Carnoustie Smashes Open Attendance Record

19 Jul 2018 | tshego

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The Open 2018 will be the best-attended ever at Carnoustie, organisers announced after only one day of the tournament play at the Scottish venue.

Attendance through the week has already broken the previous record of 157,000, set when Carnoustie hosted the event in 1999.

The R&A claims that this year’s Open has been among the fastest-selling Championships to be staged in Scotland outside St Andrews.

Chief executive Martin Slumbers said: “We know that there has been real excitement among fans about The Open returning to Carnoustie’s great links and the record number of spectators at the Championship here underlines its reputation as one of the world’s great sporting events.

“Attending The Open is a memorable experience full of iconic moments and we look forward to welcoming fans from all around the world for this global celebration of golf.”

Fans streaming into Carnoustie to see their heroes during a glorious day on the links

Walk up tickets still available https://t.co/bg5vchmynF pic.twitter.com/AcW2zDzhlL

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 19, 2018

The news follows reports that next year’s Open, to be staged in Portrush, Northern Ireland, is attracting unprecedented ticket demand.

Northern Irish organisers expect the The Open 2019 to be the first all-ticketed sell-out in the Championships’ history.

A new record was set this month when the first ticket release saw fans snap up 20% of the total allocation within 48 hours.

The 2019 event will mark The Open’s return to the island of Ireland for the first time in almost 70 years.

Demand for hospitality packages is reportedly also high, with the R&A claiming its weekend Links Club tickets have already sold out for the event in 2019.