Staff WriterThe English Open is being brought back from the golfing attic, dusted down, and given something far more useful than a commemorative plaque: a place on the HotelPlanner Tour this year and in 2027, with an ambition to restore it to the DP World Tour schedule in 2028.
For a title with genuine heft, that is no small shuffle of paperwork. It is the return of one of England’s most recognisable national Opens, a tournament whose roll of honour includes Seve Ballesteros, Mark James, Ian Woosnam, Colin Montgomerie and Darren Clarke. Not a bad guest list, unless your idea of sporting prestige is a lukewarm buffet and a branded lanyard.
DP World Tour And England Golf Revive A Historic Title
The DP World Tour and England Golf have confirmed they will work together to resurrect the tournament, beginning with the English Open supported by HotelPlanner.
The event will replace the existing England Golf Challenge on this year’s HotelPlanner Tour and will be staged at The Vale Golf Club in Worcestershire from June 18-21.
The prize fund has also been increased to £300,000, giving the revived championship a sharper competitive edge and a clearer sense of intent.
Details for the 2027 HotelPlanner Tour staging, and the hoped-for 2028 move onto the DP World Tour, will be announced later.
Why The English Open Return Matters
National Opens have always carried a peculiar magic. They are part sporting contest, part national calling card, part annual examination of who can handle the golf course, the weather, the crowd, and occasionally all three behaving badly at once.
For England, the return of the English Open adds a proper national platform at a time when player development, pathway opportunities and the bridge between elite amateur golf and professional tournament life are under increasing scrutiny.
Guy Kinnings, Chief Executive of the DP World Tour, said: “We are delighted with today’s announcement that, together with England Golf, we will be returning one of golf’s most prestigious titles to the global stage. It is a title with great resonance, hence this is a significant moment for us.
“This is also a new era for the relationship between our two organisations and we look forward to working together to help progress all aspects of the game in England.
“For over 50 years national Opens have been a cornerstone of our international schedule, tournaments rooted in tradition and ones which shine a spotlight on the countries we play, the relationships we have fostered in these countries over decades, and on the communities that host them. The English Open’s return reflects that heritage.”
That last point is the key one. The DP World Tour has long understood the commercial and cultural value of national Opens. They provide identity. They give host venues a stage. They create recognisable chapters in a season that can otherwise feel like one airport lounge blurring into the next.
England Golf Sees A Pathway Opportunity
For England Golf, the significance is not merely nostalgic. This is about giving emerging English talent a tournament with a serious name above the door.
Jeremy Tomlinson, Group Chief Executive Officer of England Golf, said: “All of us at England Golf are excited to be entering into this new partnership with the DP World Tour to promote and deliver the English Open. Our player development pathway has a proud heritage of producing some of the finest golfers in the world, and we are committed to maintaining that record.
“By reinstating the English Open and partnering with the DP World Tour and the HotelPlanner Tour, many of our young squad players will have the opportunity to not only experience professional tournament golf, but also begin to acclimatise to life in the professional ranks.
“With clear ambitions to elevate the English Open back onto the main tour, this will provide another inspiring national platform to showcase everything that is great about our game in England.”
That is a sensible piece of strategy. Tournament golf is not learned on a range mat, however advanced the launch monitor may be. It is learned with a scorecard in the pocket, a cut line in the distance, and the faint terror of a three-footer that suddenly looks like it has grown teeth.
A Timely Boost After Aaron Rai’s Major Moment
The timing of the announcement gives it extra sparkle. It comes in the aftermath of Aaron Rai becoming the first Englishman in 107 years to win the US PGA Championship at Aronimink in Philadelphia at the weekend.
That context matters. English golf has no shortage of talent, but moments like this help sharpen the wider story. A national Open returning to the professional landscape, backed by the DP World Tour and England Golf, arrives with a useful breeze at its back.
It also lands shortly after the recent commemoration of the 15th anniversary of the passing of Seve Ballesteros — a neat historical echo, given that the great Spaniard was the first winner of the English Open when it was part of the then European Tour in 1979.
From The Belfry To The Vale
The English Open began life at The Belfry, which hosted nine of its first ten editions. The exception was Royal Birkdale in 1988, before the tournament later found a home at the Forest of Arden, which staged the final ten editions from 1993 until 2002.
That history gives the revived English Open a sturdier foundation than most comeback stories. This is not a tournament being manufactured from thin air with a shiny logo and an optimistic hospitality deck. It has lineage.
Beyond Ballesteros, its past champions include several future or former European Ryder Cup Captains: Mark James, who won in 1989 and 1990; Ian Woosnam in 1993; Colin Montgomerie in 1994; and Darren Clarke, who won in 1999, 2000 and 2002.
For a returning event, that is a rather intimidating portrait gallery.
A Revival With Proper Stakes
The challenge now is execution. A historic name alone does not guarantee relevance. The modern golf calendar is crowded, attention is splintered, and every tournament has to justify its place.
But the English Open has something many events would happily buy by the truckload: recognition, heritage, national identity and a direct connection to the professional pathway.
Starting on the HotelPlanner Tour gives the championship room to re-establish itself. The 2028 DP World Tour ambition gives it a target worth chasing.
If it works, the English Open will not simply be back. It will be useful again — and in professional golf, usefulness is a far more durable currency than nostalgia.
