British Open definition of British Open in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

British Open

Summer (usually July)

The Britiash Open is the oldest and one of the most prestigious international golf championship tournaments in the world. It is officially the Open Championship of the British Isles, but in Great Britain it is known simply as the Open . It began in 1860 at the then 12-hole Prestwick course in Scotland and is now rotated among select golf courses in England and Scotland. Scot Willie Park won the first tournament, which is memorable for the tourney's highest single-hole stroke total—21.
Other notable years in the Open:
In 1901, Scot James Braid, who became one of Scotland's greatest golf heroes, won the first of five Open championships.
In 1907, Arnaud Massy of France was the first player from outside Great Britain to win.
In 1910, the Open's 50th anniversary was celebrated at St. Andrews (considered by many to be the premier golf course of the world) in a tempest of a rainstorm that put some of the greens under water.
In 1914, at Prestwick, the great triumvirate of golf, Braid and Englishmen John Henry Taylor and Harry Vardon, entered the match with each having five Open titles behind them. Vardon won with a final total round of 78.
In 1921, Bobby Jones (Robert Tyre Jones Jr.), the legendary golfer and lawyer from Atlanta, Ga., lost his temper at the par-three 11th hole at St. Andrews and shredded his scorecard while the gallery gaped.
In 1926, that same Bobby Jones won the cup; it was the first time in 29 years that an amateur had won.
In 1930, Jones won and went on to sweep the United States Open and the British Amateur and U.S. Amateur for golfing's Grand Slam, after which he retired. The feat hasn't been equaled. (Later, in 1958, Jones became the first American since Benjamin Franklin to receive the Freedom of the Burgh of St. Andrews.)
In 1973, Gene Sarazen, celebrating his 50th anniversary of play, shot a first-round hole-in-one on the par-three, 126-yard eighth hole (known as the Postage Stamp) at Royal Troon. In the second round, he deuced the hole.
In 1975, American Tom Watson won the first of five championships.
In 1977, Watson and fellow American Jack Nicklaus left the field behind them and dueled to a dramatic final round; Watson won by a stroke with a 72-hole total score of 268.
The Open has a special cachet for golfers since Scotland is considered, if not the birthplace of golf, the place where it developed into its present form played with ball, club, and hole. (At one time, pub doors were the target). The game may actually have originated in Holland, where they called it kolven, but golf in Scotland goes back before 1457. That year, Scottish King James II banned "fute-ball and golfe" because they interfered with his subjects' archery practice. The ban didn't take. Golf was confined pretty much to Scotland until 1603 when King James VI of Scotland also assumed the throne of England and brought golf there, even though many English sportsmen sniffily derided it as "Scottish croquet."

CONTACTS:
Royal and Ancient Golf Club
St. Andrews
Fife, Scotland KY16 9JD United Kingdom
44-13-3446-0000; fax: 44-13-3446-0001
www.randa.org

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No references found	The event will take place immediately following the Ricoh Women's British Open on August 6-8, which is currently a free week on the LPGA calendar - and is, therefore, expected to attract an extremely strong field of international competitors. WIE WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU HERE by The Mirror (London, England) Women's British Open Champion Matthew had a flawless round with birdies at the fifth 10th, 14th and 18th. Cat's eye on leader Kim by Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland) The worldwide economic downturn will cause this week's British Open to make a substantial loss, and almost brought a demoralising 40 percent reduction in the women's prize fund until belated initiatives bolstered it. David backs British Open as battle of sexes looms by AFP / AFP European Edition	British Columbia, University British Columbia, University of British Commonwealth of Nations British East Africa British East India Company British Empire British engineering system of units British Expeditionary Force British gravitational system of units British Guiana British Honduras British imperial pound British Imperial System of weights and measures British India British Indian Ocean Territory British Interplanetary Society British Invasion British Isles British Library British Library Method British Museum British Museum Library British North America British North America Act British North Borneo British Open British Socialist Party BSP British Somaliland British South Africa Company British Standard British Standard specification British Standards Institute British Standards Institution British Steel Corporation British Telecom British Telecom Research Laboratories British thermal unit British Togoland British Trade Union Congress BTUC British West Africa British West Indies British, The Britomart Britomartis Briton Britske, Ergard Britske, Ergard Viktorovich Brittan, Sir Leon Brittany Brittany spaniel Britten	British Occupational Health Research Foundation British Occupational Hygiene Society British Oceanic Oil Company British Oceanographic Data Centre British Oceanographic Data Services British Octopush Society British Off Road Driving Association British Off-Road Championship British Office Stationery Supplies Federation British Office Systems and Stationery Federation British Officers Kegel Club British Officers Mess Area British Official Publications Collaborative Reader Information Service British Official Publications Current Awareness Service British Oil and Cake Mills British Oil Spill Control Association British Okinawan Karate Bugeikai British Olympic Hockey Board British Olympic Medical Centre British Olympics Association British Oncology Data Managers Association British Oncology Pharmacy Association British one penny coin British one penny coin British Onion Producers Association British Open British Operational Research Society British Ophthalmic Anaesthesia Society British Ophthalmological Surveillance Unit British Opposition to Metabolically Bisturbile Drugs British or German British Orchid Growers Association British Order of Merit British Ordnance Collectors Network British Organ Grinders Association British Organic Geochemical Society British Orienteering Federation British Origami Society British Ornamental Plant Producers British Ornithologist's Club British Ornithologists' Union British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee British Orphans' Adoption Society British Orthodontic Traders and Laboratories Award British Orthodontics Society British Orthopaedic Association British Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society British Orthopaedic Foot Surgery Society British Orthopaedic Oncology Society British Orthopaedic Research Society

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The event will take place immediately following the Ricoh Women's British Open on August 6-8, which is currently a free week on the LPGA calendar - and is, therefore, expected to attract an extremely strong field of international competitors.

WIE WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU HERE by The Mirror (London, England)

Women's British Open Champion Matthew had a flawless round with birdies at the fifth 10th, 14th and 18th.

Cat's eye on leader Kim by Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland)

The worldwide economic downturn will cause this week's British Open to make a substantial loss, and almost brought a demoralising 40 percent reduction in the women's prize fund until belated initiatives bolstered it.

David backs British Open as battle of sexes looms by AFP / AFP European Edition

British Columbia, University

British Columbia, University of

British Commonwealth of Nations

British East Africa

British East India Company

British Empire

British engineering system of units

British Expeditionary Force

British gravitational system of units

British Guiana

British Honduras