Another ticket ballot to be in place for 151st Open at Royal Liverpool

On the back of the first one for this year’s 150th event, a ticket ballot will once again be in place for next year’s Open at Royal Liverpool.

The ballot will open for one month from Tuesday, 21 June and will close on Wednesday, 20 July - a few days after the conclusion of this year’s milestone event at St Andrews.

The results will be announced by the end of September, with the ballot only open to members of The One Club, the free-to-join membership programme.

More than 1.3 million applications were received for tickets for the 150th Open on the Old Course.

R&A Chief Executive Martin Slumbers with the Claret Jug at Royal Portrush in 2019. Picture: The R&A

That led to the highest-ever number of general admission tickets being issued to fans from across the world, with a record-breaking 290,000 fans set to attend the event in Fife.

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said: “We introduced a ticket ballot for the first time in the history of The Open for St Andrews to give as many people as possible the chance to attend the Championship and it proved to be very successful.

“We know the demand is growing and that the ballot is the fairest and most equitable way to give fans around the world the chance to secure tickets.

“We greatly appreciate the enthusiasm that fans have for The Open and look forward to welcoming as many of them as we can to Royal Liverpool next year.”

The announcement led some golf fans to hit out at the new system that now seems to be in place for Open tickets.

Writing on social media, Mark McLeod branded the ballot as a “disgrace” and said: “As a 35-year-in-a-row Open attender, I applied for three tickets for me, my wife and son for the Thursday at St Andrews.

“I got 'awarded' two for the Wednesday practice day, splitting the family. What a way to grow the game? Still fuming!”

Also commenting on Twitter, Dermot Whitson said: “Success? Meaning someone who has attended 22 of the last 26 could not get a general admission season-ticket through the ballot.”

Ticket prices for The 151st Open will start from £95 for an adult on Championship days and from £25 on practice days.