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The Format

Championship History

A unique celebration of Links Golf held across three of Scotland’s most historic, scenic and challenging courses with the added excitement of a professional and team competition makes the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship unlike any other tournament.

The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is one of the world’s leading golf events and has proved itself to be a magnet for golfers from every corner of the globe.  A celebration of links golf at its finest, it is played over three magnificent courses – the Old Course (St Andrews), the Championship Course, Carnoustie (near Dundee) and Kingsbarns Golf Links (7 miles south of St Andrews).

For golfers everywhere the Old Course at St Andrews is a unique place.  Here history and sport come together in a magical, unique way.  Golf has been played over these links for hundreds of years, and it is universally acknowledged as the ‘Home of Golf’.  The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is the only major professional tournament played every year at St Andrews and one of the highlights – for players and spectators – of the DP World Tour.

The Championship has a unique format, incorporating two separate competitions – an individual professional tournament for the world’s leading golfers with a US$5 million prize fund, and a team competition which features some of the world’s most celebrated amateur golfers playing alongside the professionals.

Pros who have played in the Championship include Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Tony Finau, Tommy Fleetwood, Brooks Koepka, Fred Couples, Ernie Els, Nick Faldo, Retief Goosen, Jon Rahm, Haotong Li, Matt Fitzpatrick, Luke Donald, Shane Lowry, Billy Horschel, Padraig Harrington, Colin Montgomerie, Louis Oosthuizen, Vijay Singh, Dustin Johnson and Martin Kaymer have played in the Championship.

Amateur players have included entertainment stars such as Michael Douglas, Samuel L Jackson, Hugh Grant, Bill Murray, Andy Garcia, Ronan Keating, Tico Torres, Jamie Dornan, Kathryn Newton and Justin Timberlake. They have shared the fairways with sporting greats, including Sir Steve Redgrave, Lord Botham, Kelly Slater, Wladimir Klitschko, Ruud Gullit and Michael Phelps.

The first Championship was staged in 2001, but Alfred Dunhill’s connection with St Andrews, through the Alfred Dunhill Cup and our continuing charitable support to the community, goes back to 1985 making a remarkable span of 38 years supporting golf and the town of St Andrews.

The Action: Year by Year

Championship Format

Championship Format

A unique format combining the DP World Tour professional competition alongside the Professional and Amateur Team Championship.

The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship incorporates two separate competitions – a DP World Tour sanctioned individual professional tournament for 168 of the world's leading golfers and a Team Championship, in which each professional is paired with one of 168 amateurs.

Play is over three courses in rotation over the first three days – the Old Course St Andrews, the Championship Course Carnoustie and Kingsbarns Golf Links - with the final round being played over the Old Course.

After three rounds the field is reduced to the leading 60 professionals and those tying for 60th place, and the leading 20 teams. Amateurs receive a stroke allowance equal to two thirds of their official handicap to a maximum of 18 for men and 24 for women.  The team score is the lower of the professional's and his amateur partner's net score at each hole.

Prize Money

Although the cut is made to the leading 60 professionals and ties, prize money and DP World Tour Ranking Points will be paid in line with the standard Tour cut to the leading 65 professionals and ties. This will include reserve money if this is more than 70 professionals.

The prize is comprised of $4.8 million for the individual professional competition and $200,000 for the Team Championship (paid only to the professionals).

In the professional competition the first prize is $816,000, second prize is $528,000 and third prize is $302,400. In the Team Championship, the first prize is $50,000, second prize is $30,000 and third prize is $20,000.

A detailed breakdown is available from the DP World Tour Tournament Office.

Partners

The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is delighted to be partnered with:

Prize Money

Alfred Dunhill Links Foundation

The Alfred Dunhill Links Foundation was founded to mark the 10th anniversary of the Championship – with the mission to directly support good causes related to golf and to the local community.

Although a charitable dimension has been a key part of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship since the event was established, the Foundation was established to provide a focus for applications and in order to grow funds to further support good causes.

Funds gathered by the Foundation are allocated to local and international charities and other benevolent organisations selected by the Trustees.

The Trustees review, on a regular basis, applications for financial support in the form of grants.

In addition to raising funds via the Championship, the Foundation is also able to accept donations from individuals and companies. Any interested party can make a donation to the Foundation. Should you wish to donate please contact the Foundation directly.

For more information please visit: www.alfred-dunhill-links-foundation.org

ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS FOUNDATION, a charitable company limited by guarantee and registered in Scotland, (company number SC402048), and registered Scottish charity (charity number SC042414). Registered Office at Princes Exchange, 1 Earl Grey Street, Edinburgh, EH3 9EE

Community

Beyond the work of the Foundation, the Alfred Dunhill Links actively engages in the local community, with an environmental and socially conscious focus.

From efforts to reduce single-use plastics, to supporting the local Rotary Club, raising funds for the Scottish Air Ambulance or providing opportunities for schools’ golf in Scotland, the Championship reaches well beyond the three courses. Playing in the Championship offers professional golfers the opportunity to engage with the community. The visits by European Tour professionals to local schools are regularly cited as a highlight of their Alfred Dunhill Links Championship experience.

Harold Riley

The Harold Riley Alfred Dunhill Collection

For more than 25 years, artist Harold Riley captured on canvas the landscapes, people, wildlife and history that made Alfred Dunhill golf championships so unique.

His death in April 2023, at the age of 88, was a sad moment for the worlds of art and golf, but he leaves behind a memorable gallery of works, commissioned by the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, which recreates the essence of the event, particularly as it unfolds over the famous Old Course in St Andrews, one of his most loved places on Earth.

Many of Harold’s paintings, featuring his own inimitable style, have graced the Championship over the years, giving it a timeless backdrop; even turning the invitations, which go out to golfers around the world, into works of art.

Harold was born in Salford in 1934 and in 1951 he won a scholarship to the Slade School of Fine Art in London. He went on to study in Italy and Spain before returning to Salford.

He believed his main work was to document the city, and his life-cycle in Salford, in paintings, drawings and photographs, cemented a friendship with L.S. Lowry which began when Harold was a student. Together they worked on a project to record the area and its people. Away from golf, among Harold’s best known works are portraits of Nelson Mandela, Prince Philip, Pope John XXIII, Pope John Paul II and American Presidents John F. Kennedy and Gerald Ford.

Harold Riley