Unprecedented movement in the golf calendar. The Royal & Ancient has announced that the Open Championship in 2028 will be held entirely in August, from the 3rd to the 6th, with the venue yet to be confirmed. This is an unparalleled event in more than a century and a half of the tournament. The trigger for the date change is the Olympic Games, which that year are brought forward and start in mid-July. However, the solution chosen by the R&A was not to bring it forward, but to delay it. Historic, and we explain why.
The Open and August have always been two parallel worlds. Until now. To find an Open that extends into the eighth month of the year, you have to go back to 1893. 132 summers ago. That year the tournament began on July 31st and ended on August 2nd. Nothing more. In fact, a complete Open has never been played in August. Furthermore, since 1949 the championship has been held uninterruptedly and entirely in July: it will be 78 consecutive editions that will find their epilogue in St Andrews 2027, where the Old Course will put the finishing touch to an era before breaking a small but significant tradition.
It is worth remembering that the Open was not born in July. It was not until 1920, at Royal Cinque Ports, in its 55th edition, that the tournament first took place in that month, although only partially, as it was played on June 30th and July 1st, with George Duncan winning. The first edition held entirely in July came in 1927, precisely at St Andrews, where Bobby Jones achieved his second victory between July 13th and 15th. The second time the Open was held entirely in July was in 1933, and since 1937, the year of Henry Cotton‘s first victory, the championship has not moved: from 1937 to 2027, exactly ninety years with the Open always ending in July, although as mentioned, between 1937 and 1948 several editions started in June.
Now, with the announced decision, August will become the eighth month to host a complete Open in the tournament’s history. Previously, April, May, June, July, September, October, and even November have done so. The Open has always known how to adapt, but it has never moved like this.
The R&A justifies the change by the need to fit a calendar conditioned by the Games, although it acknowledges that it is breaking a tradition that seemed unchangeable. What is clear is that the 2028 edition is already part of the tournament’s history, and there are still more than two years to go before it takes place, and it does not even have a confirmed venue.
