I got my email this morning that we were allocated tickets for Wednesday and Saturday for next year's Open at Royal Birkdale.

Has anyone ever made that trip, not just specifically to Royal Birkdale, but to The Open in general? I applied for the tickets on a whim, thinking I would get denied like The Masters. Now we have to decide by August 19th if we are buying the tickets or not. Flights aren't available to book out that far, so I'm a little hesitant with planning if I can't see how much tickets might be.

Went in 2024 to Royal Troon and it was the best golf tournament experience I've had compared to other major experiences I've had in the US (haven't done the Masters yet). Did a 12 day trip with the wife to Paris, London, and Scotland to get her on board.

Go and save money by camping out wherever they have it (tent city was on the New Course I think when in St Andrews). The guy I played with on the Old Course did that and said it was a fantastic good time.

This year … https://www.theopen.com/tickets-and-hospitality/accommodation/2025

I have been to the open twice - the 150th at st Andrews and the recent one at portrush. It is an unbelievable experience. Think large festival. I have been lucky enough to go to the masters several times and that experience is the total opposite of the open. This is more like a laid back party - at the course they will have massive screens with hundreds if not thousands of people sitting on blankets watching, drinking beer and eating. Another thing I love is with the daylight in summer there the golf starts by 7 usually and they play for probably 12+ hours and I suggest both getting there early one day (I watched Lawrie hit the opening drive at st Andrews at 6:45 am) and also late into the evening another day if needed.

There will be multiple ways to get there and very common for people to use the train system. Also they do a good job with parking options and bussing in from there. And as mentioned they set up tent areas which are honestly set up well. Lots of food and drink trucks along the course. And try and get a round or two in while there for sure if you can.

I will add the travel there can be a bit of a beating. This year seemed much better. Went through London to get to Belfast and it was incredibly smooth. But don't let the chance pass. You have the tickets. Great set up Wednesday and Saturday. It will be a lifetime experience.

Just attended this year at Portrush. Incredible experience and golf course was just fantastic.

I don't know what the lodging situation is around Birkdale but we stayed in Belfast and rode the train up each day. About a 90 minute ride and then a 15 minute walk to the course but it was so nice to just check out and relax and not have to worry about finding parking or standing in line for park and ride buses.

We flew into Dublin a week early and visited Galway too before driving up to Belfast.

What'd you decide to do?

We unfortunately had to pass on the tickets. If we had not already booked our anniversary/wife's birthday trip for January of next year, we probably could have made it work, but that trip drained our travel fund.

We had a couple of interested parties to buy the tickets from us, but they all decided against it for various reasons. So the tickets will go back into the pool.

Bummer, but understandable!