An open golf tournament usually refers to a

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

tournament in which all golfers are eligible to play regardless of their

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

status. Often there will be certain restrictions, commonly based on ability. Some amateur-only tournaments are also described as open, although by definition

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

s are excluded.

History

The descriptor

open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (YF ...

is used in a number of sports, and especially in

, to describe a tournament that is "open" — in theory to all — rather than being closed, i.e. one that is restricted to a particular group. Thus, an

tournament, e.g. the

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

, is not by definition "open", because it is closed to professional golfers; however many are titled as such since they are open to all amateurs, e.g. the English Men's Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship for the

Brabazon Trophy The English Men's Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship for the Brabazon Trophy is the national amateur stroke play golf championship in England (although entry is open to overseas golfers). It has been played annually since 1947 and is organised ...

. The first precise usage of the adjective “open” in golf was in 1861 when the

Prestwick Golf Club Prestwick Golf Club is a golf course in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is approximately southwest of Scotland's largest city, Glasgow. Prestwick is a classic links course, built on the rolling sandy land between the beach and the hin ...

"opened" its Medal competition (launched the previous year for professionals only) to amateurs as well; ever since,

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

has been open to all. Any golfer can, in theory, play in The Open either by invitation or by various forms of qualification. In practice, the event is a professional tournament in which a small number of the world’s leading amateurs also play, by invitation or qualification. Over time the descriptor "open" has been extended to include the premier national tournaments of many countries (starting with the U.S. Open in 1895) and also (mainly in the United States) to some other tournaments, e.g. the

Buick Open The Buick Open was a PGA Tour golf tournament from 1958 to 2009. In 2007, the tournament was held at the end of June, a change from its traditional spot between The Open Championship and the PGA Championship. Regardless, many prominent players use ...

Principal national "Opens"

This is a list of the national ''Opens'' that have featured on the principal

tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...

Men's tournaments

Women's tournaments

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Open Golf Tournaments Golf terminology