Senior Open on its way back to Royal Porthcawl in 2023
THE Senior Open Presented by Rolex will return to Royal Porthcawl Golf Club for the first time in six years when the links venue hosts the 2023 Championship.
Europe’s only Senior Major Championship will visit Porthcawl for the third time when the 36th edition of the Senior Open Presented by Rolex takes place from July 27-30, 2023, a year after Gleneagles hosts the event in 2022.
The venue, which has stunning views across Swansea Bay to Gower and offers a true test of golf, has previously hosted numerous prestigious championships such as the Amateur and the Walker Cup.
Royal Porthcawl Golf Club was founded in 1891 as a nine-hole course before an agreement was made four years later to add another nine holes. In 1909, the club was bestowed the honour of using the prefix Royal – only the second club in Wales to be granted the privilege after Royal St David’s – before hosting its first significant tournament in 1951 when the Amateur Championship took place.
Many tournaments, both amateur and professional, graced the venue before a Senior Major was held in Wales for the first time in 2014, four years after the country hosted its first Ryder Cup at the Celtic Manor Resort.
Germany’s Bernhard Langer, the most successful player in Senior Major Championship history, triumphed by an incredible 13 shots ahead of Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie, before winning for a second time at Royal Porthcawl in 2017.
Edward Kitson, championship director of the Senior Open Presented by Rolex, said: “We are thrilled to be returning to Royal Porthcawl for the Senior Open in 2023.
“This will be the third time in the space of ten years that we have taken the championship to Royal Porthcawl and it is much deserved. We witnessed several memorable moments in 2014 and 2017, none more so than Bernhard Langer’s record-breaking triumph in 2014.
“We are grateful to our partners at the R&A, PGA TOUR Champions, Royal Porthcawl Golf Club and the Welsh Government for their help in taking the Championship back to Wales.”
Johnnie Cole-hamilton, executive director, championships, at the R&A, said: “We are fortunate to have a pool of outstanding host venues for the Senior Open and Royal Porthcawl is certainly one of them.”
John Edwards, Royal Porthcawl club secretary, said: “The club is fortunate to have hosted the event twice previously, with Bernhard Langer victorious on both occasions.
“In 2017, only two players finished under par and the course has been toughened up since so it will be fascinating to see how the players fare this time around.”