Unlike the United States Golf Association (USGA), which announced US Open Venues For the next 25 years until 2051, the R&A likes to wait until the last minute to reveal the host courses for the Open.
Look no further than Thursday’s announcement. The R&A chose the old stadium at St Andrews to host The Open again in 2027. The 155th Open will also celebrate the centenary since the legendary Bobby Jones first conquered the Old Course as an amateur, doing so by six shots over Jersey’s Aubrey Boomer and England’s Fred Robson.
Three years later, Jones won the Amateur Championship at the Old Course, cementing his status as a legend on the golf course. Nearly three decades later, in 1958, the City of St. Andrews bestowed upon Jones a distinguished honor, naming him a Freeman of the City. Only one other American received this award before Jones, and that was Benjamin Franklin in 1759. Jack Nicklaus recently became the third American to receive this honor in 2022.
The 155th Open Champion will conclude an unforgettable Grand Slam in 2027, when two more historic courses will be on display. As happens every year, Augusta National We will welcome the best players in the world to the Masters in April. Then, in June, the US Open returns to Pebble Beach for the seventh time. Nicklaus, of course, won the first U.S. Open ever held there in 1972, and in 2019, the last time it was hosted, Gary Woodland edged Brooks Koepka by three for his only major title.
But the main calendar for 2027 features PGA Championship Which, unfortunately, will stick out like a sore thumb. Field Ranch East at PGA Frisco in Texas, now home to the PGA of America, will host its first major championship. The course, designed by acclaimed architects Gil Hanes and Jim Wagner, opened for play in May 2023 and hosted the PGA Senior Championship shortly thereafter. Steve Stricker defeated Padraig Harrington in a playoff that week, but the golf course itself didn’t stand out. Instead, it looked as if old people were playing in a cow pasture, a desolate retreat that makes you think you’re in rural West Texas — not just a short drive north of Dallas. The course doesn’t have the history and prospects that Augusta National, Pebble Beach, and St. Andrews have, making it more difficult for these venerable golf institutions to hold their own. One could argue that these other courses are the three most famous courses in the world – the holy trinity of golf. While at PGA Frisco, you’ll have professionals competing for a brand new design that the fans don’t know about. Sure, the course was received Great reviews from Golf Digest It will challenge the best in the world with its smaller greens, 7,800-yard long layout and plenty of refueling spots. But her entry into the PGA Championship, especially this year, seems a bit short.
Imagine if an iconic American venue, familiar to golf fans everywhere, like the Oakland Hills, Winged Foot, or Kiawah Island, hosted the 2027 PGA Championship instead. If so, golfers and fans will point to 2027 as the greatest year ever for major host sites. Instead, we have a premium PGA Championship, one that may make some fans wary, simply because it is so unknown. However, given the way we saw the 2023 PGA Senior Championship, it didn’t impress us at all and, in all likelihood, wouldn’t hold up against the other three courses hosting that year either.
Jack Melko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Play Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
