The “Big 5” Championships and their courses - Worldwide

There are 4 official men's major golf championships, and one unofficial one – the PGA Tour's Players Championship.

You can be assured that only the very best courses are used for these fixtures, and this week we take a brief look at some of them.

The Masters Tournament is played in April every year and always takes place at Augusta National Golf Club, Georgia. This course is both challenging and picturesque but part of its charm is its long history and many unique traditions. The course has been improved and upgraded to the degree that the original designer Dr. Alister Mackenzie’s work has been lost, but Augusta remains one of the most sought-after golfing venues in the world.

The U.S. Openis played at a different venue every year and usually takes place in June. Some of the courses to host the tournament in previous years include Newport Country Club in 1895, Chicago Golf Club in 1911 and Pinehurst Resort during 2014. The main criteria for selection as the site of this tournament are that the course should be fairly long with open rough, undulating greens and pinched fairways to reward accurate driving.

The Open Championship is played on the weekend of the third Friday of July every year and is always played on one of the links courses in the United Kingdom. Previous venues include Royal Portrush Golf Club, Royal St George's Golf Club and Royal Birkdale Golf Club. The Old Course at St Andrews is the most popular course, having hosted the Open Championship 24 times.
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The PGA Championship takes place annually on the 3rd weekend prior to Labor Day and is played at various locations throughout the USA. Baltusrol Golf Club, Whistling Straits (home to the 2015 PGA Championship), Valhalla Golf Club and Oak Hill Country Club, were the most recent courses to host this match.

The PGA Tour's Players Championship has the largest purse of any golf competition and is thus considered the ‘fifth’ major by players and fans alike. Staged annually in the United States, Atlanta Country Club, Georgia played host to the inaugural event, which then moved to the Colonial Country Club, Forth Worth and finally Ponte Verda Beach, Florida. In 1982 the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass was built as a permanent home of the tournament.

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