Royal Troon to stage Open in 2016 ahead of golf's return to Olympics

Golf Correspondent

Thursday 21 June 2012

The decision to bring the Open Championship back to the "very strong" venue of Royal Troon in 2016 was always going to be an easy one to reach for the Royal & Ancient high command.

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Nick Rodger

The only problem for the organisers of the world's oldest major will be the scheduling of the event in four years' time. The R&A last night confirmed that the celebrated links of Royal Troon, which last staged the Open in 2004 and is currently hosting this week's Amateur Championship, will hold the event for the ninth time.

Now the serious discussions will begin. The summer of 2016 is going to be a fraught affair with golf returning to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro for the first time since 1904. The various governing bodies and the global tours will have to get round the table and rejig the programme to ensure that no major events are held at the same time as the Brazilian showpiece. The Olympics will be contested throughout August of 2016. The US PGA Championship, the final major of the campaign, is traditionally held in the early part of that month. The Open will take place before the Games begin in July, but the potential of a knock-on effect from the fixture shuffling has prevented a date for the 145th championship being set in stone."The condition was pledged that no major golf event – men's or women's – would clash with the Olympic Games in 2016," explained Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the Royal & Ancient. "That will be the case. Just exactly how the schedule will pan out to make that happen is still under discussion. The Open will definitely take place before the Olympics, as it normally would be."The question is, with the juggling that has to go on in August to keep the pledge, does that have a knock-on effect? We're still in discussion. It will definitely be in July but it might be a week earlier."With Royal Troon providing a formidable challenge for the players and the town and surrounding area offering plenty of amenities for an anticipated 180,000 visitors, this great golfing heartland ticks all the boxes as an Open host."The back nine, into the prevailing wind is as tough as it gets," enthused Dawson of a course that boasts an Open roll of honour that includes Arnold Palmer in 1962, Tom Watson in 1982 and the surprise package that was Todd Hamilton in 2004.

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Royal Troon to stage Open in 2016 ahead of golf's return to Olympics

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