The Senior Open, Europe’s senior Major golf championship, will return to Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Wales from July 27th to 30th. This will be the third time Royal Porthcawl has hosted the prestigious competition following memorable events in 2014 and 2017.
This years’ tournament boasts a star studded line up including golfing legends such as Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard Langer and Welshman Ian Woosnam. Defending champion Darren Clarke will also be hoping to defend the title he won at Gleneagles in 2022 where he became only the fourth man in the history of the game to complete The Open and Senior Open double.
You can take a look at our feature and interview with Ian HERE.
To mark 18 days until the tournament begins we have compiled a list of 18 fun facts, one for each hole, about the tournament, the players and the venue.
| DAYS TO GO | DATE/JULY | FUN FACTS – THE SENIOR OPEN, THE PLAYERS, & THE VENUE |
| 18 | 9th | 2018 was the year that Miguel Angel Jiminez won the Senior Open. Coincidentally, he also turned pro at the age of 18 |
| 17 | 10th | The usual 17th hole at Royal Porthcawl becomes the 18th hole when competing in the Senior Open |
| 16 | 11th | Last year’s Senior Open winner, Darren Clarke captained the Ryder Cup team in 2016 at the Hazeltine National Golf Club, Minnesota |
| 15 | 12th | Tickets for the Senior Open start from £25 for adults and £7.50 for youths (16-24). Under 15s are able to attend for free upon purchase of adult or youth ticket. Bernhard Langer actually turned pro aged just 15 |
| 15 | 13th | 14 different venues have hosted the Senior Open since it started, with Turnbury hosting the most (7), then Royal Portrush (6), followed by Royal Lytham (5). |
| 13 | 14th | Bernhard Langer’s 13-stroke winning margin, the biggest in the competition’s history, saw him win the Senior Open in 2014. He also achieved the lowest under par score (-18) that year |
| 12 | 15th | Rolex became the Presenting Sponsor of the Senior Open Championship in 2012 after securing a new agreement with The R&A and the European Senior Tour |
| 11 | 16th | Miguel Angel Jimenez’s Senior Open win four years ago was his 11th senior major championship – the most of anyone in the history of the game |
| 10 | 17th | Darren Clarke scored 10 shots under par when he won the Senior Open in 2022 |
| 9 | 18th | Royal Porthcawl was founded in 1891 as a nine-hole course before the further nine holes were added in 1895 |
| 8 | 19th | Colin Montgomerie has played in the Ryder Cup eight times. Coincidentally, he has also been named European number one eight times. |
| 7 | 20th | Seven former European Ryder Cup captains are playing in this year’s Senior Open |
| 6 | 21st | It’s six years since Royal Porthcawl last hosted The Senior Open. Previous times hosted were in 2014 and 2017 |
| 5 | 22nd | Ian Woosnam has won five competitions on the Legend’s Tour |
| 4 | 23rd | Only four players have won both The Open and The Senior Open: Clarke, Tom Watson, Sir Bob Charles and Gary Player |
| 3 | 24th | Padraig Harrington’s highest world ranking is three. Coincidentally, it’s also the number of majors he has won |
| 2 | 25th | Royal Porthcawl was only the second club in Wales to be granted the title of Royal, after Royal St David’s (1909) |
| 1 | 26th | Wales’ most successful golfer of all times, Ian Woosnam spent 50 weeks as world number one. Woosnam has missed just one cut in his thirteen appearances in the Senior Open |
Tickets for The Senior Open Presented by Rolex are on sale now, with prices starting at just £25 for adults for tournament days. Season tickets, giving holders access to all four tournament days plus the Wednesday practice day, are available for only £95. For more details and to get your tickets, go HERE.
Royal Porthcawl previously hosted the Championship in 2014 and 2017, with Germany’s Bernhard Langer triumphing on both occasions. His 13-stroke victory in 2014 stills stands as the biggest winning margin in the tournament’s history.
The 2022 Senior Open saw Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke win his maiden Senior Major Championship at Gleneagles and became only the fourth man to win both The Open and The Senior Open after Bob Charles, Gary Player and Tom Watson.
Langer became the first golfer in history to win The Senior Open four times with his victory in 2019 at Royal Lytham & St Annes – moving ahead of Player and Watson with whom he previously shared three wins. The German also broke his own record of Senior Major Championship victories – securing his 11th at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Clarke’s victory in 2022 was the sixth-consecutive European success in this event, adding to Langer’s victories in 2017 and 2019, Paul Broadhurst’s win at Carnoustie in 2016, Miguel Angel Jiménez’s triumph in 2018 on the Old Course at St Andrews, and Stephen Dodd’s victory at Sunningdale in 2021.
The Senior Open was introduced in 1987 at Turnberry in Ayrshire when Neil Coles, the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the European Tour group, won the inaugural title. This led, two years later, to the formal inception of what is now the Legends Tour.
