The Gleneagles Hotel will host the Senior Open in 2022, the first time the Perthshire resort has hosted a major championship.
The 35th championship, sponsored by Rolex, will be hosted on the historic King’s Course, the oldest and most celebrated of the four courses at Gleneagles. It will be held from July 21-24 in 2022, a week after the 150th Open Championship scheduled for the Old Course at St Andrews.
Gleneagles is Scotland’s premier inland venue for golf championships, having hosted the Ryder Cup in 2014 and the Solheim Cup just last year, with Europe winning on both occasions.
The hotel’s courses have hosted as many as 26 European Tour events since the 1974 Double Diamond Strokeplay was held on the King’s, and James Braid’s classic was a popular venue for the Scottish Open between 1982 and 1993.
Latterly major tour events, notably the European Tour’s Johnnie Walker and Diageo Championships, have been played on the PGA Centenary Course which also hosted the Ryder and Solheim Cups. For the Senior Open, however, the R&A and European Tour have opted for the traditional layout which was the first of the hotel’s courses to open in 1919.
The Senior Open as first staged in Scotland in 1987 at Turnberry and won by Neil Coles. It was last in Scotland in 2018 when Miguel Angel Jimenez won at the Old Course, St Andrews.
This year’s championship was cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions and the proposed venue, Sunningdale Golf Club in Berkshire, will instead host the event in 2021.
Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, Executive Director – Championships at The R&A, said: “This is another great ‘first’ in the history of The Senior Open and we could not be more thrilled to be staging the championship on The King’s Course at Gleneagles.
“With such a strong pedigree in hosting championships, The King’s is a fine test of golf and we know the players will relish the opportunity to play there.
“Adding another renowned venue to the roster is a clear indication of the continuing development of The Senior Open and I’m sure there will be a real sense of anticipation among the players and fans for our first visit to Gleneagles in two years’ time.”
Conor O’Leary, Managing Director at Gleneagles, commented: “We are proud of the legacy we have created from hosting both The Ryder Cup and The Solheim Cup, and we look forward to welcoming The Senior Open Presented by Rolex, and some of the world’s great players to compete on The King’s Course, a James Braid classic, which celebrated its centenary year in 2019.”
Paul Bush, Director of Events at VisitScotland, said: “Gleneagles has hosted some of the sport’s biggest events and will provide a superb venue for such a prestigious Championship.
“Alongside The Open at St Andrews and the AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield, The Senior Open Championship will form part of an unrivalled summer of golf in Scotland in 2022, with three Major Championships alongside our regular events proving that Scotland is the perfect stage for major events.”
