Editing The Open Championship (section)

==Traditions==
[[File:Royal Portrush Golf Club 5th hole.png|thumb|upright=1.5|The Open is played in a coastal location, such as Royal Portrush (pictured).]]

===Links golf course===
The Open is always played on a coastal [[links golf]] course. Links golf is often described as the "purest" form of golf and keeps a connection with the way the game originated in Scotland in the 15th century. The terrain is open, often without any trees, and will generally be undulating with a sandy base. The golf courses are often primarily shaped by nature, rather than 'built'. Weather, particularly wind, plays an important role, and although there will be a prevailing onshore breeze, changes in the wind direction and strength over the course of the tournament can mean each round of golf has to be played slightly differently. The courses are also famous for deep pot bunkers, and gorse bushes that make up the "rough". A golfer playing on a links course will often adapt his game so the flight of the ball is lower and so is less impacted by the wind, but this will make distance control more difficult. Also due to the windy conditions the speed of the greens are often slower than a golfer might be used to on the [[PGA Tour]], to avoid the ball being moved by a gust.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.golf-monthly.co.uk/features/the-game/what-is-links-golf-66622|title=What Is Links Golf?|date=22 July 2018|work=Golf Monthly|access-date=15 January 2019|archive-date=12 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712212315/https://www.golf-monthly.co.uk/features/the-game/what-is-links-golf-66622|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.randa.org/pace-of-play-manual/rules/3-the-golf-course/subrules/6-the-putting-greens|title=6. The Putting Greens|website=R&A|access-date=15 January 2019|archive-date=16 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116050334/https://www.randa.org/pace-of-play-manual/rules/3-the-golf-course/subrules/6-the-putting-greens|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Old Course at St Andrews===

[[File:Swilken Bridge, Old Course geograph-6310525-by-Gordon-Hatton.jpg|thumb|The Swilken Bridge with St Andrews clubhouse in the background]]
The [[Old Course at St Andrews]] is regarded as the oldest golf course in the world, and winning the Open there is widely considered to be one of the pinnacles of achievement in golf.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://usa.golfbreaks.com/local-guides/scotland-guide/st-andrews-fife-angus-and-perthshire/top-10-courses-in-st-andrews-fife-angus-and-perthshire/|title=Top 10 courses in St Andrews, Fife, Angus and Perthshire|website=GolfBreaks|access-date=15 January 2019|archive-date=16 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116050245/https://usa.golfbreaks.com/local-guides/scotland-guide/st-andrews-fife-angus-and-perthshire/top-10-courses-in-st-andrews-fife-angus-and-perthshire/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Given the special status of the Old Course, the Open is generally played there once every five years in the modern era, much more frequently than the other courses used for the Open.<ref name="List of Winners/Venues" /> 

Previous champions will often choose St Andrews as their final Open tournament. It has become traditional to come down the 18th fairway to huge applause from the amphitheatre crowds, and to pose for final pictures on the [[Swilcan Bridge|Swilken Bridge]] with the picturesque clubhouse and town in the background.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/tom-watson-says-goodbye-british-open-st-andrews |title=Tom Watson Says Goodbye To British Open at St. Andrews |date=18 July 2015 |work=Golf.com |access-date=15 January 2019 |archive-date=16 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116095923/https://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/tom-watson-says-goodbye-british-open-st-andrews |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Trophy presentation ===
[[File:Norman's second Major championship, 1993 Open at Royal St George's.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|left|[[Greg Norman]] holding the Claret Jug at [[Royal St George's]] in 1993]]
The Open trophy is the [[Claret Jug]], which has been presented to the champion since 1873 (it was first awarded to [[Young Tom Morris]] in 1872, however the trophy was not ready in time—his name is the first to be engraved on it).<ref name="Jug"/> The original trophy permanently resides on display in the R&A's Clubhouse at St Andrews. Therefore, the trophy that is presented at each Open is a replica which is retained by the winner for a year. It used to be the responsibility of the winner to get his name engraved on the trophy, but 1967 winner [[Roberto De Vicenzo]] returned the trophy without having done so.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.foxsports.com/stories/golf/hands-that-hold-the-british-open-trophy-every-year|title=Hands that hold the British Open trophy every year|date=20 July 2013|work=Fox Sports|access-date=21 November 2020|archive-date=5 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705191908/https://www.foxsports.com/stories/golf/hands-that-hold-the-british-open-trophy-every-year|url-status=live}}</ref> Subsequently, the winner's name is already engraved on it when presented, which often results in television commentators speculating as to when it is safe for the engraver to start.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.golf-monthly.co.uk/microsites/history-records/qa-with-the-claret-jug-engraver-24110|title=Q&A with the Claret Jug engraver|date=1 July 2008|work=Golf Monthly|access-date=15 January 2019|archive-date=16 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116045942/https://www.golf-monthly.co.uk/microsites/history-records/qa-with-the-claret-jug-engraver-24110|url-status=live}}</ref> 
{{Quote box
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| quote = "You know to have dreams, to have things that you think are unattainable, if you give up on them, what’s left? I am immensely proud my name is on that Claret Jug."
| source = —2011 Open winner [[Darren Clarke]] on fulfilling a lifelong ambition.<ref>{{cite news |title=Darren Clarke / An Open love affair |url=https://www.theopen.com/latest/2019/07/the148thopen/darren-clarke-love-affair-the-open |access-date=19 October 2023 |publisher=The Open |archive-date=29 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029040458/https://www.theopen.com/latest/2019/07/the148thopen/darren-clarke-love-affair-the-open |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
The winner of the Open is announced as "The Champion Golfer of the Year", a title which has been used since the first Open in 1860.<ref name="Jug"/> He will nearly always pose for photos with the trophy sitting on one of the distinctive pot bunkers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nationalclubgolfer.com/news/jordan-spieth-champion-golfer-of-the-year-is-such-a-cool-title/|title=Champion golfer of the year is such a cool title|date=16 July 2018|work=National Club Golfer|access-date=15 January 2019|archive-date=16 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116050159/https://www.nationalclubgolfer.com/news/jordan-spieth-champion-golfer-of-the-year-is-such-a-cool-title/|url-status=live}}</ref> Three-time winner [[Jack Nicklaus]] said holding the Claret Jug was like holding "a newborn baby", and on other players putting champagne or other drinks inside it to celebrate their Open win, he said "I never used the Claret Jug for anything other than what it symbolized – Champion Golfer of the Year."<ref>{{cite news |title=Would you drink out of a jug that has been home to bugs, barbeque sauce, corn and gallons of liquor? What if it were the Claret Jug? |url=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2022/07/17/liquor-corn-barbeque-sauce-inside-claret-jug-open-championship/ |access-date=19 October 2023 |work=Golf Week |publisher=USA Today |archive-date=29 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029040456/https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2022/07/17/liquor-corn-barbeque-sauce-inside-claret-jug-open-championship/ |url-status=live }}</ref>