Most people at The Open spend the day on their feet — queuing for a lukewarm pie, losing their group in a crowd of 30,000, circling the course without anywhere to sit down and actually watch. The Links changes the calculation.
The Links is the festival-style area that comes with a Ticket Plus upgrade, positioned close to the par-3 4th green. Think of it as your base for the day: a private zone with a mix of undercover and outdoor seating where you can catch your breath, watch what's happening across the course on large screens, and then head back out. It is not a grandstand you are anchored to — it is somewhere to return to.
The food is better than anything in the general Spectator Village. The £25 voucher included with your Ticket Plus covers gourmet food trucks operating within the private area, and the private bar handles drinks separately. There are also private toilets, which matters more than it sounds after a few hours in a British summer crowd.
The dedicated viewing platform beside the 4th green is the specific centrepiece. The 4th at Royal Birkdale is a 203-yard par 3, tight and exposed — the kind of hole where the whole field's afternoon can shift in a single shot. From the platform, you are close enough to read faces. On a course where the crowds thin out between the grandstands, this is a proper vantage point with a roof over your head.
A complimentary park-and-ride pass is included, which removes one of the bigger logistical headaches of attending. The course operates cashless throughout, so the £25 food voucher goes further than it might otherwise — everything else you spend on food and drink in the general areas requires a card anyway.
The Spectator Village, open to all ticketholders, is worth knowing about even if you have Ticket Plus. It has giant screens, a kids play area, fish and chips, noodles, dumplings, Greek street food, and The Open Shop stocking BOSS, Adidas, and Peter Millar. If you are travelling with people on different ticket types, the village is the natural meeting point.
Championship days run Thursday 16 to Sunday 19 July 2026. Practice days are Monday 13 to Wednesday 15 July. General admission starts at £30 on the opening practice day, rising to £150 for Sunday's final round. Ticket Plus ranges from £125 on Monday to £300 on Sunday — Friday and Sunday are sold out at Ticket Plus level, but Wednesday remains available.
Why it's special
General admission at The Open is genuinely good — you can walk the course, get close to the ropes, and stand five feet from the world's best players for most of the day. But it has a structural problem: there is nowhere to stop. No base, no guaranteed seat, no food outlet that isn't a queue. After three or four hours you start making compromises about which holes to see because your legs have given up.
