Muirfield is a privately owned links which is the home of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Located in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland, overlooking the Firth of Forth, Muirfield is one of the golf courses used in rotation for The Open Championship.
Muirfield has hosted The Open Championship fifteen times, most recently in 2002 when Ernie Els lifted the trophy. Other past winners at Muirfield include Nick Faldo (twice), Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Henry Cotton, Alf Perry, Walter Hagen, Harry Vardon and Harold Hilton. Muirfield has also hosted The Amateur Championship (ten times), the 1973 Ryder Cup, the 1959 and 1979 Walker Cups, the 1952 and 1984 Curtis Cups, and many other important tournaments.
Although Muirfield is a links course as it is set upon elevated ancient land claimed from the sea as highlighted by its sandy base and small sea shells in the bunkers, it has an unusual layout. Most links courses run along the coast and then back again leading to two sets of nine holes, each of which face roughly in the same direction. Muirfield, however, was amongst the first courses to depart from this arrangement and is arranged as two loops of nine holes, one clockwise, one counterclockwise. This means that, assuming the wind direction remains the same throughout a round, every hole on the course has a different apparent wind direction from the tee. No more than three consecutive holes follow the same direction at any stage.
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The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, now based at Muirfield, holds the distinction of being the oldest organised golf club in the world, although the game of golf is several centuries older. The club's records date continuously back to 1744, when it produced thirteen "Rules of Golf" for its first competition which was played at Leith Links for the "Silver Club". The first competition was won by John Rattray, who signed the rules and became the first club captain.[1] The club played on the five holes at Leith Links for nearly a century, but overcrowding forced a move in 1836 to Musselburgh Old Course's 9-hole Old Course. Musselburgh, like many prestigious Scottish courses including St Andrews, is a public course, and this course also eventually became too crowded for the liking of the HCEG's members.
In 1891 the club built a new private 18-hole course at Muirfield, taking the Open Championship with them. This situation caused some ill feeling at Musselburgh, which lost the right to hold the Open from that point forward. Old Tom Morris designed the new course, which met with wide approval from the start; it has been modified and updated several times since, in significant ways up to the late 1920s, after which it has remained stable.[2] The first Open held on the new course in 1892 was the first tournament anywhere contested over four rounds, or 72 holes.[3]
The Open Championship was first held at Muirfield in 1892 and has been held there fifteen times.
| Year | Winner | Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | ||
| 1892 | Harold Hilton (a) 1st | 78 | 81 | 72 | 74 | 305 |
| 1896 | Harry Vardon 1st | 83 | 78 | 78 | 77 | 316 PO |
| 1901 | James Braid 1st | 79 | 76 | 74 | 80 | 309 |
| 1906 | James Braid 3rd | 77 | 76 | 74 | 73 | 300 |
| 1912 | Ted Ray 1st | 71 | 73 | 76 | 75 | 295 |
| 1929 | Walter Hagen 4th | 75 | 67 | 75 | 75 | 292 |
| 1935 | Alf Perry 1st | 69 | 75 | 67 | 72 | 283 |
| 1948 | Henry Cotton 3rd | 71 | 66 | 75 | 72 | 284 (-4) |
| 1959 | Gary Player 1st | 75 | 71 | 70 | 68 | 284 (E) |
| 1966 | Jack Nicklaus 1st | 70 | 67 | 75 | 70 | 282 (-2) |
| 1972 | Lee Trevino 2nd | 71 | 70 | 66 | 71 | 278 (-6) |
| 1980 | Tom Watson 3rd | 68 | 70 | 64 | 69 | 271 (-13) |
| 1987 | Nick Faldo 1st | 68 | 69 | 71 | 71 | 279 (-5) |
| 1992 | Nick Faldo 3rd | 66 | 64 | 69 | 73 | 272 (-12) |
| 2002 | Ernie Els 1st | 70 | 66 | 72 | 70 | 278 (-6)PO |
| 2013 | ||||||
The Senior British Open Championship was first held at Muirfield in 2007.
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2007 | Tom Watson |
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