A: Jones's first Open.

1952: Locke wins his third title

The Open returned in 1952, twenty-six years after its first visit. Bobby Locke finished on 287, one stroke ahead of Peter Thomson. Fred Daly had led earlier in the championship, but Locke's final day gave him a third Claret Jug in four years. The long interval between the venue's first two editions shows that hosting has never been a guarantee of a fixed cycle.

The R&A also records an unusual difficulty before Locke's final thirty-six holes: his clubs were locked in a garage with his car, and he needed help obtaining the key. That episode is worth remembering because championship preparation includes ordinary practical problems as well as the shots spectators eventually see. It did not prevent him from arriving in time and producing the score he needed. The R&A: Locke in 1952.

Two champions decided over thirty-six extra holes

Peter Thomson and Dave Thomas tied on 278 in 1958. Thomson then won their thirty-six-hole play-off, collecting his fourth Open title. It capped a seven-year sequence in which the Australian finished either first or second. The record is particularly strong because it spans several courses, different conditions and opponents who were themselves major champions.

Bob Charles won at Lytham in 1963 after tying Phil Rodgers on 277. Their thirty-six-hole play-off was the last of that length in The Open. Charles became its first left-handed champion and its first winner from New Zealand. Those distinctions belong to his achievement without obscuring the actual route to the title: four regulation rounds established the tie, then another day of golf separated the players. The R&A: 1958; 1963.

1969: Jacklin's major breakthrough

Tony Jacklin won the 1969 Open with 280, two strokes ahead of Charles. His final drive and the response from the spectators became enduring images of the championship. The result gave the Englishman his first major and brought a home winner to an event that had recently been dominated by international champions.

Jacklin's victory is also part of the wider story of European golf, but the immediate competition deserves attention in its own right. Charles, the previous Lytham champion, was a serious challenger rather than a supporting name. The course's closing holes still had to be negotiated, and Jacklin's final-round 72 completed the job. His later Ryder Cup captaincy is another chapter, not a substitute for understanding the title he won here as a player. The R&A: Jacklin at Lytham.

1974: Player wins in a third decade

Gary Player won in 1974 with 282, four strokes ahead of Peter Oosterhuis. It was his third Open, following Muirfield in 1959 and Carnoustie in 1968. His victories therefore spanned three decades. The championship also introduced compulsory use of the larger ball previously familiar in American golf, another reminder that historical comparisons involve rules and equipment as well as architecture.

A factual caveat belongs beside this edition. The club's championship page currently prints Player's total as 277, although the four rounds it lists add to 282. The R&A's official championship archive and the independently checked results support 282, which is the figure retained here. Identifying that discrepancy is preferable to repeating an attractive but arithmetically inconsistent number. The R&A: the 1974 result; club championship account.

1979 and 1988: Ballesteros twice

Seve Ballesteros won his first Open in 1979 with 283, three strokes clear of Jack Nicklaus and Ben Crenshaw. The recovery from an overflow car park at the sixteenth became the most repeated image, but it was one part of a championship that also required exceptional scoring and short-game control elsewhere. Reducing the victory to that single incident misses the accumulated work that made the recovery valuable.

Ballesteros returned to win in 1988 with 273, two strokes ahead of Nick Price. A closing 65 supplied another demonstration of his ability, this time in a high-quality final-round contest. The two titles should be read together: one introduced a new major champion, the other confirmed a player whose command of links golf was already established. The R&A: 1979; 1988.

Lehman and Duval complete their weeks

Tom Lehman won the 1996 championship with 271, two strokes ahead of Ernie Els and Mark McCumber. His third-round 64 established the advantage. The closing round was less spectacular, but the total remained the winning one. Tiger Woods won the Silver Medal as leading amateur, adding another significant career stage to the same championship.

David Duval won in 2001 with 274, three strokes ahead of Niclas Fasth. His weekend scores of 65 and 67 resolved a closely bunched tournament. Ian Woosnam's extra club and resulting penalty became a prominent story of the final day, but Duval's performance across the course explains the title. A history that remembers only the mishap in another player's bag would miss the champion's work. The R&A: Lehman; Duval.

2012: Els finishes, Scott falters

Ernie Els won the 2012 Open with 273, one stroke ahead of Adam Scott. Els birdied the last to complete a closing 68, then waited while Scott played the finishing holes. Scott had led by four with four remaining but bogeyed each of them. Both parts of the story are essential: Els supplied a competitive final total, and Scott's closing sequence allowed it to become the winning one.

The conclusion explains why Lytham's finishing stretch occupies such a prominent place in its championship history. A lead is valuable but it is not a completed score. Until the final strokes have been played, the requirements of the remaining holes still matter. Els's second Open came ten years after his first at Muirfield, demonstrating how a career can return to a major achievement after a long interval. The R&A: the 2012 finish.

Eleven completed Opens and a continuing venue

Through 2012 Royal Lytham had staged eleven Opens. Its wider championship record includes women's, senior and amateur golf as well as the Ryder Cup. Those competitions deserve their own results headings rather than being folded into the men's Open total. The announced 2028 Open belongs to future planning and is not counted as a completed championship.

For a visit, the useful starting point is the relationship between the town-side setting, the sand and the closing holes. Follow the history through more than one player: Jones, Charles, Jacklin, Ballesteros and Els each provide a different way to understand the same ground. The practical venue and accommodation guides can then turn that interest into a trip with time to explore the Fylde coast. Royal Lytham: wider heritage; The R&A: announced venues.

Championships hosted

Championships at Royal Lytham & St Annes appear below, bringing together the competitions covered in this History section. Qualifying courses are included.

Sources and useful official links

• Confirmed: St Annes Old Links: the shared early history
• Confirmed: Historic England: golf-course landscapes and designers
• Confirmed: Royal Lytham: official course overview
• Confirmed: The R&A: Jones's first Open
• Confirmed: The R&A: Locke in 1952
• Confirmed: The R&A: 1958
• Confirmed: 1963
• Confirmed: The R&A: Jacklin at Lytham
• Confirmed: The R&A: the 1974 result
• Confirmed: club championship account
• Confirmed: The R&A: 1979
• Confirmed: 1988
• Confirmed: The R&A: Lehman
• Confirmed: Duval
• Confirmed: The R&A: the 2012 finish
• Confirmed: Royal Lytham: wider heritage
• Confirmed: The R&A: announced venues

Useful reading for your visit

• The Open 2027 St Andrews: Tickets & Hotels
• Where to stay for The Open 2028: Lytham St Annes and Blackpool
• Golf history, where it happened

Visit today

• Royal Lytham: Open 2028 visitor guide
• The Open 2027 at St Andrews
• Where to stay for The Open 2028: Lytham St Annes and Blackpool

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