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20-636: The Senior Open Championship , or simply The Senior Open (and originally known as the Senior British Open ), is a professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and over. It is jointly owned and run by The R&A , the same body that organises The Open Championship , and the PGA European Tour . Prize money won in the event is official money on both PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and Champions Tour) and

40-466: A career. In golf, the distinction between amateurs and professionals is rigorously maintained. An amateur who breaches the rules of amateur status may lose said status. A golfer who has lost their amateur status may not play in amateur competitions until amateur status has been reinstated; a professional may not play in amateur tournaments unless the Committee is notified, acknowledges and confirms

60-403: A living solely from playing tournament golf until some way into the 20th century ( Walter Hagen is sometimes considered to have been the first man to have done so). In the developed world, the class distinction is now almost entirely irrelevant. Golf is affordable at public courses to a large portion of the population, and most golf professionals are from middle-class backgrounds, which are often

80-657: Is one of the governing bodies of golf worldwide, alongside the United States Golf Association (USGA). The USGA governs in the United States and Mexico , and the R&;A in the rest of the world. They both share a single code for the Rules of Golf, Rules of Amateur Status, Equipment Standards and World Amateur Golf Rankings. R&A Championships Limited organises The Open Championship , which

100-732: Is the case in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom. Professional golfers from these countries are quite often from poor backgrounds and start their careers as caddies, for example, Ángel Cabrera of Argentina , and Zhang Lian-wei , who is the first significant tournament professional from the People's Republic of China . In various countries, Professional Golfers' Associations (PGAs) serve either or both of these categories of professionals. There are separate LPGAs (Ladies Professional Golf Associations) for women. Under

120-760: Is the world's oldest international men's major golf championship ; the Women's British Open ; the Senior Open Championship ; plus the Walker Cup and Curtis Cup . The Royal and Ancient Golf Club founded what is now the Official World Golf Ranking for male professionals in 1986, and the R&A introduced the World Amateur Golf Ranking for male amateurs in 2007. The R&A also owns and operates

140-700: The European Senior Tour . The purse, which is fixed in United States dollars , had increased to $ 2.75 million for 2023 . The tournament was first held in 1987 and became part of the European Seniors Tour schedule in 1992. It is younger than the PGA Seniors Championship , which started in 1957, as well as the U.S. Senior Open and the Senior PGA Championship . In late 2002 it was designated as

160-533: The R&;A World Golf Museum . The R&A cooperates with the USGA in producing and regularly revising the " Rules of Golf ", and the two bodies have issued the rules jointly since 1952. The "Rules of Golf" are revised on a four-year cycle. From 1990 for the first time a single common set of Rules applied throughout the world. The two bodies also collaborate on the corresponding rule interpretative work, "Decisions on

180-613: The Open. The 2018 Senior Open was held at St Andrews for the first time, a decision which was heavily influenced by five-time Open champion Tom Watson . In 2020, the championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The standard field size is 144 players and an 18-hole qualifying round is held at the championship course on the Monday before the tournament, with a minimum of 24 places available. If fewer than 120 exempt players enter,

200-710: The Rules of Golf", which is reviewed on a two-year cycle. Additionally, the R&A is involved in formulating technical specifications for golf equipment , which were first issued 1 January 2019. The R&A organises 21 championships and international matches, which were previously organised by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club. After the Ladies' Golf Union , the former governing body for women's golf in Great Britain and Ireland, merged into The R&A in late 2016, The R&A took over organisation of all events formerly under

220-487: The auspices of the LGU. Professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pro", most of whom are teachers/coaches. The professional golfer status is reserved for people who play, rather than teach, golf for

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240-512: The club spun off its previous governance and tournament organisation roles into the current R&A group, with the club itself reverting to a private members-only club. The R&A is based in St Andrews in Scotland . The R&A is the sole owner of three subsidiary companies: R&A Rules Limited, R&A Championships Limited, and R&A Group Services Limited. R&A Rules Limited

260-537: The field is filled to 144 with more high finishers from qualifying. If more than 120 exempt players enter, the top 24 finishers earn entry even if it causes the field to expand beyond 144. Seven players have multiple victories in the Senior Open Championship: Four players have won both The Open Championship and The Senior Open Championship, (two of the professional majors run by the R&A). The Senior Open Championship has been played at

280-523: The fifth major championship on the Champions Tour schedule. Winners before 2003 were not retroactively designated as Champions Tour major winners until late 2018. Winners gain entry into the following season's Open Championship. The event is usually held the week following The Open Championship, although in 1991 it was held the week before the Open and in 1998 it was held in August, three weeks after

300-400: The following courses, listed in order of number of times hosted (as of 2024): The R%26A The R&A (or more formally, the R&A Trust Company (No. 1) Limited) is the collective name of a group of companies that together play a significant role within the game of golf . Historically, "the R&A" was a colloquial name for the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews ; in 2004,

320-407: The participation. It is very difficult for a professional to regain their amateur status; simply agreeing not to take payment for a particular tournament is not enough. A player must apply to the governing body of the sport to have amateur status reinstated. Historically, the distinction between amateur and professional golfers had much to do with social class . In 18th and 19th century Britain, golf

340-431: The player's score on a hole is not the primary goal, such as long drive and putting competitions, outside the amateurism rules. If an amateur accepts a prize of greater than this in a competition covered by the amateurism rules, they forfeit their amateur status, and are therefore by definition a professional golfer. Professional golfers are divided into two main groups, with a limited amount of overlap between them: In

360-433: The rules of golf and amateur status, the maximum value of a prize an amateur can accept is £700 or US$ 1000. Before the most recent increase in 2022, the maximum had been £500 or $ 750. The 2022 changes also significantly reduced the scope of competitions in which the prize limit applies. Before that time, the only competitions exempt from prize limits were hole in one contests. The 2022 changes took all competitions in which

380-404: The same sort of backgrounds as the members of the clubs where they work or the people they teach the game, and are educated to university level. Leading tournament golfers are very wealthy; upper class in the modern U.S. usage of the term. However, in some developing countries, there is still a class distinction. Typically, golf is restricted to a much smaller and more elite section of society than

400-454: Was played by the rich, for pleasure. The early professionals were working-class men who made a living from the game in a variety of ways: caddying , greenkeeping, clubmaking, and playing challenge matches. When golf arrived in America at the end of the 19th century, it was an elite sport there, too. Early American golf clubs imported their professionals from Britain. It was not possible to make

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