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• R&A announces £5 increase on price of adult daily ticket.
• Price of a ticket now up by £10 from last St Andrews Open.
• Give us your reactions to this news…
The R&A has announced that tickets for the Open Championship at St Andrews will go on-sale next week… but anybody hoping that the organisation might have reduced its ticket prices in light of recent negative feedback will be disappointed.
Having been frozen for this year’s championship at Royal Liverpool from the 2013 event at Muirfield, the price of an adult daily ticket will go up by £5 to £70, if purchased before 31 May, and £80 thereafter.
If a ticket is purchased before May 31, the £70 price represents a £10 increase on the daily ticket price from the last time the championship was played over the Old Course in 2010.
Although ticket prices are being kept the same in 2015 for concessions – and accompanied children aged under-16 will continue to enjoy free entry to the championship – the news still comes as something of a surprise given the widespread criticism directed at the R&A following the 2013 event.
A disappointing attendance of 142,036 – down from 160,595 the last time it was visited East Lothian in 2002 and well below the 170,000 figure projected – turned out to see Phil Mickelson win the Claret Jug that summer.
“We will be working hard to deliver an outstanding experience for spectators once again.” – Johnnie Cole-Hamilton
And, though the R&A did its best to blame other factors on the low figures, the cost of the tickets was roundly condemned. Indeed, when the tournament had been played at Royal Lytham a year earlier, tickets were £5 cheaper at £70 for an adult day ticket, attracting a crowd of over 180,000.
Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, the executive director of championships at the R&A, did not directly address the price hike in an official release circulated by the organisation. Instead, he shared his optimism that the 2015 Open will be a huge success.
“We are very much looking forward to the return of The Open to St Andrews next year,” he said. “There is always a special atmosphere at St Andrews and we will be working hard to deliver an outstanding experience for spectators once again.
“With Rory McIlroy defending the Claret Jug and Tom Watson making what is likely to be his final appearance in The Open, there will be no shortage of drama and emotion for the galleries. It promises to be a fantastic week of world class golf.”
Tickets for The Open go on-sale on Tuesday, November 4, 2014. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit TheOpen.com.
The Open ticket prices :: your thoughts
What are your thoughts on the R&A’s decision to add £5 onto the price of an adult daily ticket for The Open Championship at St Andrews? Leave your thoughts in our ‘Comments’ section below and vote in this poll…
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