Official Tournament Website

The RICOH British Open is one of the women's world Major Golf Championships. It is the only tournament which is classified as a major by both the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour.

The Women's British Open was established by the Ladies' Golf Union in 1976. It was intended to serve as the women's equivalent of The Open Championship. At first, it was difficult for the organisers to get the most prestigious courses to agree to host the event, with the exception of the Royal Birkdale Golf Club, which hosted it twice during its early days — in 1982 and 1986. After nearly folding in 1983, the tournament was held at the best of the "second-tier" courses, including Woburn Golf and Country Club for 10 straight years, from 1987 through 1996, as well as in 1984 and 1999.

As its prestige continued to grow, more of the links courses that are in the rotation for the British Open, such as Turnberry (2002) and Royal Lytham & St Annes (1998, 2003, 2006) hosted the tournament, in addition to Royal Birkdale (2000, 2005, 2010). Two other Open Championship venues hosted the event for the first time: Carnoustie (2011) and Royal Liverpool (2012). In 2007, the tournament took place at the Old Course at St Andrews for the first time. However unlike its male counterpart, the tournament has not adopted a links-only policy. This greatly increases the number of potential venues, especially the number close to the major population centres of England.

Through 1993, the tournament was an official stop only on the Ladies European Tour. It became an official stop on the LPGA Tour as well in 1994, which increased both the quality of the field and the event's prestige. It has been an official LPGA major since 2001, when it took the place of the du Maurier Classic on the LPGA's list of majors. In 2005, the starting field size was increased to 150, but only the low 65 (plus ties) survive the cut after the second round. In both 2007 and 2008 the prize fund was £1,050,000. Starting in 2009, the prize fund changed from being fixed in pounds to U.S. dollars, and is now $2.5 million.

Visit the website of the host club The Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland