The Open Championship: Chauffeur Travel to Links Golf

A championship with a different address each year

The Open rotates around a group of links courses across the United Kingdom, from Kent and Lancashire to Fife, Ayrshire and Northern Ireland. Unlike a fixed stadium event, there is no permanent travel pattern to learn. Each staging brings its own approach roads, its own park-and-ride scheme and its own local pressure points.

What the venues share is geography. Links courses sit on coastal dunes, often at the end of a single road through a small town. That combination concentrates tens of thousands of spectators onto infrastructure that handles a fraction of the number in a normal week.

Park-and-ride and the last few miles

Most stagings of The Open operate a park-and-ride system, with general parking some distance from the course and shuttle buses running in. Private vehicles are usually restricted from the immediate approach, and marshals enforce that firmly during peak arrival and departure periods.

A chauffeur can normally set down closer than a self-driving spectator would park, because the vehicle does not need a space for the day. The exact permitted point depends on the scheme published for that year's championship, which we confirm before your date rather than predicting from a previous staging.

• Set-down closer than general parking, subject to that year's traffic plan
• No need for a car park space, since the vehicle relocates for the day
• A collection point agreed away from the shuttle bus routes
• Extra margin allowed for coastal roads with a single approach

Weather, footwear and a course you walk all day

Following golf means walking several miles across dunes and rough ground, exposed to wind coming off the sea. Even a warm July day on a links course is cooler and windier than the same day inland, and a bright morning can turn to horizontal rain by lunchtime.

Practical preparation is boots or proper shoes for the course, waterproofs regardless of the forecast, and dry clothing waiting in the vehicle for the journey back. Guests who have walked eighteen holes in the rain appreciate that last one considerably more than they expected to.

Staying nearby and travelling across several days

Because Open venues are often remote, guests attending more than one round usually stay in a nearby town or a country house within reach. Local hotel supply fills far ahead, and the roads between those bases and the course carry the same pressure as everything else during championship week.

Booking the same chauffeur across several days pays off here. Routing knowledge accumulates, the collection point stops needing to be re-explained, and there is no daily negotiation about where the car can reach. Share the week's plan over WhatsApp on +44 (0) 7775 554 848 and we will build it as one schedule.

Final round Sunday and the departure

The last day is the busiest and the exit is the hardest part. When the championship finishes, the entire crowd leaves at once onto roads that have only one direction to travel. Waiting for that to clear is often faster than joining it.

The alternative is a collection point in the town rather than at the course, reached on foot or by shuttle, which lets the vehicle avoid the worst of the queue entirely. We will suggest the best option once the year's traffic scheme is published.

Plan your chauffeur journey

London Chauffeurs provides itinerary-led private travel for airport transfers, executive travel, private aviation, events and long-distance UK journeys. Availability and pricing are confirmed for the requested itinerary.

Frequently asked questions