Why ticket price for 2027 Open at St Andrews is still good value for money

While having a refreshment in a hotel bar on the outskirts of Portrush during The Open’s eagerly-anticipated return to the County Antrim venue in 2019, I remember talking to a member of The R&A staff and hearing something that has stuck with me ever since.

It was about the ticketing process for the game’s oldest major and the fact that, prior to that edition or around that one anyway, it hadn’t been until late in the year that tickets actually went on sale for The Open the following year.

The reason that still often swirls around inside my head is that it made me aware how different it is now when it comes to marketing future editions of the Claret Jug event, which, of course, has long been one of the highlights of the sporting calendar and always will be.

Next year’s The Open will be the 31st at St Andrews and the event’s 155th edition | The R&A

Here we are in early June and the 154th edition of The Open at Royal Birkdale is still five weeks away, yet, all of a sudden, next year’s tournament at St Andrews has become a big talking point among golf fans.

That’s because ticket details and prices for that event were announced last week by The R&A, and it’s no surprise whatsoever that some people are jumping up and down about that because that’s the society we live in and, let’s face it, there are some folks out there who just love to moan and groan.

One of the things that has changed, of course, in recent years is that there’s now a ballot and, to register in it for the 155th edition on the Old Course, you need to be a member of what is called the One Club, a free-to-join digital membership programme. The fact it is “presented by Mastercard” is how marketing people at all the main golfing organisations work these days and why should The R&A be different?

If you need to enter a ballot, then so be it. There are lots of things we have to do these days - using QR codes, Google Authentication etc - that we’d probably prefer not to have to do, but it’s part of modern-day life and, therefore, we just have to suck it up. In fairness, I’ve not really seen anyone grumble about that, but the pricing of the tickets has certainly caused some eyebrows to be raised.

The cheapest price for adults is £40 for Sunday, 11 July, with the cost for the other practice days being £50 on Monday, £60 on Tuesday and £70 on Wednesday. The price to attend the first and second rounds on Thursday and Friday will be £150 on each day before rising to £170 on Saturday then £190 for the closing circuit on Sunday, 18 July.

That Monday ticket for this year’s event, for instance, will come with an added bonus as the first-ever Last-Chance Qualifier is staged, with 12 players battling it out over 18 holes for the final spot in the field on the Lancashire coast. Add in the fact that most players will be out playing a first practice round of the week and that £50 is definitely great value.

As, in my opinion anyway, is £60 on Tuesday, when a Heroes Classic involving some past champions and celebrities will be taking place, and £70 on Wednesday as well because I think it is truly fascinating to see the game’s top players going about their business on the eve of teeing up in a major.

It’s the price for the tournament days, though, that has left some people grumbling and, yes, those prices do seem steep compared to what they once were. But are they really expensive in today’s world when you take into account that you can see top-class action on the first two days from the crack of dawn until after 9pm and from around 8am until 6pm or so on Saturday and Sunday?

I’m going to a concert in Glasgow this weekend and have been told that the ticket cost £80. I believe there are three different acts, yet it will be for a duration of four hours.

And what about this one that caught my eye on social media over the weekend? The NBA basketball final series is taking place at the moment and, for Game 3 between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden, tickets were ranging from just over $10,000 up to courtside ones at $55,000. Wow!

Mark Darbon, CEO of The R&A, speaks to the media during a press conference prior to The 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush last year | Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

It is also worth noting, of course, that the match-day tickets for next year’s Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Ireland are costing around £430 and you don’t get to see nearly as much golf for that price compared to The Open.

Next year’s event will be the 31st Open to be held at St Andrews and, even though the Old Course is probably the worst viewing course by far on the list of venues used by The R&A, it will be a sell-out no matter what attendance figure is set because people just love a day out in the home of golf watching the world’s top players.

What’s not often talked about by those who, for instance, called for Martin Slumbers to resign and are now doing so about his successor as The R&A’s chief executive, Mark Darbon, is that The Open continues to offer free admission to under-16s, as well as discounted tickets for 16-24 year olds. These, incidentally, also need to be applied for in the aforementioned ballot.

The St Andrews-based organisation should be applauded for using both The Open and AIG Women’s Open to try and encourage a new generation of players into the game and, having been a spectator in the grandstand back in 1984 when Seve Ballesteros celebrated in joyous fashion as he claimed the second of three Claret Jug victories, I can vouch that there is nowhere better than St Andrews for a youngster to become hooked by golf.