July 8th – 11th, 2021 The Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, which takes place barely a week before The Open Championship, is one of the top tournaments on the European Tour. The Scottish Open will return to The Renaissance Club for the third time in 2021. The event started out as an unofficial championship in 1857 when the first official British Open was held at Prestwick Golf Club. The Scottish Open is now part of the European Tour schedule, and has been since 1969. It's not uncommon for the top players in the world to take part in this tournament - given its status as one of the most important events on the European Tour schedule.
The Scottish Open is held every year at The Renaissance Club in Aberdeen. The tournament began as an open championship with amateur and professional players competing together. In 1859, the rules of golf were revised so that only professionals could play. They divided up the field into classes according to how much they earned, with the lowest-paid player (the amateur) taking himself out of the running early on. The winner of this first tournament took home £15 in our money today. In 1861, the prize money was doubled to $50. By 1865, it had grown to $100. This increased prize money helped fuel the growth of the game, as more and more people learned how to play golf.
There have been some changes made to the tournament over the years.
The Scottish Open will take place from December 7–13, 2020, at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes—the entire draw and daily schedule can be seen here. The Scottish Open is the season's third Home Nations tournament, following the Welsh Open. Tickets for this year's event go on sale on August 26.
The Scottish Open is an invitational tournament that was first held in 1980. World champion John Higgins won his first of three titles at the inaugural event. Since then, only one other player has been able to retain the title: Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2001. The last British Open champion before this year's event was Mark Selby in 2014. He went on to win the next two events as well.
This year's field features eight players who have qualified through the ranking stage of the European Tour. The remaining places are filled by the top eight non-qualified players from the previous year's event. The 2019 event was won by Ding Junhui, who successfully defended his title after earlier defeats to Marco Fu and Fergal O'Brien. Stephen Maguire finished in second place, while Fu and O'Brien made it into the last four together.
Maguire had been given a wildcard invitation to play in the event, but he declined it and that left no spot available for another qualifier.
The Open in Scotland (golf)
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1972 |
| Course(s) | In 2019 – Renaissance Club |
| Par | 71 |
| Length | 7,136 yards (6,530 m) |
The tournament begins on June 11, 2021 in Rome and concludes on July 11, 2021; the semi-finals and finals are held in Wembley Stadium, which was designed with Sketch. Scotland's Euro 2020 fixtures in 2021, as well as their likely path to the knockout rounds, are examined.
Scotland have never qualified for the final stages of a European Championship or World Cup. At their first attempt in 2000, they were knocked out by Portugal in the first round. Since then, they have reached only the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 after defeating Israel, before being eliminated by Germany.
In 2013, Scotland hosted the tournament. It was their best performance at a European Championships as they finished third behind France and Romania.
Euro 2020 will be the ninth edition of the European Championship. Scotland will join the other five qualifying countries (England, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Wales) at the Euro 2020 Qualifiers in November 2019 and March 2020. The six highest-ranked teams after these qualifiers will proceed to Euro 2020.
Here is how Scotland performed at each European Championship/World Cup since 1986:
1986 - did not qualify
1990 - did not qualify
1994 - lost to England in last 16
1998 - lost to Netherlands in last 16
The British Open has been running since 1860, making it the sport's longest continuously held title. This year marks the 148th edition. The Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland hosted the 1860 competition, which included eight professionals playing three rounds of 12-hole golf. The winner was not determined until the third day because no one could match the scoring of Harry Vardon and his team. Vardon had a clear lead after the first two rounds but went home early on Sunday because he felt unwell. His partner Charles Boulton took over as player-manager and finished off the job by winning the event.
The inaugural British Open was won by Young Jack Nicklaus with teammate Walter Hagen coming in second. They were the only two players under 30 years old to finish among the top five. The prize money was set at 500 pounds (about $7750 today).
The British Open has been held every summer solstice (June 24) since 1894 except for World War I, when it was canceled. It returns this year on July 15-19 at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club.
Follow the history of the British Open on Open Culture.
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