21st June 2026

This article will focus on the performances of the amateur golfers seeking to earn a spot in the 2026 Open Championship over the coming weeks via Regional, Final and for the first time Last Chance Qualifying. 

It will be updated throughout the qualifying period ahead of the Championship commencing.

Introduction

156 players will contest the 154th Open Championship which will be played at Royal Birkdale G.C. on 16-19 July 2026.

The majority of the field will be made up of exempt players; recent major champions, winners of professional events and leading players in the world rankings.

The remaining players will have to qualify either via The Open Qualifying Series, Regional and Final Qualifying or for the first time this year a Last Chance Qualifier.

26 places have been allocated to The Open Qualifying Series. The leading 1-3 players, not already exempt, at 15 professional tour events in 13 countries played in 2025 and 2026 have earned / will earn these spots.

20 spaces will be given over to Final Qualifying. Regional Qualifying will be played on Monday 22nd June 2026 and then Final Qualifying on Tuesday 30th June 2026. Players in Regional Qualifying will be playing for the opportunity to take part in Final Qualifying which presents the gateway in to The Open.

A 12-man Last Chance Qualifying invitational event will be played over two rounds of nine holes at Royal Birkdale G.C. on Monday 13th July 2026. Amateur Championship runner-up Matt MOLONEY (USA) has secured a place in this competition with his efforts at Royal Liverpool G.C.

_______________________________________

Current Amateur Qualifiers

Heading into the 2026 Open Championship Qualifying Series there are currently 5 amateurs already in this year’s field at Royal Birkdale G.C. with two more guaranteed spots to be resolved after completion of the European Amateur (24-27 June) this week: –

2025 U.S. Amateur Championship – Mason HOWELL (USA)
2025 Asia-Pacific Champion – Fifa LAPAKDEE (THA)
2026 Latin America Amateur Champion – Mateo PULCINI (ARG)
2026 African Amateur Champion – Jack BUCHANAN (RSA)
2026 Amateur Champion – Stuart GREHAN (IRL)
2026 European Amateur Champion –
2026 Open Amateur Series* Winner –

*The Open Championship Amateur Series was introduced by The R&A in 2023. It offers an exemption to the player who gains the most WAGR points in the St. Andrews Links Trophy, the Amateur Championship and the European Amateur Championship events (as long as they didn’t win the Amateur or European Amateur Championships which meant they were already exempt).

As the 2025 Mark H. McCormack Medal (WAGR #1) winner Jackson KOIVUN (USA) was also exempt but has chosen to turn pro after the U.S. Open Championship and is therefore now ineligible under this category.

Last year 4 amateurs, Frazer JONES (ENG), Connor GRAHAM (SCO), Seb CAVE (ENG) and Richard TEDER (EST), came through Final Qualifying to take the total number of amateurs who competed at Royal Portrush up to 9. Hopefully a few more can replicate this achievement in the coming weeks.

_______________________________________

Regional Qualifying

Regional Qualifying will take place over 18 holes at 16 venues across Great Britain and Ireland on Monday 22nd June 2026.

Any professional or amateur with a handicap index no higher than 0.4 (scratch) or a WAGR listing of 1st-2,000th during 2024-25 could enter Regional Qualifying subject to paying the £200 entry fee.

The number of qualifying spots from each venue will be allocated once all players have teed off. Each site normally receives between 7 and 10 of these depending on its field size.

2,095 players, with 991 of these being amateurs, are currently scheduled to tee it up in Regional Qualifying.

Here is a summary of the 16 Regional Qualifying events with links to their results.

The leading amateur performances and those who qualified will be shown below. A number of Reserves will also find their way into Final Qualifying as the events draw nearer.

BEARWOOD LAKES, ENGLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
6,846 yards, par 72, course rating 74.0, slope rating 145
134 players / 62 amateurs / x qualifying places

Leading Amateurs

CALDY, ENGLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
6,740 yards, par 72, course rating 73.3, slope rating 134
133 players / 78 amateurs / x qualifying places

Leading Amateurs

CHART HILLS, ENGLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
6,939 yards, par 72, course rating 75.5, slope rating 149
129 players / 77 amateurs / x qualifying places

Leading Amateurs

 

CRAIGIELAW, SCOTLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
6,556 yards, par 71, course rating 72.3, slope rating 128
131 players / 67 amateurs / x qualifying places

Leading Amateurs

ENVILLE (HIGHGATE), ENGLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
6,645 yards, par 72, course rating 73.6, slope rating 139
133 players / 58 amateurs / x qualifying places

Leading Amateurs

FERNDOWN (OLD), ENGLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
6,516 yards, par 71, course rating 72.2, slope rating 130
133 players / 66 amateurs / x qualifying places

Leading Amateurs

 

FULFORD, ENGLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
6,811 yards, par 72, course rating 74.0, slope rating 144
129 players / 64 amateurs / x qualifying places

Leading Amateurs

GOG MAGOG (OLD), ENGLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
6,392 yards, par 70, course rating 71.4, slope rating 121
130 players / 57 amateurs / x qualifying places

Leading Amateurs

HESKETH, ENGLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
6,595 yards, par 71, course rating 73.4 , slope rating 134
130 players / 70 amateurs / x qualifying places

Leading Amateurs

KILMARNOCK (BARASSIE), SCOTLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
6,847 yards, par 71, course rating 74.8, slope rating 138
121 players / 53 amateurs / x qualifying places

Leading Amateurs

LINDRICK, ENGLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
6,725 yards, par 70, course rating 73.6, slope rating 128
131 players / 62 amateurs / x qualifying places

Leading Amateurs

MINCHINHAMPTON, ENGLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
6,691 yards, par 72, course rating 73.6, slope rating 130
131 players / 58 amateurs / x qualifying places

Leading Amateurs

 

MOOR PARK (HIGH), ENGLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
6,795 yards, par 72, course rating 73.8, slope rating 141
126 players / 45 amateurs / x qualifying places

Leading Amateurs

NORTH HANTS, ENGLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
6,607 yards, par 70, course rating 71.4, slope rating 122
135 players / 57 amateurs / x qualifying places

Leading Amateurs

ROCHESTER & COBHAM PARK, ENGLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
6,586 yards, par 71, course rating 73.3, slope rating 134
132 players /60 amateurs / x qualifying places

Leading Amateurs

 

THE ISLAND, IRELAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
7,154 yards, par 72, course rating 74.2 , slope rating 131
137 players / 58 amateurs / xx qualifying places

Leading Amateurs

Notes
a) Ties for the last qualifying place(s) were resolved by sudden death play-off at each site.
b) Irrespective of any play-off results reserve places at each site were allocated by card count back (CB) – back 9 or 6 or 3 or 1 hole – based on each player’s 18 hole score.

Click here to view the official – Open Championship Website (Regional Qualifying)

_______________________________________

Final Qualifying

Final Qualifying will take place over 36 holes at Burnham & Berrow, Dundonald Links, Royal Cinque Ports and West Lancashire on Tuesday 30th June 2026.

There will be 288 players competing, 72 at each site.

A number of amateur and professional players were exempt directly into Final Qualifying based on their past playing achievements. The rest of the field came through Regional Qualifying (see above for more information on these 16 events).

A minimum of 20 spots in The Open, 5 from each site, are expected to be offered by The R&A. Any ties for the last qualifying place in each event will be broken by a sudden-death play-off.

All of the amateurs who contest Final Qualifying will be listed below, along with their routes to this stage and their final results.

BURNHAM & BERROW, ENGLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
6,910 yards, par 71, course rating 74.6, slope rating 129
72 players / xx amateurs / 5 qualifying places

Amateur Qualifiers

Professional Qualifiers

Amateur Non-Qualifiers

DUNDONALD LINKS, SCOTLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
7,213 yards, par 72, course rating 75.9, slope rating 143
72 players / xx amateurs / 5 qualifying places

Amateur Qualifiers

Professional Qualifiers

Amateur Non-Qualifiers

ROYAL CINQUE PORTS, ENGLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
7,204 yards, par 72, course rating 76.2, slope rating 146
72 players / xx amateurs / 5 qualifying places

Amateur Qualifiers

Professional Qualifiers

Amateur Non-Qualifiers

WEST LANCASHIRE, ENGLAND
– click here to view The Open Website Results or Golfbox Results
7,000 yards, par 72, course rating 75.4, slope rating 140
72 players / xx amateurs / 5 qualifying places

Amateur Qualifiers

Professional Qualifiers

Amateur Non-Qualifiers

Click here to view the official – Open Championship Website (Final Qualifying)

_______________________________________

Low Amateur Silver Medal

The Silver Medal is awarded to the leading amateur in The Open Championship who completes 72 holes. Bronze Medals are awarded to all other amateurs who complete 72 holes.

For more information on this prize please take a look at this article – The Open Championship’s Silver Medal.

More Championship Information

Click here to view the official – Open Championship Website

ME.

Copyright © 2014-2026, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.